Blockbuster is d00med

**bruceames** · 11-04-2007, 09:11 AM

WB's just waiting to see if the HD DVD players sell. Obviously they're going to sell and even WB knows they're going to sell, so I would say early next year. It's possible for HD DVD to move over a million players these last two months if the word gets out and they become a hot xmas item. I think that's happening and that they will be purchased with HDTVs (especially after Black Friday). HDTV sales will help drive player sales and vice versa.

Just like that line in Cliffhanger "gravity's a bitch", critical mass is a bitch for Blu-ray.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HD VHS

Hey bruce a lil off topic, but what you think about Warner coming to HD DVD? In your honest opinion, you think its more likely then a Bluray switch? Don't Toshy and MS have a strong tie with Warner?

junehhan · 11-04-2007, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippy fascist

come on man... seriously.

We're talking about the death of the B&M rental store as we know it.

Once blockbuster goes the others will follow

also, we're talking about a few hundred thousand people losing there jobs here

The problem is that their buisness model is no longer suitable for the industry they are competing in. There is some individual who quoted a while ago, "Even if you are on the right track, you are just going to get run over if you stay there." Many industries come and go, and people lose jobs. After all, who would have ever guessed that America could have lost their manufacturing industry even just 40 years ago? However, BB also brought some of this on themself by signing an exclusive agreement with BD. Sure they probably got a short term infusion of cash or incentives, but they also likely alienated a small but quantifiable portion of their customer base by that move. After all, early adopters are a rather enthusiastic and loyal bunch.

**bruceames** · 11-04-2007, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junehhan

The problem is that their buisness model is no longer suitable for the industry they are competing in. There is some individual who quoted a while ago, "Even if you are on the right track, you are just going to get run over if you stay there." Many industries come and go, and people lose jobs. After all, who would have ever guessed that America could have lost their manufacturing industry even just 40 years ago? However, BB also brought some of this on themself by signing an exclusive agreement with BD. Sure they probably got a short term infusion of cash or incentives, but they also likely alienated a small but quantifiable portion of their customer base by that move. After all, early adopters are a rather enthusiastic and loyal bunch.

Blockbuster's a victim of online rentals more than anything. But other factors include low DVD prices which cause people to just wait until a movie drops to under$10 instead of renting it (or just buy it on sale for $15 when it comes out). Catalog movies are often $5 new or less. Collections are growing, Cable and Sat. programming is expanding, people are spending more time on the internet and gaming, etc.

Finally, there seems to be a lot of Blockbuster haters out there. I mean it's hard to find someone who likes the store anymore, so obviously they're doing a lot of things wrong.

sneakerz · 11-04-2007, 09:41 AM

They jinxed themselves when announcing the support for blu ray like that was going to help them. I knew they were doomed. They thought Blu Ray would bail them out

Cygnus · 11-04-2007, 09:49 AM

Throttling is when Netflix limits the number of movies you can rent in a month due to rising postage costs. Now that they have added online downloads (assuming I can watch the flicks offline), I'll probably resubscribe. It took them a while to admit throttling heavy renters, but after numerous online reports, they caved in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bravestime

What is throttling?

I stop going to BB years ago due to the pricing, late fees and the difficulty to find new releases. Started going to Movie Gallery and got 5 day rentals on all movies and found new releases much easier. They also gave a membeship card that you can pay with. This card can be charged up to $75.00 and only cost you $60.00.

I recently switched to Netflix after purchasing my HD players and love this service, so far. I've had a issue with one combo disk (Knocked Up) playing, or not playing. All other disk have been very clean and played nicely. I have a 2 maybe 3 day turnaround on disks.

Very happy with Netflix.

Super XP · 11-04-2007, 10:16 AM

Hope Warner goes HD DVD exclusive this Jan 2008

Bravestime · 11-04-2007, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cygnus

Throttling is when Netflix limits the number of movies you can rent in a month due to rising postage costs. Now that they have added online downloads (assuming I can watch the flicks offline), I'll probably resubscribe. It took them a while to admit throttling heavy renters, but after numerous online reports, they caved in.

Thanks. Now do you know about what they're trying to limit a month to? I have the 3 movie package and love it. I have been able to view a new movie practically every nite.

