3 ms·

As someone who grew up with Blockbuster but now have become a hacker, I'm torn between the old fashioned enjoyment of getting out of the house to rent movies, a

by smaili 13y ago

As someone who grew up with Blockbuster but now have become a hacker, I'm torn between the old fashioned enjoyment of getting out of the house to rent movies, and the efficiency of online services like Netflix and Hulu.

adventured 13y ago
There's an individually owned rental store a few minutes from my house (the Blockbuster nearby closed, as well as the Hollywood Video), I always go there to get the new releases. I also have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but I actually enjoy wandering around the rental store, looking over movies. I occasionally find new releases I wasn't aware of. There are a few perks with the store as well. The lady that runs it lets me get away with murder on returning movies late. There's a vast selection. Older movies (6 months+) are $1, and the rental lasts a week. For movies not available through Netflix and Prime, that deal kills the rental cost + term from the digital competition (as an example, I Am Legend is $1.99 on Amazon to rent for 24 hours). So in my household, I can watch the movie today, another person can watch it several days later; that nicely beats what Amazon & Co offer me. Overall I find the store to be a positive experience, I'm glad it still exists.
- yeukhon 13y ago
  Yes. Rental store always have a movie you want. Well, older movies. Those Netflex/Nulu have difficult time to get. Netflix actually lost most of the older collections early this year http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/netflix-losing-movies-may_n_3191985.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/netflix-losing-movi... which makes Netflix have fewer titles to enjoy. I still can't watch Nolan's Batman franchisee today! How stupid Hollywood is these days.
- thenmar 13y ago
  Are these DVDs? Blu ray?
  - adventured 13y ago
    They rent both (their DVD selection is much larger, but they have the last few years of top blu ray movies), along with a modest selection of top XBox 360 & PS3 games. For new movies they use a revenue sharing agreement, and they own the older movies.

by smaili 13y ago

adventured 13y ago

There's an individually owned rental store a few minutes from my house (the Blockbuster nearby closed, as well as the Hollywood Video), I always go there to get the new releases. I also have Netflix and Amazon Prime, but I actually enjoy wandering around the rental store, looking over movies. I occasionally find new releases I wasn't aware of. There are a few perks with the store as well. The lady that runs it lets me get away with murder on returning movies late. There's a vast selection. Older movies (6 months+) are $1, and the rental lasts a week. For movies not available through Netflix and Prime, that deal kills the rental cost + term from the digital competition (as an example, I Am Legend is $1.99 on Amazon to rent for 24 hours). So in my household, I can watch the movie today, another person can watch it several days later; that nicely beats what Amazon & Co offer me. Overall I find the store to be a positive experience, I'm glad it still exists.

yeukhon 13y ago
Yes. Rental store always have a movie you want. Well, older movies. Those Netflex/Nulu have difficult time to get. Netflix actually lost most of the older collections early this year http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/netflix-losing-movies-may_n_3191985.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/netflix-losing-movi... which makes Netflix have fewer titles to enjoy. I still can't watch Nolan's Batman franchisee today! How stupid Hollywood is these days.
thenmar 13y ago
Are these DVDs? Blu ray?
- adventured 13y ago
  They rent both (their DVD selection is much larger, but they have the last few years of top blu ray movies), along with a modest selection of top XBox 360 & PS3 games. For new movies they use a revenue sharing agreement, and they own the older movies.