Blockbuster Happenings

T

Tim

Supreme [H]ardness
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May 4, 2000
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We got a twofer with Blockbuster today. In their efforts to shore up declining revenues, they have started two initiatives. One of which was a foregone conclusion with the end of the format war, that being the availability of Blu-Ray discs in their stores. The other item apparently in the works is an AppleTV rival.

A Blockbuster spokesperson declined to comment about this specific rumor, but it confirmed that they are working with various partners “about products, services, alliances and initiatives that can help us achieve our mission to transform Blockbuster into a company that provides access to media content across multiple channels”
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good for them. they are one of those companies who ripped people off with latefees and high rental prices for years (but nobody was forced to go there so whatever) but at least they are open minded about their business approach. when i switched to blockbuster@home over netflix i was perfectly happy with the service, especially since i could get a couple free rentals at the box store every month...
 
also, maybe this could be a perfect outlet for Microsoft to get into the 'appleTV' sister business. someone will have to make an appleTV rival, why not MS/Blockbuster?
 
Well, they didn't have "There Will be Blood" in bluray so I had to rent it in normal DVD. Kinda sicks. If they fix that situation all the better.

Bluray really isn't prime time yet, not until all new releases come out in both formats always. The stores really need to flesh out the bluray disks as well, its a pretty sparse choice still.
 
BludyRutz said:
good for them. they are one of those companies who ripped people off with latefees and high rental prices for years (but nobody was forced to go there so whatever) but at least they are open minded about their business approach. when i switched to blockbuster@home over netflix i was perfectly happy with the service, especially since i could get a couple free rentals at the box store every month...
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I've actually gone the other route, switching from blockbuster to Netflix.
For two reasons: 1) I'd been with Blockbuster for nearly my whole life, and signed up with the movie-by-mail service the moment they started it (5-6 years ago)--Blockbuster increased subscription fees and reduced/altered the benefits to the plans 8 or 9 times since they began. 2) Netflix has a download/streaming service, and I didn't see using once service to rent physical media and using another to rent/buy downloadable content.

I've also tried Vongo, Amazon Unbox, Joost, and submitted an application for Microsoft's "Nemo" beta.

The problem I've had so far with download/streaming services is the lack of depth in the movie libraries and lower quality of video on some services. It seems the major motion picture companies are still 'iffy' when it comes to licensing rental video over IP and VoD or Video over IP still doesn't have a fully guaranteed QoS platform, yet.
*Though, Vongo had it's own problems: They dropped 64bit support towards the end of last year and told me to just wait..
 
I was thrilled that when we went by yesterday to exchange our mailed HD DVDs, they had Blu-Ray in-store! It's about time, considering the Hasting's in town has had Hi-Def rentals since Christmas time.

I'm just glad their finally getting them in store.
 
This unfortunately does nothing for folks like me. I just wish my Blockbuster would seriously inspect their DVDs and game discs when people return them, and then go after the idiots who take a perfectly good disc and leave it looking like they tested out some sandpaper on it. If they could do that for me, I don't give a damn what else they do.

I guess I don't understand why Hollywood video doesn't seem to have this problem, but Blockbuster does. Out of all the times I've ever had that problem between the two I had ONE from Hollywood video and even then the guy had stopped and informed me that the disc looked pretty scratched up, and left it up to ME to decide if I'd try it anyway or get another game instead. That extra mile is exactly why I stopped going to Blockbuster. I only started going back for a little bit because the Hollywood by me closed down.
 
Great.. another set-top-box.. can't these companies stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just create a media center plugin or something?
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
This unfortunately does nothing for folks like me. I just wish my Blockbuster would seriously inspect their DVDs and game discs when people return them, and then go after the idiots who take a perfectly good disc and leave it looking like they tested out some sandpaper on it. If they could do that for me, I don't give a damn what else they do.

