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An Ode to Blockbuster and Other [Video Rental Stores]

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  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    mcdermott wrote: »
    I could buy it now for like $8 on Blu-Ray.

    Yeah, prices are getting pretty ridiculous on the high end these days, I always have to stop and remember when I thought paying $20 for a VHS copy of Star Wars was a pretty great deal. At one point I owned all the James Bond films on VHS, and that cost a fucking fortune. I couldn't give those movies away now.

    If you've got the disposable income, everyone should be buying blu-rays for all their favorite films. One day you may not have internet or access to those titles again cheaply, and you can get crisp hi-def movies these days for a song. Not counting TV shows, I have over 180 movies right now on BRD, and they're all my favorites (except Cocktail, which belongs to the wife).

  • XobyteXobyte Registered User regular
    Also it should be noted Blu-Rya is hardly succeeding DVD. Blu-Ray is pretty much solely a hobbyist format it'll never have DVDs penetration. The licensing is too expensive, computers are dropping optical discs altogether and streaming options are taking over.

    I've got some folks in the Midwest that would like to respond to you, but their dial up hasn't finished loading the page yet.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Xobyte wrote: »
    Also it should be noted Blu-Rya is hardly succeeding DVD. Blu-Ray is pretty much solely a hobbyist format it'll never have DVDs penetration. The licensing is too expensive, computers are dropping optical discs altogether and streaming options are taking over.

    I've got some folks in the Midwest that would like to respond to you, but their dial up hasn't finished loading the page yet.

    That's the price you pay for living somewhere where the homes cost $50/sq.ft.

    My parents couldn't even get broadband until about three years ago, and they still can't get cable. And they only live about 3 miles outside of town. But hey, they have a huge house on 40 acres of cattle ranch, so you know, priorities.

  • XobyteXobyte Registered User regular
    I just find it funny if a little irritating the blind spots people on the forums have when it comes to digital distribution whether it's for games or movies.

    Some people insist it's the inevitable future and should take over any day now without realizing that half the country doesn't have access to the kind of speeds to support a primarily DD market.

  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    Xobyte wrote: »
    I just find it funny if a little irritating the blind spots people on the forums have when it comes to digital distribution whether it's for games or movies.

    Some people insist it's the inevitable future and should take over any day now without realizing that half the country doesn't have access to the kind of speeds to support a primarily DD market.

    It's getting there, though, if slowly. Give it another decade or so, and I think digital distribution will have supplanted most of the physical media market. I'm not sure whether Blu-ray is going to be the 'transitional' physical medium, or if we're going to get another generation slipped-in.


    Of course, physical media is never going to just disappear (or, at least, not within the foreseeable future), but I think it'll fall outside of the mainstream.

    With Love and Courage
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    And the other half of that argument says that there's probably a disproportionately low number of those people with limited access to DD models who actually would make regular use of them.

    It's not like there's a well-known abundance of cinephiles originating out of the Ozarks or the northern Great Plains. And for them, as long as they have money in their wallets and satellites in space overhead, they still have decent on-demand options.

    My folks haven't rented a movie from a video store in ages. They either drive into town to go to the theater or watch the DVR.

  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    Xobyte wrote: »
    I just find it funny if a little irritating the blind spots people on the forums have when it comes to digital distribution whether it's for games or movies.

    Some people insist it's the inevitable future and should take over any day now without realizing that half the country doesn't have access to the kind of speeds to support a primarily DD market.

    Which country are you talking about?

    Because it's not the US.

    SWLsRXH.png

    eAd9eCm.jpg

    Netflix recommends 1.5 Megabit/s for streaming SD content. That translates to (1.5*1024)/8 kilobytes/s or 192kb/s, which is accessible for even the slowest broadband speed identified in Pocatello, ID.

    The number of households lacking connectivity necessary for digital download of video content is less than 10%.

    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Ha! My folks live in one of America's slowest cities! I knew it!

  • The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    Blockbuster's "no late fees" stint they did taught me a very important lesson about late fees.

    Bitch all you want about them. There's a very important reason they need to exist.

