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63 Comments
- JackSchittt, on 11/11/2009, -1/+35This idea has FAIL written all over it.
The people who would know how the hell to get this to work right would never bother to use it, and your average video store customer would have no idea what the hell to do. - mnpilot, on 11/10/2009, -10/+35Will you please ***** die already.....how does this company stay alive???
- milsorgn, on 11/10/2009, -2/+26All the blockbusters in my town have shuttered... This would of been a great idea like 5 years ago.
I do like the SD route tho, SD+Xvid+Tv=Awesome. - PhantomJM, on 11/11/2009, -1/+21With services like Netflix & online digital distribution, Blockbuster is grasping at straws here. I can see it now - grandma trying to plug an SD card into her VCR. Fail.
- burgerboy06, on 11/11/2009, -0/+17people that don't know how to use the internet are the main consumers at video stores. and there are a lot of people that do not know how to use the internet.
- pinchduck, on 11/11/2009, -1/+15I'd rather browse a selection, pick up a movie, and take it home then wait for the mail. People like me is probably the biggest reason they are still around.
- RichMUrrills, on 11/11/2009, -2/+12Does this mean they're moving on from stocking BetaMax cassettes?
- seinman, on 11/11/2009, -2/+10If you watch new and/or mainstream movies, sure. Redbox is useless if you're trying to get anything more than a couple months old, though. They can only fit so many DVDs in those things, so they only keep new releases.
I use Redbox if I want a movie that has come out recently AND was a major studio release. For anything obscure or older, though, Blockbuster is the place to go in my town. - BREZZZ, on 11/11/2009, -4/+12Why? If they want to be around they can, it hurts nobody. and they are at least trying to bring new ideas out.
- ParasyteStuie, on 11/11/2009, -0/+8Anyone who owns the equipment to utilize this is just torrenting the movies. Fail!
- kinerry, on 11/11/2009, -4/+10RedBox owns blockbuster's nuts
- RudeTurnip, on 11/11/2009, -2/+7I turn on my Xbox 360, crack open a beer, browse through the Netflix library and watch a movie, often in HD, for a flat rate of $10/month. In this scenario, I get to be drunk while I'm selecting my film. I don't know where you're from, but drunk driving is illegal where I'm from.
- frousfroud, on 11/11/2009, -1/+6'As a Blockbuster employee for several years"
"And as it turns out, it's not $2, it's $4. They really don't get it."
"The price will not be $4, but $2 ... at least, for now." - RudeTurnip, on 11/11/2009, -0/+5I'm laughing at the thought of an elderly woman turning a VCR upside down to shake out the SD card she dropped in the slot.
- tnoy, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4The same one that has been trying to put the DVDs she's been getting from her local blockbuster for the past decade into a VCR?
- peestandingup, on 11/11/2009, -1/+5Actually, Netflix & other online streaming/torrents owns both their nuts.
- MikeyToo, on 11/11/2009, -1/+5Ok... let me see if I have this straight:
User buys/brings in SD card (FTA we're not really sure) and plugs it into the kiosk.
User picks a movie.
Kiosk starts copying the movie to the SD card.
User waits.
User waits.
User says "***** this!" and goes to pick out a DVD.
I mean, given a 15MB/s transfer rate, it's going to take a little less than 5 minutes to transfer a "standard" (4GB) DVD worth of data. Yes, I'm sure they'll have some kind of compression, and perhaps faster cards, but it's STILL going to much longer than picking a movie off a shelf our out of a RedBox kiosk.
I dunno, maybe they're counting on the loiter factor.
I'm sorry if my post turns out to be redundant. I got called away from my desk in mid-post. Anyway, I'll stick with Netflix. I find myself using the Roku player and streaming service more than I do the DVD via mail anymore. - abkaf, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4I feel so conflicted. I want Blockbuster to die a painful death for all of the obscene late fees and arbitrary price increases they subject their customers to. I see them as another example of a company that cornered a market and used their position to screw their customers. Innovation, lowering costs and improving service to customers went out the window as part of Blockbuster's business plan and now they are getting what they deserve. It is a lesson more companies should take to heart, and I want this to be an example business owners will remember.