I guess I don't understand why Hollywood video doesn't seem to have this problem, but Blockbuster does. Out of all the times I've ever had that problem between the two I had ONE from Hollywood video and even then the guy had stopped and informed me that the disc looked pretty scratched up, and left it up to ME to decide if I'd try it anyway or get another game instead. That extra mile is exactly why I stopped going to Blockbuster. I only started going back for a little bit because the Hollywood by me closed down.
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Yeah I completely agree, DVD's from blockbuster sucked. I would always find DVD's with scratches and would always skip 3-4 times. I now get DVD's from netflix and have only had 2 dvd's that had problems playing out of 30+ so far, and the 2 that did have problems only one had major problems, the other one skipped only once during the movie.
 
Why doesn't Blockbuster shut down their brick and mortar stores and adopt a format like Netflix. I don't have the time/interest/patience to visit a store, peruse the isles or stand in line when I can just add titles to my queue on-line.

Actually, I thought Blockbuster died already...
 
ICOM said:
Why doesn't Blockbuster shut down their brick and mortar stores and adopt a format like Netflix. I don't have the time/interest/patience to visit a store, peruse the isles or stand in line when I can just add titles to my queue on-line.
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Maybe because not everyone shares your outlook on the B&M approach. People like my wife and I still like the convenience of deciding we want to watch a movie tonight and can take our mailed DVD in to exchange it for another one tonight. (I have seen Netflix's internet movie quality; not impressed). Call it instant gratification if you like, but with our busy schedule we're not always sure when we'll have a free evening to watch a movie, and it sure is nice to not have to say "let's add it to our queue (which we do anyway for the mailed BB movies) and hope we have time to watch it in two days when it arrives."

It's not that I'm some Blockbuster fanboy...I just grow so tired of the fact that so many people have a complete inability to recognize that not everyone thinks the way they do, and cannot/will not consider things from other points of view, instead believing that everyone should feel the way they do about things. Drives me nuts.

[/rant]
 
Uh, i dont always like circuit city, but if blockbuster bought them... uh.. ill probably never go there again. i dont mind blockbuster for movie rentals, but they fuck that up lots- i dont see any way that company could run circuit city... properly anyway....
 
TexasAg05 said:
Maybe because not everyone shares your outlook on the B&M approach. People like my wife and I still like the convenience of deciding we want to watch a movie tonight and can take our mailed DVD in to exchange it for another one tonight. (I have seen Netflix's internet movie quality; not impressed). Call it instant gratification if you like, but with our busy schedule we're not always sure when we'll have a free evening to watch a movie, and it sure is nice to not have to say "let's add it to our queue (which we do anyway for the mailed BB movies) and hope we have time to watch it in two days when it arrives."

It's not that I'm some Blockbuster fanboy...I just grow so tired of the fact that so many people have a complete inability to recognize that not everyone thinks the way they do, and cannot/will not consider things from other points of view, instead believing that everyone should feel the way they do about things. Drives me nuts.

[/rant]
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Fair enough.

I was expanding on the idea that Blockbusters B&M stores might be experiencing the end of its life cycle. In my neighborhood, 2 video stores have closed shop and the only Blockbuster in town always has an empty parking lot. It might be more profitable if Blockbuster changed the way it does business. Going on-line only worked for Egg Head.
 
ICOM said:
Fair enough.

I was expanding on the idea that Blockbusters B&M stores might be experiencing the end of its life cycle. In my neighborhood, 2 video stores have closed shop and the only Blockbuster in town always has an empty parking lot. It might be more profitable if Blockbuster changed the way it does business. Going on-line only worked for Egg Head.
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Good point. Egg Head's switch is a great example of precedent...surely there is lower overhead in being online only, and I admit with the advent of digital downloads and on-demand movies, the necessity of B&M rental joints is decreasing.

We're in a small college town in mid-Missouri (~16000), and where Charter Cable or Embarq DSL are the only two affordable internet options, the lack of bandwidth keeps the three rental stores here pretty busy.
 
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