R.I.P. Blockbuster

[Storm Eagle]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dish-n...193325822.html

Well it was good while it lasted.

I live in New York, and there are no more Blockbusters in my county. I'm also pretty close to the five boroughs of New York City, and the last few closed earlier this year. The three Blockbusters closest to me that are still open are in NEW JERSEY.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Storm Eagle

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dish-n...193325822.html

Well it was good while it lasted.

I live in New York, and there are no more Blockbusters in my county. I'm also pretty close to the five boroughs of New York City, and the last few closed earlier this year. The three Blockbusters closest to me that are still open are in NEW JERSEY.

Wait...they are just now dieing? The closest Blockbuster to me has been shuttered for over 2 years.

[MikeandRaph87]

I just logged on to post this. Blockbuster was a great place to go on Fridays for VHS and DVDs not to mention video games even as prices climbed. The last video rental store in my area died 18 months ago. The old Blockbuster location was cut in half with Starbucks moving in and the other half became a video game rental store. I assume it is still an online rental? Thanks for the memories and the fun Blockbuster. You gave me my first DVDs purchased, and many hours of entertainment.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I just logged on to post this. Blockbuster was a great place to go on Fridays for VHS and DVDs not to mention video games even as prices climbed. The last video rental store in my area died 18 months ago. The old Blockbuster location was cut in half with Starbucks moving in and the other half became a video game rental store. I assume it is still an online rental? Thanks for the memories and the fun Blockbuster. You gave me my first DVDs purchased, and many hours of entertainment.

Their online rental thing is still going. (I'm actually still holding a movie from it.) The article says that they'll stop that too, however.

You know, it also really sucks that these people are going to lose their jobs around the holidays.

[Jester]

We have a Family Video...but I only went in once when I was manager of the competition...I really ought to go the video store in nearby Beebe, they had old VHSs for rent.

[CyberCubed]

I guess kids of this generation will never know what its like to rent a VHS tape or a DVD from a store.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I guess kids of this generation will never know what its like to rent a VHS tape or a DVD from a store.

Or a Blu-ray. Kids of this generation probably have no clue what VHS is.

[TurtleTitan97]

I'm honestly surprised. I thought Blockbuster died off years ago. I remember there was one close to where I live, but it closed down along time ago when I was a kid.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by TurtleTitan97

I'm honestly surprised. I thought Blockbuster died off years ago. I remember there was one close to where I live, but it closed down along time ago when I was a kid.

Well they were just starting to get more and more scarce.

Since so many were closing, I'd sometimes check on their site to see what New York locations were still around. Stores would bite the dust one by one. They'll soon be gone, but there are only five stores still around. One county has three still open while two others each have one still standing.

Does anybody remember how Blockbuster sponsored a video game championship tournament in 1994? I did a search for something about it and this is one thing I came up with.

http://www.sega-16.com/2013/02/sega-...ampionship-ii/

Another memory I have is when they gave people an opportunity to rent Star Fox Assault before it went on sale. I drove around to many stores for a copy to rent, and I finally found one at this store. I even finished it before I had to take it back.

In 2005 and 2006, I went to Colorado to meet a friend and they actually had a Blockbuster on the same grounds of the hotel where I stayed. I went for a third time in 2008, and it was gone.

I just saw this video from KCAL-9 news about the shutdown. The reporter says that 50 stores will still stay open. Hm. (You also have to like how a NETFLIX ad plays before the news clip.)
http://news.yahoo.com/blockbuster-cl...205039449.html

[Donatello19]

What? I thought Blockbuster had been closed for years now...

[Leo656]

They're like Chicken Holiday, they exist but they're scarce.

Someone mentioned how much it sucks that people are going to lose their jobs over this, and frankly, it's one huge reason I'm firmly against an all-digital distribution model for movies, music, games, etc. It's just another example about how we're letting technology take over everything, all for the sake of "convenience", when at the same time it's forcing us to become a more isolated and sedentary society, and forgetting about the human element in all of it. In just the last ten years, dozens of different jobs that were once considered stable are now almost completely gone. When I was a kid/teen, lots of people I knew had their first job at a record store or video store, and now both of those things are almost extinct, and video game stores are probably less than 10 years away from disappearing, too.

Why is this such a "good" thing? Because it's quicker and easier to push a button and approve of some stranger whose face you've never seen getting a look at your credit card information, rather than - god forbid - drive five minutes to a store, pick up and hold an actual product in your hands, hand someone some cash, and drive home? I don't get it. I'll never get it. I understand why having digital distribution as an OPTION is easier for some people, but having it be the ONLY choice is a horrible, horrible idea. If nothing else, it's eliminating untold numbers of jobs just so people can spend even more time on the internet.

