Blockbuster in administration

Graham_Devon

lostinrates wrote: »

What is the range of films like Graham? For things that aren't new releases?

I'd say pretty good. But to be fair, I don't hunt down films that aren't really new releases. I find that just buying an older film on ebay would be cheaper than renting.

You don't have to sign up to search the library...
http://www.blinkbox.com/Movies

Wookster

Yet more space available on the high street...

Herzlos

moneyinmypocket wrote: »

Another company providing an outdated service - they should have gone online and push a streaming service - it's a shame for those who lose their jobs.

That only works for some folk, with the bandwidth to download films on demand. And renting was cheaper than Sky pay per view too.

I'll miss the local Blockbuster, there's something great about being able to decide to get a film and be back in front of the TV in 15 minutes with a stack of DVDs/Blu-rays with no downloading or buffering. And for occasional renters it's a lot cheaper than subscription services.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

"That only works for some folk, with the bandwidth to download films on demand. And renting was cheaper than Sky pay per view too."

Blockbuster are going out of business because they charge about £5 a day to rent a new release that you then have the pleasure of returning to them when you're time is up, it's much cheaper to get Sky and wait until the movie is on there. BBs selection is just plain rubbish. A lot of these companies are getting what they deserve, when times were good they should have used their capital to invest in new technology but instead they dug their heals in and have suffered badly: HMV in Manchester still has the entire ground floor taken up with CDs, the only thing it was good for was to browse around so you could find something good, go home and then download it for less than the price in the shop.

exarmydreamer

Blockbusters might not be missed but the jobs will be.

For employees who have under two years service, no redundancy. Another couple of thousands this month with comet as well join the JSA queue.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Blockbuster were always terrible; expensive and stocked nothing except 50 copies of the latest crappy Hollywood releases.

I miss the ye olden dayes independent video shops that had loads of random old films that you'd never find anywhere else. When I was at university (late 90s) the local shop was staffed by a man who trustingly wrote your name in a book and allowed you to rent a tape for 99p.

Graham_Devon

Herzlos wrote: »

That only works for some folk, with the bandwidth to download films on demand. And renting was cheaper than Sky pay per view too.

I'll miss the local Blockbuster, there's something great about being able to decide to get a film and be back in front of the TV in 15 minutes with a stack of DVDs/Blu-rays with no downloading or buffering. And for occasional renters it's a lot cheaper than subscription services.

Maybe the local video shop will come back? Remember those before Blockbuster drowned them out?

Seems like were going full circle in many regards.

Graham_Devon

Oh and something I'm starting to think about now is how badly all these stores closing is going to effect youth and younger employment figures.

Most of the roles for most of the workers in Comet, Jessops, Blockbusters were shop floor roles, with a younger presence.

While the overall employment figures can mask over this, the youth and younger employment figures are going to be effected by this. The amoutn of jobs suitable for younger people with little experience are vanishing by the day. The cost of everything for them is increasing.

Graham_Devon

Just heard that Blockbusters were paying more in rent per week than they had customers per month on a pound to head ratio in many stores.

Cannot verify it. I would certainly assume rents were a big part of it though.

grizzly1911

We have a small one that we use infrequently but it was nice to have, used it more when the kids were young. The staff were really nice and helpful but that is probably our location as much as anything else.

Accept the business model is outdated but not every one has the ability or the equipment to download.

Means I will have to move the PS3 if I decide to watch a film.

I know they usually sayabout 2/3Gb should be enough but we get 5 -8 most of the type and suffer buffering issues. Not all the time, probably acceptable on catch up but a pain if we were watching a nice film.

Thanks for Blinkbox link GD will have a look at that.