Now that you mentioned the throttling thing, I have noticed the past week the movies coming a little slower then when I first signed up a month ago. A month ago I was getting a 2 day turnaround, now it appears like 3 days. It doesn't seem alot, but maybe this is the "throttling" you mean.

Overall, still have been quite pleased!

Nice setup, great price and huge selection! (with HD-DVD and Blu-ray) At least half my queue is HD.

MikeRox · 11-04-2007, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippy fascist

come on man... seriously.

We're talking about the death of the B&M rental store as we know it.

Once blockbuster goes the others will follow

also, we're talking about a few hundred thousand people losing there jobs here

Movie rental as we know it is dying. The only rental companies making profit now are the online companies. Though why is this thread in High Definition DVDs? Other than for the fact that they opted to go Blu-ray exclusive.

Cygnus · 11-04-2007, 10:54 AM

When I first had Netflix I used to rent tons of movies per month. But as postal service kept increasing, I noticed it would take longer for me to get movies despite their being a netflix facility in my city, due to my complaining that there should be one here. I also mail movies back from the post office downtown, to limit the number of hops to netflix. I used to get a quick 1 or 2 day turn around, then it became several days sometimes almost a week between shipments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bravestime

Thanks. Now do you know about what they're trying to limit a month to? I have the 3 movie package and love it. I have been able to view a new movie practically every nite.

Now that you mentioned the throttling thing, I have noticed the past week the movies coming a little slower then when I first signed up a month ago. A month ago I was getting a 2 day turnaround, now it appears like 3 days. It doesn't seem alot, but maybe this is the "throttling" you mean.

Overall, still have been quite pleased!

Nice setup, great price and huge selection! (with HD-DVD and Blu-ray) At least half my queue is HD.

**bruceames** · 11-04-2007, 11:00 AM

They were throttling because of the 'Flix & burn' customers. When I used them a few years ago, I had the 8 out at a time plan and usually got all 8 in the mail one day and shipped them out the next day or two. So I guess you could blame me....

Dare · 11-04-2007, 11:37 AM

I stopped going to Buttbuster when I racked up a bunch of late fees one time. I never wanted to go back and pay the penalties. Seriously, what a way to drive away customers...

The censorship issue really pissed me off too, and I imagine it didn't sit well with a lot of people. They got away with crap like that because at one time, they were an economic powerhouse. Now there are alternatives that don't try to control what you watch, and those are winning.

I also didn't like how I couldn't rent laserdiscs there back in the day. There were a couple Buttbusters that did rent LDs, but they were rare, and their selections were tiny.

Video rental made a lot more sense when VHS tapes cost $120 each, back when Buttbuster first started, but now a lot of times you can buy movies cheaper than it costs to rent them.

Buttbuster is a dinosaur. R.I.P.

360kid · 11-04-2007, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cygnus

Throttling is when Netflix limits the number of movies you can rent in a month due to rising postage costs. Now that they have added online downloads (assuming I can watch the flicks offline), I'll probably resubscribe. It took them a while to admit throttling heavy renters, but after numerous online reports, they caved in.

The movies have to be watched using the Netflix player, downloaded from Netflix, and they are watched via streaming video, but they do play instantly. So, I don't think you can download them.

The quality is also very very bad, worse than VHS. Extremely bad, looks like a camera copy bootleg.

The selection is also very limited, about 10 - 20 movies per genre. So, only 15 or so action movies, 15 or so comedies, etc. And these movies are very old.

The newest movie I found was the Italian job with Mark Wahlburg. Everything else was much older.

Netflix offering downloads is a waste of time, no reason to sign up for that feature. Trust me, it is a waste of time. I still use netflix for HD DVD rentals, I just do not use the dl movies.

junehhan · 11-04-2007, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cygnus

Throttling is when Netflix limits the number of movies you can rent in a month due to rising postage costs. Now that they have added online downloads (assuming I can watch the flicks offline), I'll probably resubscribe. It took them a while to admit throttling heavy renters, but after numerous online reports, they caved in.

That was definately one of the many reasons why I cancelled my Netflix subscription. After all, they promised me all you can eat and they left me only half full. The other is that the wait list for newer or new releases can be insanely long. I also got tired of them accidently sending me the standard DVD version when I clearlly selected the HD-DVD version in my queue.