In 15 years, people are only going to leave their houses to buy food. In 20 years, the only people who will leave their houses will be the people paid to drive food TO you once you've ordered it online. And those people will be paid practically nothing, since they'll have a thankless job nobody wants. But by all means, keep pushing for that nice, cozy, convenient all-digital future. Me? I get depressed just thinking about it. And not just because all digital music sounds like f*cking sh*t.

Full disclosure: I never even had a Blockbuster membership, but I hate to see what once was one of the most recognizable brand names in the world suddenly vanish and hundreds of people suddenly lose their jobs.

[Zulithe]

I haven't been in a blockbuster in probably 8+ years, but I have a lot of fond memories growing up and using them. Great, great times were had thanks to their business.

I may not miss them today but for nostalgic reasons, they have a place in my heart.

[TigerClaw]

I remember going to blockbuster when I was younger, Renting VHS movies and then they started renting out video games on the NES, Genesis and such, And then worked at a Blockbuster for about 8 or 9 years.

[Butuking]

There's still 2 left in my city that are open, but they are so barren inside and I don't see any cars in the parking lot, so I wonder how they are staying open. They use to be the awesome, then in the later years, I just browse through the selection and see what I can stream or redbox elsewhere.

[BubblyShell22]

Wow. That's very sad to hear, and I agree with Leo that all of this is just plain stupid. That's why our economy is so horrible these days because technology has screwed people out of jobs that are very much needed right now. I never went to a Blockbuster myself, but I can see why this is sad for those who did. I remember going to a rental store in a town not too far from us, and we would always rent movies and video games from there. They're still in business, but I wouldn't be surprised if they went out of business due to things like Netflix and the like. I'm all for progress, but I don't like it when said progress takes away from things that we really need right now as far as jobs are concerned.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by Leo656

They're like Chicken Holiday, they exist but they're scarce.

Someone mentioned how much it sucks that people are going to lose their jobs over this, and frankly, it's one huge reason I'm firmly against an all-digital distribution model for movies, music, games, etc. It's just another example about how we're letting technology take over everything, all for the sake of "convenience", when at the same time it's forcing us to become a more isolated and sedentary society, and forgetting about the human element in all of it. In just the last ten years, dozens of different jobs that were once considered stable are now almost completely gone. When I was a kid/teen, lots of people I knew had their first job at a record store or video store, and now both of those things are almost extinct, and video game stores are probably less than 10 years away from disappearing, too.

Why is this such a "good" thing? Because it's quicker and easier to push a button and approve of some stranger whose face you've never seen getting a look at your credit card information, rather than - god forbid - drive five minutes to a store, pick up and hold an actual product in your hands, hand someone some cash, and drive home? I don't get it. I'll never get it. I understand why having digital distribution as an OPTION is easier for some people, but having it be the ONLY choice is a horrible, horrible idea. If nothing else, it's eliminating untold numbers of jobs just so people can spend even more time on the internet.

In 15 years, people are only going to leave their houses to buy food. In 20 years, the only people who will leave their houses will be the people paid to drive food TO you once you've ordered it online. And those people will be paid practically nothing, since they'll have a thankless job nobody wants. But by all means, keep pushing for that nice, cozy, convenient all-digital future. Me? I get depressed just thinking about it. And not just because all digital music sounds like f*cking sh*t.

Full disclosure: I never even had a Blockbuster membership, but I hate to see what once was one of the most recognizable brand names in the world suddenly vanish and hundreds of people suddenly lose their jobs.

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

Wow. That's very sad to hear, and I agree with Leo that all of this is just plain stupid. That's why our economy is so horrible these days because technology has screwed people out of jobs that are very much needed right now. I never went to a Blockbuster myself, but I can see why this is sad for those who did. I remember going to a rental store in a town not too far from us, and we would always rent movies and video games from there. They're still in business, but I wouldn't be surprised if they went out of business due to things like Netflix and the like. I'm all for progress, but I don't like it when said progress takes away from things that we really need right now as far as jobs are concerned.

I've been with Netflix since 2004, and even before then, I avoided trying to take advantage of them because I still wanted to rent my movies the old fashioned way. Then I ended up taking advantage of Netflix since it got to the point where there were many titles I wanted to check out, and wasn't sure if I had the time or the finances to do it. Netflix sped it up a great deal and I even saved a lot of money with them. Even still, I wasn't above going to a Blockbuster to rent movies, and I would do so every now and then. They still came in handy for when I'd already have some titles from Netflix and wanted to check out another movie right away.

I also use Netflix's instant viewing feature. Even though that's also helpful in its own way, I'm actually still hoping to be able to rent DVDs and Blu-rays from them for a while.

