An internal team at Netflix developed a prototype set$-$top box to enable the direct streaming of content to customers' television sets. However, the idea of offering it to Netflix customers was dropped because

the market for online streaming was nascent and unprofitable

of the brutally competitive nature of the consumer electronics business

most of the software team was recruited by TiVo after Linkedln made it easy to target and poach rival talent

the Blu$-$ray digital standard requires streaming features as well

all major US cable firms built Netflix streaming into their set$-$top boxes