RedBox pulling their rental machines out of Canada

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by polak

I remember when Blockbuster tried getting rid of late fees but they couldn't pull it off. Besides taking Netflix more seriously, that was the one thing that could have saved them I think.

If Blockbuster bought Netflix or put out something like that around the same time, they'd be quite powerful.

Blockbuster once had the opportunity to buy Netflix outright as well.
http://www.businessinsider.com/block...netflix-2014-1
Tech More: TV Netflix Blockbuster The New Yorker
Netflix CEO Confesses He Tried To Sell The Company To Blockbuster ... But Blockbuster Wasn't Interested

The New Yorker's Ken Auletta wrote a profile of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and revealed that the now-shuttered video chain Blockbuster missed out on a great chance to purchase the fledgling company in 2000.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings flew out to Dallas that spring to meet with Blockbuster execs, who had 7,700 stores open at the time.

Netflix was losing money, had only 300,000 subscribers and relied on the U.S. postal service to deliver its movies to customers.

Reed wanted to form an alliance. Essentially, Netflix was willing to become Blockbuster's own streaming service. Hastings was going to sell a 49% stake in the company and take on the Blockbuster name ... but they decided to pass on it.

[cKy]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Blockbuster once had the opportunity to buy Netflix outright as well.
http://www.businessinsider.com/block...netflix-2014-1
Tech More: TV Netflix Blockbuster The New Yorker
Netflix CEO Confesses He Tried To Sell The Company To Blockbuster ... But Blockbuster Wasn't Interested

That's great and all, but even if they bought it there is no guarantee they wouldnt have run it into the ground.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by cupofjoe

This is so disappointing to me. I install home theatres / media rooms for my clients and ALWAYS recommended that they use redbox (or bought blurays) when watching movies. On a nice system, the differences between streaming or the arrrrr matie downloads are very significant.

Originally Posted by darklord700

I wholeheartedly agree but the people have spoken, they prefer convenience over quality.

Indeed. It's stupid when people spend a any amount of money researching and buying even halfway decent TV's, speakers, receivers, or to wire their home . . . and then cheaping out on the G damn source.

Why even fracking bother?!

Let alone the whole piracy stealing BS. Just because you can't afford it or are too damn cheap, doesn't give you the right to steal it. Having had the opportunity to meet many movie, music, book, and videogame creators - I'd be damn ashamed of myself and couldn't look them in the eye if I had stole their hard work.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by cKy

That's great and all, but even if they bought it there is no guarantee they wouldnt have run it into the ground.

Would have given them a real leg up on the streaming service instead of starting way behind the 8 ball years later.

[polak]

Originally Posted by chemgear

it or are too damn cheap, doesn't give you the right to steal it. Having had the opportunity to meet many movie, music, book, and videogame creators - I'd be damn ashamed of myself and couldn't look them in the eye if I had stole their hard work.

Movies still get the majority of their revenue from theaters. I personally still see movies that I would pay money to see in theaters. There is no way I'd pay 7 or 8 bucks to watch a movie that I didn't want to see in theaters. The movies most casual people pirate, are movies they normally wouldn't pay anything to see anyways. (There are the hardcores that pirate everything. I've never met anyone like that though so hard to comment).

Music was due for a market correction and the artists have adapted just fine. They make their money from shows. Lots and lots of it. Pirating single songs is actually suprisingly difficult these days. I don't even do it anymore.

Video Games and Software - Nothing to say here besides yeah it's theft, I haven't downloaded anything like this before so I don't really know if it's easy. I'm assuming it is? One thing to add, if you're not selling enough copies but your product is routinely pirated, maybe you've overestimated how much people are willing to pay?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by polak

Torrenting is super easy...

Yep. But if the day ever comes where I can download a high quality .mkv of a movie straight from the studio for $5-$10 I'd have no problem going totally legit for my movies. Louis CK became a trendsetter when he put his new comedy specials on his website to download with no DRM for $5, and he's made millions from that. The current price point on blu-rays is just too high for me to buy anything but my absolute favorite movies, and dealing with physical media in this day and age is an annoyance. When I can wait a few months and buy a $60 game on Steam for half that price or less, there's no reason why a blu-ray movie should still cost $20 or $30 even years after it's original release

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Video rental has gone the way record stores are. It is sad that everything is electronic now and you lack the connection with the hardware.

I'm not surprised Redbox going under. There are far too many options renting movies. Granted their blu ray has the best quality but people don't care about quality nowadays.

This kind of baffles me. TVs are getting huge and crystal clear, and some people seem happy with crap they downloaded.

This week I casually mentioned to someone my anticipation that the Game of Thrones BD was coming out in about two weeks, and they seemed perfectly content with their garbage copies they got from PickATorrentSite.com.

I love the crystal clear picture and great sound. Love it.

It's always a shame when a consumers lose out on any option, but this Red Box news hardly surprises me.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by polak

Video Games and Software - Nothing to say here besides yeah it's theft, I haven't downloaded anything like this before so I don't really know if it's easy. I'm assuming it is? One thing to add, if you're not selling enough copies but your product is routinely pirated, maybe you've overestimated how much people are willing to pay?