    "The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
  • XobyteXobyte Registered User regular
    @Feral That 1.5 Mb is for SD content though, as you noted. The speeds necessary for HD content are considerably faster. And as I recall, there's no standard in the US by which something can be classed as broadband. As a result, you have vast swaths of the country where the "broadband" isn't much better than dial up.

  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    Blockbuster's "no late fees" stint they did taught me a very important lesson about late fees.

    Bitch all you want about them. There's a very important reason they need to exist.

    The problem with late fees was that they became a hassle and customer service nightmare; Blockbuster had to devote a lot of employee hours just trying to shakedown customers for late fees, and a significant portion of them (I forget the figure off-hand) ended-up being waived anyway.

    I think the 'charge your credit card if you don't return it' model was better, even if it was badly executed. Simpler to deal with shrink, less hassle (in theory) for the customer, and a net increase in revenue through increased product sales.

    With Love and Courage
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    The "No Late Fees" thing ended up being a huge PR nightmare when people started figuring out that it wasn't exactly what it sounded like.

    It was like signing people up for "Free Blow Jobs!" and then sticking a leaf-blower up their ass. I mean, not exactly a lie, but . . . .

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    shryke wrote: »
    Is this where I say I'm still pissed you assholes south of the border killed Blockbluster?

    Motherfuckers, not everyone has decent streaming services!

    Don't blame the customers, blame dinosaurs who were unable to compete.

    GET ON MAH LEVEL CANADA

    They were able to compete here. That's why it's so annoying.


    The "no physical media" world only exists where streaming services have good selection and your internet isn't capped.

    shryke on
  • GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

    Know you not of Gamefly?

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

    Know you not of Gamefly?

    I'm assuming he means "Victoria, BC", so Gamefly is useless to him.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

    Know you not of Gamefly?

    I'm assuming he means "Victoria, BC", so Gamefly is useless to him.

    Ah.

    Serves him right for living in the tundra.

  • GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    Indeed... Netflix is pretty gutted here too. Canada gets a shit deal :(

  • AManFromEarthAManFromEarth Let's get to twerk! The King in the SwampRegistered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Is this where I say I'm still pissed you assholes south of the border killed Blockbluster?

    Motherfuckers, not everyone has decent streaming services!

    Don't blame the customers, blame dinosaurs who were unable to compete.

    GET ON MAH LEVEL CANADA

    They were able to compete here. That's why it's so annoying.


    The "no physical media" world only exists where streaming services have good selection and your internet isn't capped.

    What part of Get on mah level don't you get.

    Scrap the cap, get selection.

    Bootstraps, shryke! Bootstraps!

    Lh96QHG.png
  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Indeed... Netflix is pretty gutted here too. Canada gets a shit deal :(

    I'm thinking of words that rhyme with "sprocksy."

  • GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    Indeed... Netflix is pretty gutted here too. Canada gets a shit deal :(

    I'm thinking of words that rhyme with "sprocksy."

    I have no idea what you're talking about ;) and even if I did, I most certainly would not take advantage of such a thing ;)

  • The EnderThe Ender Registered User regular
    What part of Get on mah level don't you get.

    Scrap the cap, get selection.

    But then how would Chairman Harper protect our job creators from all of the wretched leechers & pirates?

    We all have to sacrifice (well, except the job creators, of course. They're too busy creating jobs to make sacrifices).


    With Love and Courage
  • GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

    Know you not of Gamefly?

    I'm assuming he means "Victoria, BC", so Gamefly is useless to him.

    Ah.

    Serves him right for living in the tundra.

    Hey! I'd hardly call Victoria 'tundra'... it's just very wet for half the year

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Canada always baffles me.

    We have places much further south that are practically uninhabitable due to the cold weather, and all you duders are hundreds of miles further north.


    Crazy.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Canada always baffles me.

    We have places much further south that are practically uninhabitable due to the cold weather, and all you duders are hundreds of miles further north.


    Crazy.

    Lakes bitches. Lakes.

    Also, many parts of Canada are further south then the places I think you may be referring to. And the parts that aren't are equally uninhabitable.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    I refuse to believe real, live people live in Edmonton or Saskatoon.

    Snow monsters, maybe. Yeti even. But not people.


    Canada is north of The Wall.

