Blockbuster files for bankruptcy

[EmporerEJ]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

one thing though... I mentioned to a friend of mine today (asian) that Blockbuster in the US filed for bankruptcy, and her comment was "who rents... don't you just download whatever you want?".

There is a whole generation (younger than most of us here) for whom actually paying for content (movies, music, whatever) isn't even a consideration. Either they go with friends and pay the big bucks to see the movie in the theater, or they download it off the torrent sites or the private trackers they are part of.

Rentals don't exist for them, except perhaps in the rare case they need to rip something to put online for credit. Otherwise, it's null.

You run a couple of kiosks, so you should know. How old is your average renter? I am guessing closer to 40 than 20. 10 years from now, that number will be closer to 50, unless something dramatic changes.

Blockbuster got squeezed by plenty of things, and I think it significant that the market that should be most likely to rent (people with less money to buy, aka students and younger people) wouldn't set foot in a rental store in 100 years, except maybe to get a job.

I also think they made plenty of mistakes on real estate, store sizes, and the like. Too many square feet for a very simple product.

Hence my estimate of 5-8 years more. And I'm probably making a mistake on the low side there. I said the same thing back in '94, and then DVD came along. Had I stayed in the biz, I could have adapted to DVD, and made a cash crop fro a while. (But I really was bored of retail.)

Couple reasons Netflix, and the "cable company et all" of "instant download" won't win for some time to come.

Netflix will never win, because there is a delay. Even though it's one day for most, people want it NOW. They are trying to adapt, but licensing will always stop them. In the US, the laws, regulations, and licensing have done more to hold back technological advancement than anything else.

Cable company, and all "instant" delivery services have serious flaws.
Cable company shoots themselves in the foot all the time.
Try renting a move from them sometime.
You Pay at least $4, PLUS a "fee" to use that damn box you are already paying a monthly rental on. Usually 25-50 cents.
You think that doesn't piss off the average American?
They haven't been able to get that model working properly since the 80's.

They all, ultimately lose,because the law doesn't allow the transfer of porn over the cable system, and the netflixes of the world will never deal in it.

And THAT is the real secret of ANY video biz. The "safe" distribution of porn. That was the lesson I learned, standing behind 4 counters, for 9 years.
Give them a way to safely, and quietly rent porn, and they will beat a path to your door.

I now share the secret to success, which I learned over a lifetime of trial and error.
And why do I share it freely? Anyone with half a brain can figure it out, and I can't get it all.....