RIP Blockbuster

[lakedude]

The Shiz

It is Blockbuster that we say we are not going to miss, not the mom n pops. Blockbuster was always too high and I never understood why anyone would rent from them ever, even while they were booming. Seemed like there were always better/cheaper alternatives.

Unlike some of the others I don't miss the socal aspect because a group of people could typically never decide on just one movie which was very annoying.

 

[Ichinisan]

I hate them for vandalizing what are now collectible retro games with those stupid stickers on SNES and N64 carts that damage the label if you try to remove them.

Worse was Hollywood Video who branded and melted the plastic! FU.

The label thing was intentional. They didn't want someone to disassemble a game cartridge and swap the board inside.

 

[Ichinisan]

lol - just too funny, someone calling someone else stupid and they can't spell Moron.

Urban dictionary
moran
A moron's spelling of the word moron which means idiot.

Every instance of "moran" on the Internet is a deliberate reference to the ubiquitous "get a brain morans" pic, which went viral many years ago. Get a clue.

 

[Doppel]

The Shiz

It is Blockbuster that we say we are not going to miss, not the mom n pops. Blockbuster was always too high and I never understood why anyone would rent from them ever, even while they were booming. Seemed like there were always better/cheaper alternatives.

Unlike some of the others I don't miss the socal aspect because a group of people could typically never decide on just one movie which was very annoying.

The thing is there WEREN'T always alternatives. I stopped going to BB in 2005 on principle and found an alternate source for my movies. In the ensuing years I went probably 2-3 more times. However, back in 2005 I went because there was nowhere else to rent movies. Maybe a selection of new releases only at the grocery store or something.

This is a problem in many industries: Somebody comes along and crushes the competition to death. It's why when a person says "Just stop shopping at walmart" they need to remember that the options you used to have may not be there anymore.

 

[Ichinisan]

I hardly ever post on these forums anymore but felt the need to chime in here. The death of the video rental store is the end of an era. My dad, to this day still runs a mom and pop rental business. He doesn't make much money and his business will likely end very soon as he retires. Years ago a blockbuster moved in right next door. He outlasted it. He outlasted it because his prices were good and his selection was deep. I browse redbox every once in a while but the selection is not very good. Sure, digital distribution is great but have a little respect for what came before. A lot of people have great memories of the VAST selection of movies at rental stores, even blockbuster. Going to one was fun. You look at the boxes, see what's new, check out the games selection. Now that is gone. You have an infinite selection and you typically do it by yourself. Walking into a video store was a group activity. you and some friends and family went somewhere and made decisions of what to rent. I really can't understand the animosity of most of the comments here. I guess I was on the inside since I could ask my dad to bring whatever movie or game I wanted home on a given night but I do believe something has been lost in the death of the video rental store. You can call it progress, you can complain about late charges and the walls of the same movie, but I'm sad to see it go. I'm not that old, I'm 34. To all you younger people you will also see things you hold nostalgia for now go as the years/decades pass. There is a blockbuster near my work and I walk around it every once in a while. Makes me wonder what will happen to it now. The end of an era. I don't say good riddance. I look back at the good times and question why the disdain. Blockbuster and the like provided a service people wanted at the time. Stop being an asshole just because you are behind a keyboard on the internet and you think you know everything. I was there 20 years ago, I was there 14+ years ago when I made an account on these forums. I suspect most of the hate is coming from young people who didn't live through it. my rant is over and I'll go back to sleep for another year until a topic touches a nerve with me.

RIP, rest in peace is adequate. I have fond memories while these days I see so many douchebags looking at their phones all the time. Think about an era where people related with one another. Kids went to the rental store together to find a movie. People paid attention to the people they were with over their phones. It was a good time. I fear for the future, and I'm dead serious about that.

-Shiz

I agree with all this, but it's definitely Blockbuster's fault this happened. They were slooow to embrace DVD. They were well positioned as strategic depots for distribution...to support a Netflix-like DVD-by-mail service or a Redbox-like vending machine service. If Blockbuster played their cards right, Netflix and Redbox wouldn't have been able to compete.

To compete with Netflix DVD-by-mail, Blockbuster should have always allowed you to return DVDs to the closest store. If your next movie isn't at that store, it should ship out immediately from the closest distribution center (and you don't have to wait for your last movie to reach the distribution center). Blockbuster would save $$ vs Netflix by shipping dozens of movies together from a store to the DC instead of paying for customers to ship each one individually. Customers would benefit by getting faster turn-around times and they could even select movies in-store if they wanted. Redbox-style machines would be stocked by the nearby store...with the stores acting as intermediary distribution centers. Service technicians would be based out of the stores and there would be a higher concentration of machines in towns that have a Blockbuster store. One machine would sit outside the local store and service customers at all hours...even when the store is closed.

Alas, Blockbuster did way too little, way too late. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

 

[FreshCrabLegs]

lol - just too funny, someone calling someone else stupid and they can't spell Moron.

Urban dictionary
moran
A moron's spelling of the word moron which means idiot.

quoted for stupidity...

 

[Crono]

RIP, rest in peace is adequate. I have fond memories while these days I see so many douchebags looking at their phones all the time. Think about an era where people related with one another. Kids went to the rental store together to find a movie. People paid attention to the people they were with over their phones. It was a good time. I fear for the future, and I'm dead serious about that.

-Shiz

We need to go back to the days of books. Or gathered around a fire.

It sounds like I'm being facetious, but I'm living serious about that.

 

[Crono]

lol - just too funny, someone calling someone else stupid and they can't spell Moron.

Urban dictionary
moran
A moron's spelling of the word moron which means idiot.

 

[rh71]

their stores were the perfect size for all the new urgent care centers popping up.

