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Blockbuster appears poised for mid-September bankruptcy filing

Phoenix

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September could be the month Blockbuster Inc. finds its way to bankruptcy court.

The Dallas-based company has been warning for almost two years that it might need bankruptcy court protection to reorganize its nearly $1 billion in debt, as it struggles with dwindling cash and a shrinking business hurt by competition and its own store closings.

Link Here

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Is anyone really surprised? The competition outclassed them. They have (at least since the emergence of NetFlix) based their business model on customers that have waited several months to see a movie paying extra and going out of their way (TWICE!) to see a movie 28 days before it hits anywhere else. Hello they have already waited what's another 28 days?
Blockbuster has made themselves the choice for casual movie watchers that may not watch more than two movies in a month. Not a good customer base for a movie rental company


Not to mention in my experience they have always f***ed their customers over.

I originally used Blockbuster's by mail service. I could take the movies from the mail and trade them in the store for new ones and the ones in my queue were sent. UNLIMITED. They changed that to only 1 in store trade in.

They are higher than EVERYBODY else.

and if I have been your customer for 12 years and never stolen your movies, do you really need my credit card on file?

I will check and see if they have any deals on previewed movies though!
 
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I love Netflix. I did try Blockbuster and was not impressed (by comparison).
 
Technology has moved beyond brick-and-mortar rental; this was inevitable.

Of course, piracy helped speed it along, so those of you who think it doesn't hurt anyone . . .
 
Technology has moved beyond brick-and-mortar rental; this was inevitable.

Of course, piracy helped speed it along, so those of you who think it doesn't hurt anyone . . .

So shouldn't Netflix be hurting as well?

I'm against piracy, just not sure your thought fits the scenario.
 
The reason why I stopped going to Blockbuster - well, aside from the fact that I download all my movies - is that they have their own censorship policy that they apply to films. I noticed this when I rented movies I had already seen from their store. I looked online and sure enough... they do their own editing.
 
So shouldn't Netflix be hurting as well?

I'm against piracy, just not sure your thought fits the scenario.

I think Blockbuster's significantly higher base costs mean that it needs to do a fair amount of business at each store in order to turn a profit. If movie rentals dropped by 20%, that could make every store unprofitable, while a 20% drop in rentals might merely reduce netflix's profit margin.
 
I'm not surprised either. I stopped renting, and buying for the most part, movies the moment I got Netflix. I tried Redbox and it is also a suitable substitute for renting from a store or buying a movie. If I only need a movie for one night, why the hell should I pay for 5-7 days?? Blockbuster is dying because they failed to recognize the direction of the tides of the movie rental business. If they really want to catch up they need to pour money into the mailing and the instant streaming market and close all of their stores. I have my doubts that an unlimited instant streaming business of any and all rentable movies would be profitable... But man would I love it!
 
Driving to the store and spending many minutes debating on what to rent is such a waste of time and exerted movement when I can sit on my couch and choose a movie online from netflix and have it mailed to me. Still I have to walk to my mailbox which is just the right amount of walking.

In all seriousness though Netflix is awesome.
 
Google Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix. Interesting read. In January 2009, he had this to say about BB:

Never underestimate the competition: We erroneously concluded that Blockbuster (BBI, Fortune 500) probably wasn't going to launch a competitive effort when they hadn't by 2003. Then, in 2004, they did. We thought, Well, they won't put much money behind it. Over the past four years they've invested more than $500 million against us.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/2009...gs-four-sercets-to-success-nflx#ixzz0y3p0IvRc
 
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The internet has and will continue to kill business. When a good or service can be digitally transfered automatically through a wire with no human assistance, jobs are lost.
 
Driving to the store and spending many minutes debating on what to rent is such a waste of time and exerted movement when I can sit on my couch and choose a movie online from netflix and have it mailed to me. Still I have to walk to my mailbox which is just the right amount of walking.

I feel the same way about groceries.

Goddamn the future is awesome.
 
The internet has and will continue to kill business. When a good or service can be digitally transfered automatically through a wire with no human assistance, jobs are lost.

Sort of in the same way that the telephone destroyed jobs in the Morse Code industry and the plane destroyed jobs in the cross-Atlantic cruise industry.
 
Sort of in the same way that the telephone destroyed jobs in the Morse Code industry and the plane destroyed jobs in the cross-Atlantic cruise industry.