Type A · 11-04-2007, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 360kid

Netflix offering downloads is a waste of time, no reason to sign up for that feature. Trust me, it is a waste of time. I still use netflix for HD DVD rentals, I just do not use the dl movies.

Amazon has a good service. I dont know how extensive their library is, but I found the movie I wanted to watch (Down Periscope), and the quality was dvd. Streaming never caught up to playback, despite pressing play two to three minutes after purchase ($4 for 24 hours unlimited, iirc).

**PFC5** · 11-04-2007, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceames

WB's just waiting to see if the HD DVD players sell. Obviously they're going to sell and even WB knows they're going to sell, so I would say early next year. It's possible for HD DVD to move over a million players these last two months if the word gets out and they become a hot xmas item. I think that's happening and that they will be purchased with HDTVs (especially after Black Friday). HDTV sales will help drive player sales and vice versa.

Just like that line in Cliffhanger "gravity's a bitch", critical mass is a bitch for Blu-ray.

I agree Bruce. I actually think that Warner already wants HD DVD to sell a lot of players and they wanted Toshiba to drop the prices for mass market pricing THIS holiday season so they gave them plenty of time to make it happen. Basically I think Warner talked to Toshiba and said can you sell the HD DVD players for under $200.00 this year? Yes? OK, we will announce that we are considering changing our position on being neutral and will publicly state that we are basing it on HD DVD player sales that we KNOW will sell at under $200.00.

I think it was all arranged ahead of time myself and has been planned since the Spring.

11-04-2007, 09:41 AM	#19
sneakerz HI DEF Rules Join Date: May 2007 Location: Detroit Age: 37 Posts: 56	They jinxed themselves when announcing the support for blu ray like that was going to help them. I knew they were doomed. They thought Blu Ray would bail them out __________________ Living Room Sharp DT500 DLP Projector 96" 16 X 9 Carada Screen Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player Pioneer CLD D505 LaserDisc Player Yamaha 6.1 RX SL100 Sound System DirecTV HR-20 HD DVR Psyclone Competition Grade HDMI Switch Bedrooms 2 Vizio VX37L 37" LCD 2 XBOX 360 w/HD DVD player Kenwood VR 2080 5.1 Eosone RSA 100 Speaker System HD DVD:60 Blu Ray: 0

11-04-2007, 10:16 AM	#21
Super XP Star Trek: The Movie! Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Toronto, ON. Canada Posts: 5,776	Hope Warner goes HD DVD exclusive this Jan 2008 __________________ Toshiba Regza 46" HDTV (46RF350U) LCD 1080p/24p Toshiba HD-A35 / HD-A3 / XD-E500 LG GGC-H20L Super Multi / PC Drive Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 TrueHD/DTS HD MA Precision Acoustics™ 8Ch. Hi Def Loudspeaker Series DVD's = 200 = 130 = 10

11-04-2007, 11:00 AM	#25
bruceames Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: San Rafael, CA Posts: 10,170	They were throttling because of the 'Flix & burn' customers. When I used them a few years ago, I had the 8 out at a time plan and usually got all 8 in the mail one day and shipped them out the next day or two. So I guess you could blame me.... __________________ Blu-rays: 55 Latest purchases: John Adams, Gone With the Wind, Up, Rocky: The Undisputed Collection

11-04-2007, 11:37 AM	#26
Dare I moon you. Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 4,436	I stopped going to Buttbuster when I racked up a bunch of late fees one time. I never wanted to go back and pay the penalties. Seriously, what a way to drive away customers... The censorship issue really pissed me off too, and I imagine it didn't sit well with a lot of people. They got away with crap like that because at one time, they were an economic powerhouse. Now there are alternatives that don't try to control what you watch, and those are winning. I also didn't like how I couldn't rent laserdiscs there back in the day. There were a couple Buttbusters that did rent LDs, but they were rare, and their selections were tiny. Video rental made a lot more sense when VHS tapes cost $120 each, back when Buttbuster first started, but now a lot of times you can buy movies cheaper than it costs to rent them. Buttbuster is a dinosaur. R.I.P. __________________ LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blue Blu-ray & HD DVD ROM Drive 58 31

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