    Atomika on
  • Pi-r8Pi-r8 Registered User regular
    This thread reminds me of this ridiculous story about theives tunneling into a blockbuster video.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    I refuse to believe real, live people live in Edmonton or Saskatoon.

    Snow monsters, maybe. Yeti even. But not people.

    I assure you, people are there.

    Whether it can be called living is a whole other story.

  • The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    I still make stops at a local video store here in Victoria every so often. Wednesday is $2 a rental for anything, new release and backstock included. Not super cheap by any means but when BDs are closer to 5 bucks if they're new releases, it's a better deal.

    What I miss though, and my roommate will attest to this, is renting games. I don't know where to do that anymore. I would rent N64 and Gamecube games religiously, every weekend, from our local video store back home. And now? Nothing. Not that I know of at least. I got a library card this summer because they actually offer some games to take home, but it's not the same...

    Shit, I was about to beg you to share where you're renting shit in Victoria, but I assume from the rest of that post that they don't do games. :(

    It's scary to admit, but I've managed to get by thanks to EB and trade-ins. By paying close attention to when stuff goes on sale, I've been able to score a lot of games on the cheap. AC Revelations, Prototype 2, RE6, all for 20 bucks. Then when I'm done and have zero desire to ever touch them again? Trade them back in for 6-7 bucks. End of the day I'm out about the same amount it would have been to rent, and I get to take my time and not deal with late fees.

    "The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
  • GreasyKidsStuffGreasyKidsStuff MOMMM! ROAST BEEF WANTS TO KISS GIRLS ON THE TITTIES!Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    Yeah, I've taken to trading stuff in a lot more recently than I ever have. I just can't really plunk down $60+ for a game these days so trading in a few and getting that knocked down a bit is great. Still though... really miss renting a title for a week and being satisfied with it.

    edit: @TheWolfman, sad to see you have no luck finding game rentals either. There's no hope for us here.

    GreasyKidsStuff on
  • NocrenNocren Lt Futz, Back in Action North CarolinaRegistered User regular
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    This thread reminds me of this ridiculous story about theives tunneling into a blockbuster video.

    Best we ever had was someone throwing a brick through our window/door and making off with some PS3s.

    newSig.jpg
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Blockbuster's "no late fees" stint they did taught me a very important lesson about late fees.

    Bitch all you want about them. There's a very important reason they need to exist.

    That move made a little sense for movies. It made absolutely no sense at all for games.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    I refuse to believe real, live people live in Edmonton or Saskatoon.

    Snow monsters, maybe. Yeti even. But not people.


    Canada is north of The Wall.

    UAF-Cold.jpg

    Alaska is silly too

  • Mego ThorMego Thor "I say thee...NAY!" Registered User regular
    Nocren wrote: »
    I worked at Blockbuster all the way through college and then ran one (briefly, thankfully) afterward. I blame that place for the majority of the drinking I did. Every time I closed, which was a lot, it was inevitable I would end up at the bar.

    A few funny stories:

    The Blockbuster I worked at in college was in a rather wealthy area. Arguing with someone over a two dollar late fee and then watching them get into their Mercedes in a huff was always a good time. On the other side were people who would pay $50 dollars late fees without blinking. Every single weekend.

    Remember when The Sixth Sense came out on video? Everyone wanted to get it and it was almost never available. We had a woman walk up to the counter, skip everyone, and then yell and scream about how we didn't a have enough copies. The other person working motioned for everyone else in line to cover their ears. 'He's DEAD.' She got very quiet, realized that there would be no sympathy from the ten people in line she cut in front of, and left.

    Remember when Titanic came out? It took up two VHS tapes, it did. Corporate when crazy over it. We had three full bays full of it on the new release wall and hundreds of copies for sale. There was enough demand for a midnight opening and I volunteered to run it with the store manager. We sold a shit load but not a single one was rented. They all sat there, on the wall, for weeks.

    Setting the New Release wall on Mondays was always a bitch. First you would pull the copies to be sold used, then spend half the day shifting things around, trying to maintain some sort of order to make space for the two hundred copies of Eyes Wide Shut that no one would rent.

