nypost.com — His message, according to a studio exec involved in the discussions: that there would be "serious ramifications" if the studios hopped in bed with Apple. The situation between Bentonville and Hollywood has gotten so heated and so high-level that Jobs recently phoned Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott to ask him to moderate his stance, according to a source.
Sep 22, 2006 View in Crawl 4
nufluxSep 22, 2006
Looks like someone's running scared. Nothing sounds like desperation more than "you'll all be sorry!!!"
thewriteguySep 22, 2006
Either go to Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. to buy DVDs... or buy them online from Amazon or Buy.com. Heck, I've never once bought a DVD at Wal-Mart. For some reason, it's never been appealing to me to buy my entertainment media from Wal-Mart.
reno582Sep 23, 2006
the movies are at 640x480, what kind of threat is that to dvds?
toecheeseSep 23, 2006
I go to Target which tries to play fair but in an interview they stated that some of there unfair maneuvers are only to be able to compete with Walmart. They pay their employees a fair wage with health coverage. A Walmart/Sam's Club recently opened in my area and in about one year's time the nearby mall has more than 50% of it's locations vacant.From what I have read Costco also is a good corporation to work for and was recently criticized by trade publications for paying their employees too much! The CEO had a base salary of $350k and only recently accepted an increase because of pressure from the Board!Last thing about Walmart... According to a leaked memo they are looking to co-locate clinics in their stores and offer free checkups for their employees at these clinic. The clinic will have a say if the employee is really sick and should take a sick day. What kind of BS is this!!!
amusive2Sep 23, 2006
Instead of bullying Hollywood why doesn't Wal Mart renegotiate with Hollywood. They should get Hollywood to provide them with a version of the Movie that could work on iPods or whatever. Then give the consumer a reason to come to the store to buy the DVD. For example the could offer a service where you put $5 down to pre order a new release. When the DVD comes out you can put the $5 towards the price of the DVD or use the $5 to get an extra version of the movie that will play on an iPod or some othe device. Walmart sells music online, why not movies too?I understand that my scenerio is not as easy as it sounds, but I think that Wal Mart should think creatively to compete with this new market, not bully others to destroy it.
praeburnSep 23, 2006
I find if funny that there are people that justify companies like Wal-Mart on the basis that they are a result of the "free market", yet the US still has trade tarifs (GASP, government control of bussiness).With 8 years of conservative government, its not like bussiness oriented politians have not had opportunity. The only country in the world not to have trade tariffs is US occupied Iraq, a move which breifly fed the people, and the destroyed what remained of the farming and manufacturing industries, creating 60% unemployment. They were able to feed themselves and used to be an exporter of produce.But don't fear, you may not be too far behind, ten years ago you used to buy as much as you sold to Iraq, now you buy $5 billon dollars more than you sell, not to mention you sky rocketing national debt. Good luck with that.
macparrotSep 23, 2006
Amazing, You guys make it sound like DVDs are the be-all and end-all to watching video. The current state of digital downloads for video isn't that great. It will get better. It might come from Apple or it might not. Physical media for audio and video is going away. BlueRay? HD-DVD? Moot point as by the time they actually work out which has the potential to be successful, digital downloading will be here with good enough quality to make it a decent experience. Think about state of the art for online 10 years ago as compared to now. 56k to 4-7M is pretty amazing and it will only get faster.So, file size gets smaller, online speed gets faster, physical media goes away. Sell that Blockbuster stock, they are as doomed as the dinos.
devoinregressSep 25, 2006
No, WallMart has a huge grip on Hollywood. Most of America lives in relitively unattached small towns with a Wallmart and maby a small video rental store. Middle America is extreamly powerful. I don't live in it but many people do.
av1dSep 25, 2006
Black death to the Waltons.