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Since this is a YC site, "Who really killed Blockbuster video": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-really-killed-blockbuster-video/id1465767420?i=1000480

Since this is a YC site, "Who really killed Blockbuster video": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-really-killed-blockbuster-video/id1465767420?i=1000480312942 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-really-killed-bloc... We SHOULD have been streaming on Blockbuster and not Netflix today, but history is just a chain of blunders stitched together.

immibis 2y ago
From a Blockbuster shareholder perspective, that would be good. From a user perspective, streaming is nothing like video rental and I don't see why we should expect them to be the same company. Why should a rental company that pivots to streaming be better for overall society than a native streaming company (which Netflix isn't, I note).
- _heimdall 2y ago
  Netflix started out as a DVD rental service. The model was slightly different with a subscription that allowed you to have a certain number of DVDs at once, but it was still renting discs. If they could pivot from rentals to streaming, why couldn't Blockbuster have done it?
  - repeekad 2y ago
    But Netflix mailed DVDs, blockbuster had ubiquitous storefronts of family owned franchises they’d be cannibalizing, I think they were pretty different
    - hluska 2y ago
      This is all spitballing of course, but depending on when they released their streaming service, Blockbuster may not have had to close all their storefronts. Staffing would have changed and the business itself would have changed. But at the time, there was an opportunity for a trusted brand to help ease people into streaming. I purchased VHS tapes, DVDs and subscribed to streaming services within about a decade of each other. That was a big transition for me and I’m technical. With the right kind of revenue sharing, DVD only rentals and cross promotions between streaming and in person rentals/events, they could have had something really interesting. I’m old enough to have rented VHS tapes so this may be a function of my age more than actual opportunity, but I know several people who even now would be far more tempted to subscribe to a streaming service if they could do it in a store. Again, this is all theoretical, but Blockbuster had a lot of advantages back in the day. It wouldn’t be what it was, but the opportunities are fun to think through.
    - _heimdall 2y ago
      Sure, I wouldn't argue the businesses were identical, though I don't expect that the DVD rental Netflix looked anything like the streaming Netflix. Where Blockbuster would have moved from brick and mortar to streaming, Netflix would have been moving from mostly a logistics business with warehouses in the middle of nowhere to a streaming/tech business.
- hluska 2y ago
  The idea is that Blockbuster already had strong relationships with practically all the makers. Transitioning to streaming would have been very hard, but coming into the market with preexisting relationships would have been a huge advantage. On the user side, the storefronts could have helped a lot of less technical people set up their first streaming accounts at home. It was a massive mental leap to go from “movies come out of that box under my tv” to streaming and the storefronts could have helped people make that transition. It’s all to theoretical to talk about whether it would be good or bad for users. Implementing it correctly would have relied on Blockbuster being able to turn itself into a technology company without cannibalizing those things that made it attractive to makers. That is a very hard thing to do and they had to pull it off in a moving market.

immibis 2y ago

From a Blockbuster shareholder perspective, that would be good. From a user perspective, streaming is nothing like video rental and I don't see why we should expect them to be the same company. Why should a rental company that pivots to streaming be better for overall society than a native streaming company (which Netflix isn't, I note).

_heimdall 2y ago
Netflix started out as a DVD rental service. The model was slightly different with a subscription that allowed you to have a certain number of DVDs at once, but it was still renting discs. If they could pivot from rentals to streaming, why couldn't Blockbuster have done it?
- repeekad 2y ago
  But Netflix mailed DVDs, blockbuster had ubiquitous storefronts of family owned franchises they’d be cannibalizing, I think they were pretty different
  - hluska 2y ago
    This is all spitballing of course, but depending on when they released their streaming service, Blockbuster may not have had to close all their storefronts. Staffing would have changed and the business itself would have changed. But at the time, there was an opportunity for a trusted brand to help ease people into streaming. I purchased VHS tapes, DVDs and subscribed to streaming services within about a decade of each other. That was a big transition for me and I’m technical. With the right kind of revenue sharing, DVD only rentals and cross promotions between streaming and in person rentals/events, they could have had something really interesting. I’m old enough to have rented VHS tapes so this may be a function of my age more than actual opportunity, but I know several people who even now would be far more tempted to subscribe to a streaming service if they could do it in a store. Again, this is all theoretical, but Blockbuster had a lot of advantages back in the day. It wouldn’t be what it was, but the opportunities are fun to think through.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    Sure, I wouldn't argue the businesses were identical, though I don't expect that the DVD rental Netflix looked anything like the streaming Netflix. Where Blockbuster would have moved from brick and mortar to streaming, Netflix would have been moving from mostly a logistics business with warehouses in the middle of nowhere to a streaming/tech business.
hluska 2y ago
The idea is that Blockbuster already had strong relationships with practically all the makers. Transitioning to streaming would have been very hard, but coming into the market with preexisting relationships would have been a huge advantage. On the user side, the storefronts could have helped a lot of less technical people set up their first streaming accounts at home. It was a massive mental leap to go from “movies come out of that box under my tv” to streaming and the storefronts could have helped people make that transition. It’s all to theoretical to talk about whether it would be good or bad for users. Implementing it correctly would have relied on Blockbuster being able to turn itself into a technology company without cannibalizing those things that made it attractive to makers. That is a very hard thing to do and they had to pull it off in a moving market.