    In between stints at Blockbuster I did a little time in a mom and pop CD Store/Video rental place. I swear they made most of their money off of the porn selection. People would ask for 'the wine list' and I would hand them a nondescript box full of note cards. Each card listed an adult film with far more information than anyone needed, up to and including a review written by someone who worked there.

    ...

    No knocking laser discs. I had one. Blade Runner took up four sides and was fucking glorious.

    Your last bit reminded me of this one mom-and-pop store I used to frequent in Charleston when I was stationed there. It was also a Comic, RPG store so they mostly had the classics like Robocop but the majority was Asian import movies and anime.
    Scratch that, the majority was all the porn they had that covered about a 4th of the wall (halfway across, about waist high).

    I didn't realize what they were (they were all either copies or had their labels/cases replaced to more generic slip cases) until I found the list.
    It was a list of every title they had, alphabetical, with symbols marking which ones were personally recommended by the owner, which ones were those "he heard were good" and which ones were ok.

    @Nocren, was that the Green Dragon?

    kyrcl.png
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited February 2013
    I'm curious as to how those average broadband speeds figure in with reliability and consistency of speed.

    Like, I live in a fairly wealthy district of a largish metropolitan area. Our "average" download speed is somewhere around 3Mb (which is, of course, advertised as "up to 10Mb"). However, if you're streaming content, there's about a 20% chance per half hour period that your content will just stop for a few minutes, and have to rebuffer. Usually it comes back on pretty quickly. Sometimes it'll just be like, "ha, fuck you, try again in a couple hours!" This is consistent across different sources (Netflix, Hulu) and different providers (Comcast, Frontier) and different physical locations and different hardware (360, PS3).

    So yeah, our average speed is fine for SD or even HD if the DD gods are feeling generous, but it still winds up a frustrating experience, and I much, much prefer just being able to pop in a physical disk and not have to cross my fingers.

    ElJeffe on
    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I'm curious as to how those average broadband speeds figure in with reliability and consistency of speed.

    Like, I live in a fairly wealthy district of a largish metropolitan area. Our "average" download speed is somewhere around 3Mb (which is, of course, advertised as "up to 10Mb"). However, if you're streaming content, there's about a 20% chance per half hour period that your content will just stop for a few minutes, and have to rebuffer. Usually it comes back on pretty quickly. Sometimes it'll just be like, "ha, fuck you, try again in a couple hours!" This is consistent across different sources (Netflix, Hulu) and different providers (Comcast, Frontier) and different physical locations and different hardware (360, PS3).

    So yeah, our average speed is fine for SD or even HD if the DD gods are feeling generous, but it still winds up a frustrating experience, and I much, much prefer just being able to pop in a physical disk and not have to cross my fingers.

    You also get into issues with Netflix itself, or peering, or throttling, or what the hell ever.

    Like when I can download a game off Steam at 16Mbps, but try to watch Netflix five minutes later and it's at 900Kbps...not enough to even keep up with SD video.

    Plus competition. If I didn't care about streaming video, I could save like $10-$20 a month on my internet. Which effectively means I'm paying an extra $10-$20 a month for "TV," because if I didn't depend on streaming for many of my needs I could go with DSL for half the price and deal with the fact that we only get 1.5Mbps (1.2Mbps effective) from DSL where I live. Not enough for streaming, but more than enough for most gaming/browsing/etc.

  • mantis23mantis23 Registered User regular
    I have to agree that the biggest factor in the death of the video store wasn't netflix or redbox but the Movie industry's switch from "priced to rent" to "priced to own" during the VHS to DVD transition. It was literally a built in protection for the video rental industry. With the rare exception of megahit movies like Titanic, nearly every movie cost $100 when they were first released so only rental stores would buy them to rent out. renting a movie was the only real option you had for the first 6-9 months a movie was available until the eventually dropped the price to $20 so the general public could buy it.

    0y6kx4rwubui.jpg
  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    mantis23 wrote: »
    I have to agree that the biggest factor in the death of the video store wasn't netflix or redbox but the Movie industry's switch from "priced to rent" to "priced to own" during the VHS to DVD transition. It was literally a built in protection for the video rental industry. With the rare exception of megahit movies like Titanic, nearly every movie cost $100 when they were first released so only rental stores would buy them to rent out. renting a movie was the only real option you had for the first 6-9 months a movie was available until the eventually dropped the price to $20 so the general public could buy it.

