That’s what I (and thousands upon thousands) of BlockBuster users say to downloadable movies.

So what!!

NetFlix will NEVER be able to compete with BlockBuster because they will never be able to provide BB BIGGEST benefit… a physical store.

Do you understand how HUGE BlockBuster’s “value proposition” is???

“3 movies out at a time” is really SIX at a time for BlockBuster.

I get three online, go to a BlockBuster location and use them as coupons to get FREE in store rentals. What does NetFlix have? The ability to WAIT for a 4GB download to watch a movie?

I get INSTANT gratification. And, while I’m watching my 3 in-store movies, my next 3 online rentals are already on their way – often before BlockBuster ever receives my returns, because they are “checked in” at the store.

“Downloadable movies” sounds good; but until a large portion of the population has a PC hooked to their main TV and until they also have fiber (or super fast broadband) connections. Downloadable with NOT be able to compete with the real thing.

Will, BB make NF go out of business, maybe, maybe not… but, the fact remains that more and more people are seeing the value that BB is offering and joining the revolution.

dK

Also, I’ve checked out MovieLink and I just can’t take it. The biggest issue with direct downloading of movies is the DRM issue as well as the playback necessities. Most people don’t wish to watch movies on their computers (some people don’t even know how to play movies on their computers) and pretty much .1% of consumers know how to port movies and connect their computers to their TV sets for perfect watching. I highly recommend that these types of ideas for direct download fasten to other forms of media or the consumer will need to learn how to move past their safety zone. The sad part is, the technology exists, the majority of people are just still in the dark.

Blockbuster will need to learn how to use their physical stores as said above but they will need to learn how to integrate their brand and consumer loyalty. Blockbuster has some perfectly stupid consumers who are loyal to the end because they have no where else to go or can’t even think of a world without their beloved blockbuster (Netflix just isn’t even in their view, for most consumers can’t even make a folder on their computer and/or desktop)… Blockbuster needs to tap that stupidity for the best financial gain…when Blockbuster gets into that mode, the web is their next oyster….I agree with the Blockbusters needing of just becoming new distribution centers for Amazon, that would finally make their profits soar rather than allow their business to drop down the chute.

Netflix server was just ‘Okay’ between getting scratched or broken DVD’s and waiting much longer than I wanted for new releases I was not a ‘very happy’ customer but I was happy to not give my money to BlockBuster for the time being.

After awhile I really started to miss not being able to walk down the aisles of a brick and mortor store browsing for movies you forgot about or discovering some you missed (yeah its easy to search from Netflix but its not the same)

When BlockBuster dropped the late fee’s (kinda) and added ‘in store return for mail rentals’ I jumped at it and have not looked back at Netflix, I watch 24 movies a month now for $17 I get twelve in the mail and twelve in store, Netflix will never be able to compete with that and now that BlockBuster is going to be offering ‘movie downloads’ I’m sure Netflix is shaking in their boots.

Netflix will never have me as a customer again especially since they continued to charge my credit card for the service a full year after I cancelled and they did it illegally by changing my expiration date in their records on my credit card. I eventually got all my money back plus an additional $750 after my attorney contacted them, (they settled within minutes without even getting a manager involved, appears they are familiar with this) the kicker is I have spoken to several other people who have been ripped of by Netflix the same way, it appears to be in their business model.

BlockBuster has many other cards to play to stay ahead of the game, all of them will benifit us, thank god for competition.

The question is what percentage of movie renters falls in the category above. I feel that if Blockbuster can make the store experience better, the percentage could be quite high. To me, Blockbuster has a clear advantage in this game. Whether they can use it is a different matter, but it seems that they have had some successes in taming Netflix so far.

This is a amatter of opinion… I personally use the Blockbuster service and am extremely happy with it. Fairly priced and fantastic service.

Now, as a matter of this investment… personally, I don’t thinkg Dig downloads is where its at right now unless tied to the cable provider. Now, if either rental service finds a way to deliver video games in the mamil service… I think it will be am advantage – again, just an opinion

I switched to Netflix a couple of years ago for three reasons, 1.) I got sick of Blockbuster’s late fees when I didn’t get a movie back on time, 2.) I liked the ease of getting movies via postal mail, and 3.) I hate big companies like Blockbuster who believe they can snuff out all the little guys.

Back to returning movies to the store, is it really necessary? You get a movie, watch it the same day, mail it back the next day and then get another one the day after. If you are at the minimum at the two movies at a time option, you can literally watch at least four movies a week. Not a bad deal for $15 bucks a month.

In my opinion, Blockbuster’s purchase of Movielink just puts them $20 million (or whatever they paid for it) deeper in the hole with still no clear advantage over Netflix with the acception of being able to visit a local store.