Yes but with modern day computer programming less human interaction is needed. Merge that with a worldwide communication network, and you have a great way to put people and businesses into the ****ter.
 
Just wait untill you can download groceries. That'll be the day.

We're getting closer and closer. As it is, you only have to wait a few hours.

Yes but with modern day computer programming less human interaction is needed. Merge that with a worldwide communication network, and you have a great way to put people and businesses into the ****ter.

But the same thing has been said about every technological advance since the beginning of time. As always, society will adapt to make use of new technology and improve our quality of life.
 
We're getting closer and closer. As it is, you only have to wait a few hours.



But the same thing has been said about every technological advance since the beginning of time. As always, society will adapt to make use of new technology and improve our quality of life.

It certainly has increased our quality of life. But as the population continues to grow, and less are needed, what do we do? Yes technology of the past has had an effect, and we have adapted, but these advances will probably have the greatest impact we have yet to see.
 
Yes but with modern day computer programming less human interaction is needed. Merge that with a worldwide communication network, and you have a great way to put people and businesses into the ****ter.

All the more reason to get a good education.
 
It certainly has increased our quality of life. But as the population continues to grow, and less are needed, what do we do? Yes technology of the past has had an effect, and we have adapted, but these advances will probably have the greatest impact we have yet to see.

I just don't see any reason why we can't continue on the current path. Over the past few centuries, we've had a neverending string of technological advances that have eradicated entire industries and radically changed the way that our economy functions. Over that same period, we've seen a near-constant increase in quality of life and productivity. I don't think this new situation (which really isn't that new) is any different.
 
This doesn't surprise me. I've actually heard (from my company's CEO) that BB had the idea for video kiosks (such as RedBox) and mail order movies (such as Netflix) prior to either of those companies. But they were afraid of competing against their franchisees, so they decided to not go forward with either idea. Fear of change / adapting was what did them in.
 
I just don't see any reason why we can't continue on the current path. Over the past few centuries, we've had a neverending string of technological advances that have eradicated entire industries and radically changed the way that our economy functions. Over that same period, we've seen a near-constant increase in quality of life and productivity. I don't think this new situation (which really isn't that new) is any different.

The internet isn't new, but the growth of usage has spiked substantially in the past few years, mostly due to computers, phones, and other devices being cheaper more readily available. Businesses involving Books, magazines, newspapers, and pretty much any physical copy containing videos, music, information etc. are getting hit hard by companies that are making billions mainly due to the fact that they can provide the same service more efficiently, and using an a lot more smaller percentage of employees in comparison. Not to mention these businesses are getting hit due to the lack of regulation on piracy. We can continue on our current path, but we have to have some standards regarding the internet. As of now, there aren't any.
 
This doesn't surprise me. I've actually heard (from my company's CEO) that BB had the idea for video kiosks (such as RedBox) and mail order movies (such as Netflix) prior to either of those companies. But they were afraid of competing against their franchisees, so they decided to not go forward with either idea. Fear of change / adapting was what did them in.

Thank you! As someone who works in that industry: if you're not going to evolve with the industry, you're going to die.

Too ****ing bad. Evolve or die.
 
This doesn't surprise me. I've actually heard (from my company's CEO) that BB had the idea for video kiosks (such as RedBox) and mail order movies (such as Netflix) prior to either of those companies. But they were afraid of competing against their franchisees, so they decided to not go forward with either idea. Fear of change / adapting was what did them in.

It pisses me off. I had a blockbuster rewards card for about a month, I had just obtained enough points to get a free rental. I drive to the place walk to the door and the place was completely ****ing empty without a trace of previous existence.
 
This is a good example of "creative destruction" as Joseph Schumpeter called it. Netflix simply has a better business model than Blockbuster, and Blockbuster was unable to adapt to the new environment quickly enough to survive. Therefore it gets eliminated, and the better company thrives.
 
Thank you! As someone who works in that industry: if you're not going to evolve with the industry, you're going to die.

Too ****ing bad. Evolve or die.

Or they could ask the government for some bailout money. After all, the banksters ran their companies into the ground, and got to collect welfare for it. IMHO, AIG should have gone the way of Blockbuster.
 
They will not be going away I am sure. The way the bankruptcy laws are, they will "reorganize" which essentially means they will stiff their creditors and continue operating their antiquated business until they run up enough debt to go bankrupt again.
 
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