I'll admit, when I was younger I pirated a lot of PC games. It was super easy through torrent sites and newsgroups, and it was even advantageous because you'd avoid all the DVD checks and other DRM stuff that you'd have to put up with by buying the game. Mind you I still bought a lot of games too, but only ones I was sure I wanted. For others I wasn't totally sold on I'd just pirate them

Now though with Steam, it's more convenient for me to buy a game legitimately than to pirate it. Automatic updates, achievements and friend lists, and a nicely sorted library. Now I buy the games I really want at release, and for the ones I'm not sure of I just wait for a sale. The first studio that implements this kind of online store for their movies is going to make a lot of money I think

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Indeed. It's stupid when people spend a any amount of money researching and buying even halfway decent TV's, speakers, receivers, or to wire their home . . . and then cheaping out on the G damn source.

Why even fracking bother?!

Let alone the whole piracy stealing BS. Just because you can't afford it or are too damn cheap, doesn't give you the right to steal it. Having had the opportunity to meet many movie, music, book, and videogame creators - I'd be damn ashamed of myself and couldn't look them in the eye if I had stole their hard work.

The differenence is just not that great any more with better compression algorithms and higher bandwidth streaming sources. 1080p streams from Directv, Amazon, Vudu, Google all have the same resolution as blu ray. The compression artifacts are pretty tough to spot now. And if you can't see them, are they really there? A few years ago, compression ruined most streams with pixellated explosions, and muddled dark scenes. I'm pretty picky, but I just don't see them anymore.

The diminishing returns between a decent stream and a blu ray are just not worth it for the inconvenience of buying and maintaining a blu ray player, having to deal with an update every month so the new blu ray's play, going to the red box, paying $15 for the rental because you don't watch it the night you were planning on and then forget to return it for a week...

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by polak

Torrenting is super easy...

So easy even the FBI can do it.

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/c...pirate_bay_is/

[Erick Estrada]

I remember hanging around the desk for the better part of a half hour in hopes someone would drop a new release in the return box and that feeling of accomplishment when things actually worked out and you got your movie. Good times.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Yep. But if the day ever comes where I can download a high quality .mkv of a movie straight from the studio for $5-$10 I'd have no problem going totally legit for my movies. Louis CK became a trendsetter when he put his new comedy specials on his website to download with no DRM for $5, and he's made millions from that. The current price point on blu-rays is just too high for me to buy anything but my absolute favorite movies, and dealing with physical media in this day and age is an annoyance. When I can wait a few months and buy a $60 game on Steam for half that price or less, there's no reason why a blu-ray movie should still cost $20 or $30 even years after it's original release

I agree 100%. Like I said the only movies I torrent are ones that I wouldn't normally watch. I was going to make a list of the last few movies I torrented but I can't even remember what they were. It's very very rare for me to torrent.

But it's an option which we should thank since now that there's pretty much no competition for movie rentals, torrenting will continue to keep the VOD services in check.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

So easy even the FBI can do it.

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/c...pirate_bay_is/

It wouldn't make a lot of sense for the FBI to go through all that work.

1. They would have to allow millions of downloads to happen for the site to seem legit.

2. They can accomplish anything that running the site would allow them to just by monitoring the site and uploading bait?

[Igster]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

This kind of baffles me. TVs are getting huge and crystal clear, and some people seem happy with crap they downloaded.

So many people either don't care or don't know the difference. I find it amazing when I talk to people how little they know about the different formats, etc.

[RW99]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Yep. But if the day ever comes where I can download a high quality .mkv of a movie straight from the studio for $5-$10 I'd have no problem going totally legit for my movies. Louis CK became a trendsetter when he put his new comedy specials on his website to download with no DRM for $5, and he's made millions from that. The current price point on blu-rays is just too high for me to buy anything but my absolute favorite movies, and dealing with physical media in this day and age is an annoyance. When I can wait a few months and buy a $60 game on Steam for half that price or less, there's no reason why a blu-ray movie should still cost $20 or $30 even years after it's original release

x 2. I dont even really like comedy specials and I bought both of Louis CK's.

[Burninator]

Speaking of Louis CK, he came out with a new special last month.

https://www.louisck.net/purchase/liv...e-comedy-store

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I do remember and it was fun, but it's way better now. Remember when you went to get a new release and it was all out? That sucked.

I remember that more often than not, the older movie I rented in place of a new release was a better film.

[afc wimbledon]

I'm old enough to remember renting the movie and the VCR at the 7/11!
You little #######s don't know how good you got it.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Yep. But if the day ever comes where I can download a high quality .mkv of a movie straight from the studio for $5-$10 I'd have no problem going totally legit for my movies. Louis CK became a trendsetter when he put his new comedy specials on his website to download with no DRM for $5, and he's made millions from that. The current price point on blu-rays is just too high for me to buy anything but my absolute favorite movies, and dealing with physical media in this day and age is an annoyance. When I can wait a few months and buy a $60 game on Steam for half that price or less, there's no reason why a blu-ray movie should still cost $20 or $30 even years after it's original release

Doesn't mean it's okay to steal it. Louis Vuitton purses shouldn't cost thousands but it doesn't make it okay to steal one.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I'm old enough to remember renting the movie and the VCR at the 7/11!
You little #######s don't know how good you got it.

We rented ours at the "Red Rooster".