Can you bring back customers and ask for forgiveness? I don’t think so. People would say “no to blockbuster.”

Blockbuster have $5.23 billion NETFLIX will have $ 6 billion soon.

Also NETFLIX, if you deliever late DVDs… You better watch out startup competitor growing monster. They are going to deliever DVD faster and cheaper. $2.50 for 5 DVDs. Whos going to do it?

Any startup guys will. Just watch… TECHCRUNCH readers. They want to make $2.50 for 5 DVD delievery.

1. Launch Extra Game Titles (PS2, Xbox, etc) for free.
2. No cost. You can rent movie and plus game title for free.

How many college students willing to buy that idea?

I bet you 40% will drop netflix and switch to Blockbuster access. Netflix does not have game section. Blockbuster, I see many game section in store. Why haven’t you use that idea? Give me dumb why you didn’t you have game section?

Ohhh… you got a college degree for marketing.. duh… Come on man use common sense when you do marketing. Do like Microsoft do. They add lots package & Icons for Windows XP.

You need Game Section.

Blockbuster has a clear advantage as it has local distribution channels. It has already taken advantage of these stores to increase its online membership, which is taken out of Netflix’s customer base or would-be customers base. Movie renting has mostly been a commodity, and price is important. Right now, Blockbuster is cheaper.

Netflix responds to this by trying to differentiate and find a new distribution channel to make it more convenient and quicker to rent a movie, but it’s not a strategic advantage as Blockbuster can and will imitate this. In short, Blockbuster has a strategic advantage over Netflix and not the other way around.

Having said that, I do agree that Blockbuster seems to be slow. I have so much more than Netflix, yet they seem to be one step behind. But after Blockbuster responds by delivering movies online (maybe through appleTV?), what’s next for Netflix?

One idea for Blockbuster: Non-digital distribution (DVDs, VHS) has turned away so much business due to physical copies not available. Digital distribution through Tivo, computer, and AppleTv don’t have this problem. But not everyone has the equipments or would like to watch movies on computer to take advantage of this, so what if Blockbuster can strike a deal with studios to print copies of movies on-demand at their local store? Obviously, it could be too expensive to do this, but maybe burning technology has become quicker (in minutes) and come down in price to justify this? This way, they will never lose business due to out-of-stock issue anymore.

What if BB started offering USB Keys with movies?
– Bring it home and plug it into a Media/Vista/Home PC/Server or Mac Mini.
– Bring it back just like a DVD. “Reusable media saves the environment.” (BS, but a great marketing trick)

What if the put a server/storage at each location for their distributed network?
– A controlled BitTorrent-like network of their own. Better hosts, faster networks, and utilizes existing space/security/infrastructure.
– Geographic/population capacity could follow similar rules to their brick and mortar planning.

How about 1gb ethernet connections at the store?
– My laptop is typically in my car when I go by the store, so I could just bring it in and download a movie in about the same time as it normally takes to browse, select, and check out.

I haven’t gone into a Block Buster store in years. They treated us pretty poorly. Apparently I owed them over $70 for a $10 disc… right.

Both BlockBuster and Netflix must look into the set-top box space. Here is a post about that:
http://abhishek...rent-and-enjoy/

And of course the infamous “NO LATE FEES” scam was just the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Blockbuster is finished. Every time I’ve been in their store, thrice in the past year, the place has been stone cold empty. Nobody can stand being in those stores. Any customer that does find themself in there (ostensibly because they don’t watch DVDs often enough to merit netflix) is treated to a wall full of confusing ‘display boxes’ then the world’s LONGEST damn check out. For crying out loud, where are the kiosks? Even the grocery store has check-out kiosks! Ugh!

http://mellifluent.info/?p=12

Blockbuster also has laptops set up in most of its stores to allow customers to access Blockbuster Total Access from the store. I think it would make sense to increase the number of laptops available in the stores and treat the online service as the primary focus of the company.

Also, as a Blockbuster employee, I think I am in a position to disagree with you, Michael, regarding the viewing habits of customers. We have had to work ourselves to death to educate customers on the benefits of online rentals. Most of our core customers feel like “Oh, it’s just around the corner, why do I need to wait for it in the mail.” It’s been an uphill march. Video rentals rise and fall on the availability of movies that people actually want to see. I remember the fall/winter of 2005 being especially bad because of that Spring/Summer’s big flops. Blockbuster lost one of its big sources of revenue when it eliminated late fees. That is still having an effect on the business.

Frankly, from the first moment I used Time Warner Cable’s OnDemand service to rent a movie, back in 2003, I’ve been hooked on OnDemand as a rental solution. I don’t understand why more haven’t embraced it.

And don’t worry, I’ll still read the blog. Must… have… tech… news…

Still friends?

heh. I haven’t gone to bed yet today so I’m in a bit of a mood.