    Yup. Cut the shit out of rentals. Obviously a lot of movies still weren't worth the $20 to own, but were perhaps worth the $5 to rent...and which are which varied between customers. But for an individual customer that meant that some significant portion of movies that they'd otherwise have rented they bought instead.

    Like, why the fuck would I pay $5 to rent The Dark Knight when I can buy it for $20? Or even $15, on sale down at Target, this weekend only?

    Then Redbox came along and attacked them from the other end...why pay $5 to rent it for three days, pay $1 to watch it tonight.


    That same transition made stocking new releases fun, too. For a while videostores still stocked a ton of VHS, but pretty quickly the attitude shifted to "fuck you, buy a DVD player if you want to rent it." Fun explaining to grandma why we only have two copies on VHS and eighteen on that newfangled DVD, though.

    mcdermott on
  • mantis23mantis23 Registered User regular
    mcdermott wrote: »
    mantis23 wrote: »
    I have to agree that the biggest factor in the death of the video store wasn't netflix or redbox but the Movie industry's switch from "priced to rent" to "priced to own" during the VHS to DVD transition. It was literally a built in protection for the video rental industry. With the rare exception of megahit movies like Titanic, nearly every movie cost $100 when they were first released so only rental stores would buy them to rent out. renting a movie was the only real option you had for the first 6-9 months a movie was available until the eventually dropped the price to $20 so the general public could buy it.

    Yup. Cut the shit out of rentals. Obviously a lot of movies still weren't worth the $20 to own, but were perhaps worth the $5 to rent...and which are which varied between customers. But for an individual customer that meant that some significant portion of movies that they'd otherwise have rented they bought instead.

    Like, why the fuck would I pay $5 to rent The Dark Knight when I can buy it for $20? Or even $15, on sale down at Target, this weekend only?

    Then Redbox came along and attacked them from the other end...why pay $5 to rent it for three days, pay $1 to watch it tonight.


    That same transition made stocking new releases fun, too. For a while videostores still stocked a ton of VHS, but pretty quickly the attitude shifted to "fuck you, buy a DVD player if you want to rent it." Fun explaining to grandma why we only have two copies on VHS and eighteen on that newfangled DVD, though.

    ugh the single worst thing about old people and the VHS to DVD transition was trying and failing to explain letterbox. People would swear up and down that the black bars were cutting off the heads of people and they couldn't see everything.

    0y6kx4rwubui.jpg
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    mantis23 wrote: »
    mcdermott wrote: »
    mantis23 wrote: »
    I have to agree that the biggest factor in the death of the video store wasn't netflix or redbox but the Movie industry's switch from "priced to rent" to "priced to own" during the VHS to DVD transition. It was literally a built in protection for the video rental industry. With the rare exception of megahit movies like Titanic, nearly every movie cost $100 when they were first released so only rental stores would buy them to rent out. renting a movie was the only real option you had for the first 6-9 months a movie was available until the eventually dropped the price to $20 so the general public could buy it.

    Yup. Cut the shit out of rentals. Obviously a lot of movies still weren't worth the $20 to own, but were perhaps worth the $5 to rent...and which are which varied between customers. But for an individual customer that meant that some significant portion of movies that they'd otherwise have rented they bought instead.

    Like, why the fuck would I pay $5 to rent The Dark Knight when I can buy it for $20? Or even $15, on sale down at Target, this weekend only?

    Then Redbox came along and attacked them from the other end...why pay $5 to rent it for three days, pay $1 to watch it tonight.


    That same transition made stocking new releases fun, too. For a while videostores still stocked a ton of VHS, but pretty quickly the attitude shifted to "fuck you, buy a DVD player if you want to rent it." Fun explaining to grandma why we only have two copies on VHS and eighteen on that newfangled DVD, though.

    ugh the single worst thing about old people and the VHS to DVD transition was trying and failing to explain letterbox. People would swear up and down that the black bars were cutting off the heads of people and they couldn't see everything.

    Remember when movies had completely different "fullscreen" and "widescreen" editions just for dinks like those? I don't miss those days.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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