But why does he have an HDTV for Netflix at his workstation? It does seem to be the best setup for working before that's mentioned, and afterword it looks a lot like goof-off central.
There's three monitors facing me, and the HDTV is the fourth (off to the right, you can't see it). Attached to it is a Cisco Umi (for 1080p telepresence with the home office) and an Xbox. Neither are on all the time. When I'm totally stressed or can't fix a problem I will either A) call someone and pair or 2) watch something on NetFlix or do a level of Just Cause 2. At that point my subconscious has usually dislodged the issue.
Also, I personally work better when I can give a bit of my brain something else to think about so it shuts up and I can get real work done. That's why I listen to music; and, that's why during my late nights in grad school, I played a movie over and over again in the background. "How to Train Your Dragon" was the preferred feature, by the way.
Sometimes you need a swap that mental context out for a while and then revisit it, especially when you get stuck. Netflix would be a good match for this, even if it's something semi-relevant like TED talks.
