Renting a good movie to watch used to be an awesome thrill for me. Streaming movies and getting them in the mail is still good, but I do hate that the nostalgia of going into a video store is basically gone.
I remember as a child in the mid 80s, we had just bought a VCR. We rented movies from the local video store every weekend. It was a new experience to see unedited movies outside of the theatre. When I became old enough, I got my own membership to Blockbuster Video. It was liberating to be able to rent and return my own movies. You had to have them back and rewinded on time or you were subject to fines.
When DVDs came along, the similar principle applied, minus the rewinding. Then Netflix became popular for their mail in rental system. You could have unlimited rentals, no due dates for a flat monthly fee. Blockbuster tried the same thing. For a while, both Netflix and Blockbuster were at war, to see who could win the most customers. I remained loyal to Blockbuster. They had better service and rates, and quality of DVDs. Before I began this blog, I even did a note on Facebook about Blockbuster, Netflix, and now even Redbox.
Redbox changed the game to another level. It's hard to beat being able to rent movies for only $1/night, and only being charged a dollar late fee for every night you were late. You also didn't have to wait in the mail for your movie to arrive. Both Netflix and Blockbuster then began allowing subscribers to stream movies online and via their Blu Ray players and PS3. It appeared Netflix had the edge, however, and leads the movie rental business currently. Blockbuster even tried setting up blue rental kiosks similar to Redbox.However, those haven't worked out as well.
It appears Blockbuster is fading into obscurity. They are becoming like Quincys, Ryans, Shoneys and pay phones. Obsolete, hard to find, lesser quality and thus insignificant.
However, I have been with Blockbuster since the 90s and I'm sticking with them until they fold. Their customer service is top notch, as our their selection of movies. Plus they offer numerous discounts. They were once a leading force. Now they are like the old man in the club that every girl ignores and finds creepy.
There will be another competitor or innovator rise up and challenge Netflix and Redbox, and change the movie rental game once again. I have a feeling smartphones and social media will be involved, but watch and wait for it. It will be almost, if not more, exciting than the movie or TV show you just streamed from Netflix.
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