...But, we did have some good times. Remember way back when, before torrents and quality streaming video? Taking a trip to Blockbuster, walking through the aisles of possibilities; occasionally rummaging through the previously viewed bin of movies... which were still priced way to damn high. ***** it let them burn. - AmazingSteve, on 11/11/2009, -0/+4Oh God forbid Blockbuster should go under because of market forces and all those poor people will lose their jobs!!!! Cry me a ***** river. People tend to forget that when Blockbuster showed up on the scene back in the day, they drove every Mon & Pop video store within 20 miles of one of their stores out of business. Nobody was crying for the poor people's jobs then were they?
- paradigmxx, on 11/11/2009, -5/+8I like lame ass businesses going into the *****.
- darkphenox, on 11/11/2009, -0/+3I live in Canada so Netflix is not available but it kinda sounds like a pain if you want to see a movie at the moment and you haven't thought about it before hand, like having a girl over and she wants to see a movie that you don't have, so this leaves me wondering dose streaming have every movie? or are you out of luck if you want to see a older movie thats not available.
- TypeEE, on 11/11/2009, -0/+3May be redbox will implement it for $1.
- jivatmanx, on 11/11/2009, -1/+4Redbox is unbeatable in price and convenience - 1$/day, online reserving. Low selection though
Neflix has pretty much every movie and TV show ever made.
There's really not much room for blockbuster anymore, IMHO. - SteveLRowe, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2And during the 5 min wait you get bored and buy a $5 used movie or some popcorn. That's where they actually make the money
- cyberclown, on 11/11/2009, -1/+3How do you return the movie? Do you get to keep it for $2.00? SD cards can be put in USB adapters.
- brucealmighty, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2Blockbuster seems to have a business plan based on maximizing prices and inconveniences to their customers. Their concept of Customer Service is an obligatory greeting to each customer upon entering the store....but after that you can forget about any actual customer service. At least that's been my experience. Not long ago there were 5 of them within a 5 minute drive for me. Now they are down only one...and I doubt that one will last much longer. Good Riddance.
- jshhmr, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2"I turn on my Xbox 360, crack open a beer, browse through the Netflix library and watch a movie"
That is until you get your inevitable red ring of death - jshhmr, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2So true. My mom and pop store would reserve a movie for me if they didn't have it. I have 3 Blockbusters within 1 mile, and ALL 3 are closing, selling off all of their store fixtures.
- levitron, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2About 10 years ago, Blockbuster set up shop right beside a locally owned video store (http://www.videoplusbooks.ca).
2 years ago, Blockbuster closed it's doors, and the local store expanded to a second location. The reason? The love movies, they listen to their customers, and treat them well. - seroevo, on 11/11/2009, -1/+3Blockbuster still has a place here in Canada, given that we don't have Netflix and Zip (our closest thing to Netflix) is antiquated as it's still mail-only.
I personally would rather go 5 min to a store and get a movie now than wait 2-3 days or, in the case of non-new releases, have to plan a movie weeks in advance.
The only download options are still too expensive and then limited to the Xbox or computer.
Either way, I worked at a Blockbuster for 5 years and their business decisions were always confusing at best. At least in Canada, they run the business based on ideals, not reality. - CPeanutG, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2What does "SD" stand for?
- Sirlolalot, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2I'm assuming you provide your own SD card, & the file will be similar to BBC iPlayer files, once you watch them they expire after 7days(or w/e timeframe is chosen)
No mention of other software too, you might need to install some bloatware from blockbuster to play the files. - veriix, on 11/11/2009, -0/+2You deserve a raise.
- freedomorfire, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1It's gonna get hacked.
- Truedirt, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1I knew that Blockbuster Videos was in an archaic business, but now,it seems like they are embarking in the business of torture as well.