[TheCanadiandrome]

In Canada BBs been dead for years

[Ecto Jedi]

Jimmy Carr tweeted it best:

"Blockbusters is bust again. Why they can’t get people to go out in the rain to pick up a video that may or may not be there, I don’t know."

[Dawnatello Turtle Chick]

Originally Posted by Leo656

They're like Chicken Holiday, they exist but they're scarce.

Someone mentioned how much it sucks that people are going to lose their jobs over this, and frankly, it's one huge reason I'm firmly against an all-digital distribution model for movies, music, games, etc. It's just another example about how we're letting technology take over everything, all for the sake of "convenience", when at the same time it's forcing us to become a more isolated and sedentary society, and forgetting about the human element in all of it. In just the last ten years, dozens of different jobs that were once considered stable are now almost completely gone. When I was a kid/teen, lots of people I knew had their first job at a record store or video store, and now both of those things are almost extinct, and video game stores are probably less than 10 years away from disappearing, too.

Why is this such a "good" thing? Because it's quicker and easier to push a button and approve of some stranger whose face you've never seen getting a look at your credit card information, rather than - god forbid - drive five minutes to a store, pick up and hold an actual product in your hands, hand someone some cash, and drive home? I don't get it. I'll never get it. I understand why having digital distribution as an OPTION is easier for some people, but having it be the ONLY choice is a horrible, horrible idea. If nothing else, it's eliminating untold numbers of jobs just so people can spend even more time on the internet.

In 15 years, people are only going to leave their houses to buy food. In 20 years, the only people who will leave their houses will be the people paid to drive food TO you once you've ordered it online. And those people will be paid practically nothing, since they'll have a thankless job nobody wants. But by all means, keep pushing for that nice, cozy, convenient all-digital future. Me? I get depressed just thinking about it. And not just because all digital music sounds like f*cking sh*t.

Full disclosure: I never even had a Blockbuster membership, but I hate to see what once was one of the most recognizable brand names in the world suddenly vanish and hundreds of people suddenly lose their jobs.

I agree with everything you mentioned. I don't think it will even be as minor a difference as from our (if your were born 1970s to 1990) parents generation to ours or even from our grandparents to ours. I think we're definitely headed in a much scarier direction of change than just having that crazy rock music and not having milk delivery. We are openly encouraging digital ownership (which is really not even ownership at all) and could very easily lose all of our purchases if the company decides to do so. For instance if you subscribe to (or just buy infrequently) to Marvel digital comics you "agree" to not even owning your comic books (think of it as "permanent-unless-something-changes-and-we-take-it-away-because-of-whatever-reason-we-feel-like ownership") as soon as you buy a comic book. Think of this guys- we are saying I'll pay you for being able to use this (for the same price) but not own it, rather than owning a physical copy. Even if you figure that most companies wouldn't just shut down and leave you stranded (where'd my tunes go?), what happens if there is a copyright battle 6 months after you downloaded a video game because the publisher shouldn't have used the graphics engine they used or something (it's happened- X-Men Destiny) and hypothetically the ruling states that they can't sell it anymore and must remove any existing digital use of it.... Since digital distribution of copyrighted material like video games and comics books, movies, etc hasn't been through tons of lawsuits to develop precedents yet, you could end up losing your game that you paid for.... Maybe they'd be forced to put it up later, but who knows, this is a scary age we are approaching and I for one miss the crap out of the 1980s and the 1990s, and not just for nostalgia sake.... I used to not be much for conspiracy theories until the last 8 years or so, but when we are eagerly throwing away our control of the things in our lives like this, it sure would be easier to let big government take other things... But I'll stop there to hopefully any political arguments... That's not even getting into the social distancing we actively encourage in our day to day lives... It's not healthy for a social species to actively try to avoid social practices. Perhaps there's a correlation between social distancing of our entire world (and by this I mean anywhere we have internet connections- otherwise we are still forced to be social) and the increase of mass shootings. It's hard to recognize "warning signs" of our friends and neighbors when we don't even talk to them. We've always been a destructive and have done unspeakable crimes to ourselves, but by having close social ties we had been able to keep each other in check. I shudder to think where we will be in 50 to 100 years... perhaps sooner. I don't like it, not one bit. Yet, I am completely at a loss for any alternative... that the rest of the world would unite and hold hands again. I guess I'll just hold on for the ride and stock up on silver, guns and survival gear. Lol, Revolution (TV show) here we come!

Reading back through this, I kinda sound crazy.... but eh, it is what it is. Oh yeah, and I miss Blockbuster too.... Got some cool games from them.

[BubblyShell22]

This kind of reminds me of an episode of South Park called "A Nightmare on Face Time" where Randy buys an old Blockbuster store but hardly anyone comes in and he sees ghosts of people, pretty much referencing that video stores are so old, no one wants to come in anymore.