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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Soon, very soon, there will be no video rental stores.

It looks like that since Gates and Jobs predicted it, isn't that so? ;-)
 
What do you mean by "very soon." All the video rental stores including every Hollywood Video and Blockbuster near where I live have gone out of business. It's not going to happen very soon; it's already happened.

I will admit though, I prefer Netflix much better. I mean, actually driving to a video rental store to get a movie? That's like, SO 2005...

(See what I did there; that was a joke. Ha ha.)
 
Read this very sad story about the death of one of the last major independent video rental stores in Los Angeles:

http://zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2011/10/12/my-store-just-died/read/who-we-were/

Very thoughtful comments by the former manager of Rocket Video, who concludes:

Hollywood is a tough place. Landmarks get demolished. The Brown Derby is gone. The Tail o’ the Pup hot dog stand is in some warehouse in Torrance. In traffic, drivers swerve manically and cut you off, as if to signal they have to get there before you. In a culture so inward-looking and self-centered, focused only on the next big thing, we easily forget the paths and paving stones that led us to where we are. Film history is important to Los Angeles. A sense of community is scarce. Rocket Video offered both those things. I don’t know if Angelenos will miss a place like Rocket right away, but I think they will eventually. I know I already do.
 
I predicted that to.... as well arcades.....shopping malls....but cinema......i still need a place to make out in public
 
Brian Iannone said:
What do you mean by "very soon." All the video rental stores including every Hollywood Video and Blockbuster near where I live have gone out of business. It's not going to happen very soon; it's already happened.

I will admit though, I prefer Netflix much better. I mean, actually driving to a video rental store to get a movie? That's like, SO 2005...

(See what I did there; that was a joke. Ha ha.)
Click to expand...

Block buster and hollywood video were run under a bad business model, that's why they tanked. Too much over head, over compitition etc... The little mom and pop shop around the owner is doing well right now.
 
The last video rental store near me went under about 4 months ago. When Rogers Video and blockbuster when under, I think I spent about $800-$900 bucks for close to $2000 worth of movies and games. It was awesome. Rogers had a "buy 1 get 2 free" deal going on....

It sucks because I like physical media, and I was very sad to see them go. There's something that's just fun going to a video store and picking out a movie or two. It's an experience, one that I was happy to pay for.

Netflix, not so much....
 
Rental store? What are those? Haven't heard the word in... ages. ;-)
 
I hardly ever rented. It's way too expensive.

If anything I'd say Amazon and ebay killed the rental store. Why rent a "used" dvd when you can buy a "used" dvd online for the same price or less, and then keep it.
 
Michael Dalton said:
The little mom and pop shop around the owner is doing well right now.
Click to expand...

Same here in New York. People actively reject Netflix in order to have the physical experience Mark talks about... but me, man, I'm about to go watch Black Power Mixtape on Netflix...
 
I wonder if the online rental model could work for the local video store, instead of paying for individual discs for x days you pay for a membership to the store which entitles you to have x number of discs out at once depending on which monthly package you selected.
No late fees but you can't get out a new movie until you've brought back the old one and you could even pay extra for delivery, unlike an online model were you have to wait till the next day you could get the movie within an 30 minutes on blu-ray disc.
I think that would be pretty cool but that's just me.
 
Every time I drive by my local Blockbuster, I am in awe that they can keep the doors open. No one goes in or out, seriously. If I were to walk inside and see the rotting corpse of a forgotten employee at the front counter, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

I like physical media. And would prefer to own a physical copy of all my movies. Then one of the many voices in my head, the logical one, speaks out to remind me of all the VHS tapes and DVDs I own or have owned.... How many spend most of their lives on my shelves, unwatched. How many I want to replace with better formats... Blu-Ray... RED-RAY, etc.. Screw it, I'd rather just pay my $9/month for a service like Netflix or $3 to watch a movie and be done with it. Got better things to do than horde physical media that will eventually grow obsolete and unplayable on future hardware.

Won't be long before Netflix has everything and iTunes has subscription services. Not to mention others in the running like Vudu, Amazon, etc...
 
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The one thing I truly miss about the video store is wandering around with your friends on a Friday night looking through all the movies. You would have no idea what you were going to watch. There was quite a bit of discovery. It was from this wandering adventure that I stumbled upon Clerks, Reservoir Dogs, and Boondock Saints.

This also would make for a good 2nd or 3rd date night.
 
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