- PacketPaul, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1I think it will fail ... but I like the concept. What we need to make this a success is DVD players need to start including SD card slots. Until that happens it is too complicated for the average joe.
But the concept is good. Blockbuster will be able to offer a much larger selection of movies and never run out! AND you don't have to return the movies, simply erase the SD card. Of course retailers may not like this idea as with Redbox each movie sold represents two visits to the store.
What I don't understand is why not simply offer the service as a download? Why do I have to drive to a kiosk?
. - JQP123, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2I like the idea.
This is not to say that I necessarily think it will succeed but I still like it. It is an obvious improvement over DVDs and Blu-ray and yes, RedBox. In some ways, it is an improvement over NetFlix too --- everything NetFlix has to offer instantly available from a kiosk --- no more waiting for DVDs in the mail (which is just totally lame IMO).
They just need to educate people how to make use of it. It's not too hard, just buy one of these (only $199) and hook it to your widescreen HDTV and viola. The required SD slot is already built in.
http://aceraspirerevo.com/
If I were Blockbuster, I'd look at producing my own specialized playback device. Make it as cheap as possible (maybe less than $50 if produced in quantity) and sell it at cost. - pinchduck, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2I'll be able to do the same on my PS3 as soon as the disc arrives. The only problem is that Netflix doesn't have the latest movies & TV shows available for streaming. They have a good selection, but it's mostly older stuff. Thankfully, it's still legal to drink and web surf!
- AmazingSteve, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Problem?
- tnoy, on 11/11/2009, -1/+2Yeah, I want a bunch of people to lose their jobs, too!
- jedinate, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1This would have been a great idea, 6 years ago. It this point in time, why leave the house to rent a movie? Between Netflix (discs and streaming), Amazon on Demand and PSN, I never have to leave the house for rentals.
- JQP123, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1"What I don't understand is why not simply offer the service as a download? Why do I have to drive to a kiosk?"
Average *theoretical* DSL speed is 1.5 MB/s. At actual, real world DSL rates, it takes about an hour to download a movie on a good day. - Yage2006, on 11/12/2009, -0/+1Blockbuster fail.
- scottpigeon, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1I've always wondered why some sort of card format, like SD or Hu-card, haven't begun replacing DVDs . It would be sweet to not worry about scratched discs anymore, and be able to store movies better. Maybe the media is still not cheap enough compared to discs to mass produce.
- JQP123, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1"... given a 15MB/s transfer rate, it's going to take a little less than 5 minutes to transfer a "standard" (4GB) DVD worth of data."
Technology may change this. Newer SD cards claim a sustained write rate of 22MB/s (Class 20). That's only about a 3 minute wait.
But another option is to pre-load the cards and only dispense them at the kiosk. Almost 20 cards will fit into the same area as one DVD (i.e. Redbox). - JQP123, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1"As others have said, it depends on being too tech-savvy,..."
Blockbuster could easily change this.
Think about what it would take to mass produce a specialized device that does nothing but output video from a SD flash card. Small, compact, no moving parts or lasers required, just plug it into your HDTV and you're ready to go.
They could probably do it for around $25 each. To help promote the concept, offer 5 free rentals with every purchase. - falconear, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1It's a neat idea, but it'll never work. As others have said, it depends on being too tech-savvy, and those people have better ways to get movies (and seem to universally hate Blockbuster.) Now, if this was done on an industry wide scale, I think SD is a decent replacement technology for DVDs or music CDs. I've been saying for a while they should retire the CD and release albums on flash drives - they're durable, easy to carry, and you could load them up with extras. If they're going to charge 15 bucks for a CD, why not?
- JQP123, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1"If I had to make a guess, this will probably be limited to Windows (and I'd think OSX, too) playback."
I think you're right. - St0neman, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Same damn company that charged me $20 late fee (back then, 5 years ago...). I never went back after I discovered On Demand (via cable) and BitTorrent (for stuff I can't get from on demand).
Good riddance. - tastypastry, on 11/11/2009, -0/+1Good times...brings a tear to my eye.
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