In 1912 Thomas Edison developed and introduced the Home Projecting Kinetoscope for domestic use. This machine was an early example of Home Entertainment, many many decades ahead of its time. Because film prints were so expensive to purchase Edison offered direct mail rentals of short films, shipped and returned through the post office, similar to Netflix. But the home projector failed due to the high cost and lack of consumer interest, only 500 were sold and Edison abandoned the idea in 1914.