 

[lakedude]

...back in 2005 I went because there was nowhere else to rent movies.

I'm sure that depended on where you lived. IIRC in 2005 Hastings would have been my spot. There was also a local place with better deals as well, don't remember the name.

Of course now Hastings is on the way out as well.

 

[nickbits]

Ever instance of "moran" on the Internet is a deliberate reference to the ubiquitous "get a brain morans" pic, which went viral many years ago. Get a clue.

I think it needs to die. It had a good run.

 

[OutHouse]

we have one in my little town that is next to a grocery store. while getting food last weekend i said to my wife. damn blockbuster is still open? she said oh yea i forgot they were there. lol

 

[rockyct]

I'm still clinging onto my awesome online deal...$14.99 a month for 4 out at a time, including blu rays and games. I still get coupons for instore rentals but my local one closed earlier this year so that's useless. It used to be uber...4 out at a time, unlimited in store exchanges, plus coupons for game rentals. Le sigh.

Oh I loved how you could take your online movie and return it to the store where your online video would instantly be marked as returned (triggering your next movie in the mail) and you would get a rental at the store. At the very least, your online movie would come a day earlier. Then they changed it so that the online movie wouldn't be "returned" until you returned the movie you checked out at the store. Since I didn't get the grandfathered price like you did, that's when I ditched it for Netflix since their streaming catalog was starting to get good around then.

 

[alkemyst]

You are really over using that.

You should be using a female dog for anything you post.

 

[mugs]

Growing up in a rural area there was never one near me, we just had a small local chain ($3 per night vs $5 per week at Blockbuster... we always returned the next day). By the time I lived near a Blockbuster there was a Hollywood Video even closer, and they had unlimited rentals with 3 out at a time. I was all over that in my early 20s.

I've never understood the hate for Blockbuster. Do people hate them because they failed to adapt? They did adapt, they just did it late. But when they finally started a DVD by mail service it was better than Netflix.

I think it's unfortunate to see not just an iconic company but an iconic industry of the 80s-90s just disappear.

 

[lakedude]

http://www.theonion.com/video/historic-blockbuster-store-offers-glimpse-of-how-m,14233/

 

[silverpig]

This should be the last...

Not quite. The article said that franchisees can still operate B&M stores. So there are still some blockbuster stores out there, and they will slowly die out. We'll probably see another story when the last B&M blockbuster closes.

 

[Doppel]

I agree with all this, but it's definitely Blockbuster's fault this happened. They were slooow to embrace DVD. They were well positioned as strategic depots for distribution...to support a Netflix-like DVD-by-mail service or a Redbox-like vending machine service. If Blockbuster played their cards right, Netflix and Redbox wouldn't have been able to compete.

To compete with Netflix DVD-by-mail, Blockbuster should have always allowed you to return DVDs to the closest store. If your next movie isn't at that store, it should ship out immediately from the closest distribution center (and you don't have to wait for your last movie to reach the distribution center). Blockbuster would save $$ vs Netflix by shipping dozens of movies together from a store to the DC instead of paying for customers to ship each one individually. Customers would benefit by getting faster turn-around times and they could even select movies in-store if they wanted. Redbox-style machines would be stocked by the nearby store...with the stores acting as intermediary distribution centers. Service technicians would be based out of the stores and there would be a higher concentration of machines in towns that have a Blockbuster store. One machine would sit outside the local store and service customers at all hours...even when the store is closed.

Alas, Blockbuster did way too little, way too late. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

There are things they could have done to slow the bleeding, but at the end of the day physical media is a dead medium for movies, so they always would have been forced online to compete with streaming services. They could have become the premier one, instead of Netflix, though.

I frankly still cannot even fathom why so many people buy blu-ray discs of movies, many of them utterly shit ones. Go to walmart for example and you can see any number of new shitty movies for $20+. There's no way in the world any more than 2% of these purchases are watched enough to make it worth doing vs simply streaming the thing once.

 

[Triumph]

http://www.theonion.com/video/historic-blockbuster-store-offers-glimpse-of-how-m,14233/

lol. i wonder if some block buster higher ups reprimanded the local franchise for allowing this to be filmed in their store.

 

[PliotronX]

Since discovering Plex and Roku boxes, cable and blockbuster = teh noes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs_a_V6t9i8

 

[ch33zw1z]

meh, didn't care too much for blockbuster. After I got out of high school, college and work made movie watching much harder to portion off time for movie watching.. When I did rent a movie, it was usually West Coast video, or Hollywood video....due to price.

I love the digital media era that's begun, but we still get DVD's at RedBox or our local library.

So yea, I'm not going to shed any tears for BlockBuster. In my book, they're just like the rest of the media industry...too little too late.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

In my book, they're just like the rest of the media industry...too little too late.

What is this "book" you speak of?

I frankly still cannot even fathom why so many people buy blu-ray discs of movies, many of them utterly shit ones. Go to walmart for example and you can see any number of new shitty movies for $20+. There's no way in the world any more than 2% of these purchases are watched enough to make it worth doing vs simply streaming the thing once.

Blu-ray looks and sounds better. And not everyone shares your taste either. Shitty to you is must have for someone else. Crazy right?

 

[IronWing]

IIRC, I've been to Blockbuster twice in my life. The first time, Men in Black was the new thing and half the store was copies of MIB. I was surprised at how small the selection was. The second time I remember being annoyed by the employees and left w/o renting anything. Again the selection was terrible.

 

[Pardus]

I bet you didn't know that Office Max and Office Depot merged yesterday!

http://officedepotmaxmerger.com/

The merge for OM and OD won't help much, these two stores are getting crushed by online stores that beat there prices all the time.

 

[ch33zw1z]

What is this "book" you speak of?

My little book of opinions, stored in my noggin.