Today I saw that the blockbuster down the street from me is closing. Now I haven't been in it for probably a couple of years, but I sure used to spend a lot of time in there. Now I just use Netflix.
Although the chain has supposedly been saved by the sale to Dish, I'm guessing that won't last. It will be like the Borders deal, where a number of stores closed up, then a year later the entire company went under.
This is technology today. First you had to go to the theater to watch a movie. Then they showed up on TV. Then came video tape & DVD's. Then along came Netflix to not only mail DVD's to you, but also to stream directly to your computer or TV.
The problem is that streaming isn't that good. Most of Netflix's streams are 60's-70's-80's movies. This is because the studios don't like the technology. They want you to go to the theater & pay $15 a movie. that isn't going to fly anymore. They just don't understand that. But apparently people will deal with the older movies, since according to something I read Netflix has more streaming customers than DVD customers. That surprises me.
I streamed a movie last week. The Three Musketeers (1973) with Michael York, Charlton Heston & Raquel Welch as comic relief. I saw it when it first came out. I went on my account & noticed that I hadn't streamed anything since July! I watch the DVD's that come in the mail, but stream old films? Not that interested.
So the question becomes: Blockbuster today, what is next? CBS hasn't shown two consecutive episodes of anything for 3 months. So I have to deal with cable. Maybe streaming will be all that's available.
I used to spend a lot of time in Blockbuster stores as well, so it’s definitely pretty surreal to see so many stores closing down. In all reality to me though, I just see it as a bigger advantage in their streaming and mailing options. We all know that a lot of people would prefer to walk to their mailbox for a movie instead of driving to the nearest Blockbuster, so I can see that as a main reason to why so many are closing down. I haven’t been in-store in a while either, but I do love that I still have that option if I want with my Blockbuster @Home package through Dish. It’s very convenient for me since I’ve been a long time Dish subscriber and can get everything now on one bill as opposed to when I had a previous Netflix account as well. I also get games in addition to DVD’s by mail, streaming options to my TV and PC and a bunch of premium movie channels like EPIX all for only $10 a month. Blu-rays and games don’t cost anything extra and like I mentioned I can do an unlimited amount of in-store exchanges if I want. I also just heard from one of my co-workers at Dish that thousands of additional titles have been added to the package, so I’m pretty excited about that! I guess only time will tell what eventually will happen with all the Blockbuster stores, but till then I’ll enjoy them for as long as I can. :)
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