I think Bluray is going to die as well. Not right away because that is a lot of data that our bandwidth can't deal with atm. I think more people will be willing to deal with a slightly lower quality from (netflix/vod/ppv) than are willing to drive to a video store to rent a movie.
There are just too many choices nowadays. Back in the 80s/90s, that was the theaters, video stores and cable that was it.
Now you have internet, BT, zip.ca, VOD, netflix streaming, direct purchase and many more varieties of the same coming in not too distant future like Amazon streaming or Apple TV. Not to mention that internet and other technologies took away a huge amount of time people used to devote to watching videos.
Disc format of any kind won't survive the next 10 years.
To think at one point in time, everyone was saying the theater was going to be the thing of the past with the advent of video stores. Since theaters were able to re-invent themselves, they are still around and thriving, while video stores are the dying breed.
Re: 1. That's the whole point. They don't really make money on rentals anymore. Getting rid of that maze would probably cost them more, than the business garnered from not getting rid of it.
i understand that was what they were trying to do, but I hated it and stopped shopping there.
karma sucks for them. maybe if they werent trying to engineer their hands into my wallet and instead providing a more customer friendly shopping experience they wouldnt be out of business?
They no longer are paying out vacation time to employees. My sister just took a week off and through their HR loopholes on how vacation time is earned she is only getting paid for 2 of those 5 days now
i understand that was what they were trying to do, but I hated it and stopped shopping there.
karma sucks for them. maybe if they werent trying to engineer their hands into my wallet and instead providing a more customer friendly shopping experience they wouldnt be out of business?
Yes they would be. They aren't going out of business because they make you line up beside candy, they're going out of business because technology is making their primary product obsolete.
As far as engineering their hands into your wallet, I hate to burst your bubble but many companies do that, probably in ways you don't even realize. Seems strange to hold a grudge against Blockbuster for that. You must've been suckered into buying a lot of starburst with your movie rentals.
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A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
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I don't think disc media is going anywhere while we have bandwidth limitations and caps imposed by ISPs.
I tend to agree, but who knows what the limits are in a couple of years. Considering a BR disc holds roughly 50gigs of info, 2 BR discs and you're already past your downloaded cap. Now I know that a movie doesn't have to take the full capacity of the disc, but stuff like uncompressed sound can take up a ton of space.
I still use Blockbuster. Never to rent though. I like going in a few weeks after a new release comes out and getting BOGO blu rays.
Probably 75% of my blu-ray collection comes from sales at BBV and Rogers. I don't think these companies make all that much money off guys like us. We're essentially vulture picking at clearance items.
Can't say I didn't see it coming for them, but I will miss the video store. Still have the occasional movie night with renting 2-3 movies. I always liked walking around the aisles, wondering if a movie was any good or not, and not really knowing until after you got it.
Yes they would be. They aren't going out of business because they make you line up beside candy, they're going out of business because technology is making their primary product obsolete.
As far as engineering their hands into your wallet, I hate to burst your bubble but many companies do that, probably in ways you don't even realize. Seems strange to hold a grudge against Blockbuster for that. You must've been suckered into buying a lot of starburst with your movie rentals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Show me a successful business that isn't trying to engineer their hands in your wallet.
i get it and you are both right ... however, i support companies that earn my money by providing value and customer experience. clearly BB missed out on that and while no they did not go out of business because they made me stand in the candy line, it was a by product of them focussing their "hands in my wallet" strategies in the wrong place.
I tend to agree, but who knows what the limits are in a couple of years. Considering a BR disc holds roughly 50gigs of info, 2 BR discs and you're already past your downloaded cap. Now I know that a movie doesn't have to take the full capacity of the disc, but stuff like uncompressed sound can take up a ton of space.
Who is going to stream a fully uncompressed BluRay movie? Honestly, the compression and streaming formats we have today are good enough for any 1080p TV.
If people are going to be videophiles about quality, then they will buy the actual discs but most people don't actually care that much about quality as they are obviously still impressed by the highly compressed 720p TV we get for "HD" cable and satellite, etc.
Most people just don't know better and can't tell the difference. Most people who went to Blockbuster still rented regular DVDs.
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Can't say I didn't see it coming for them, but I will miss the video store. Still have the occasional movie night with renting 2-3 movies. I always liked walking around the aisles, wondering if a movie was any good or not, and not really knowing until after you got it.
I can totally live without that totally moribund and depressing experience.
That includes both walking around the dead store full of garbage and zombies and a depressing library of rentals where 75% of the store was remodelled to be for sales and not rentals...and going home to find out your $5 movie is a POS and then having to return it in the morning.
We just need Hulu and Netflix to get in gear and overcome liscensing issues and the CRTC to be abolished.
I do miss the old days of going with friends to the video store and taking nearly an hour to decide which hour and 20 minute movie to watch. It was also a great way to get exposed to some really terrible, schlocky B movie stuff. Jumbo video on Bow trail had some great obscure movies (and popcorn!)
I also miss going to Esso Plaza two times a week for dollar movies. Tiny theatres for the win!
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You know, I used to be really hardcore against streaming torrents. I considered it stealing.
Then the other day, I popped in a movie I got from Netflix, and I couldn't skip any of the commercials, previews, or warnings. Not only couldn't I skip them... I couldn't even fast forward them.
That's the first time I'd ever seen that. It was too much to take. Especially for POS like "Skyline". I'm pretty much good with streaming from now on.
I guess it's still stealing - but if you're going to subject me to unfastforwardable commercials... all bets are off.
Who actually uses Netflix's mail service? I just stream Netflix and the movies appear instantly with no commericals or even FBI warnings. I can start and stop anything and jump to anywhere and it remembers where I left off when I close my browser, etc.
Netflix Canada's online selection sucks compared to the US one but it's not bad. I'm still trying to do a proxy VPN fandangle bit with my US bank account to access the American Netflix. I'd like Hulu Plus as well.
If I have to use the Netflix Canada service though, I just keep signing up for free trial months under different accounts. I've had 3 months free so far.
