View Full Version : blockbuster goes broke! good riddens
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/23/blockbuster-files-for-chapter-11/
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/02/blockbuster-i-heart-p2p-crop.jpg
hahaha they denied that digital media had eclipsed physical media and carried on trying to rent you DVD's at your inconvience in a store miles away where you had to go get them. I knew 5 years ago this day would come and now it has im glad.. glad that those who fear change and try dictate against the tide die.
does anyone miss blockbuster?
all they had to do was have a website where you could rent movies! how hard would that of been and now they would be on to of the world. Like most busninesses the old fuddy duddy at the top lost touch and the company died.. it just took blockbuster ages to die..
I suspect the employees do. Shame really to see something which has been around since early 80's going.
Indeed, my only concern is the people losing jobs as well.
I know far too many people who been made unemployed in the last 24 months.
Mr. Grapes
23-09-10, 12:09
uhhh they did have an online rental system, did they give that up as a bad idea?
they did have an online rental system, but the infrastructure wasn't up to it and easily eclipsed by LoveFilm.
DT.
uhhh they did have an online rental system, did they give that up as a bad idea?
yeah a last minute thing too little too late but a website like youtube where you pay your money and get HD streaming would of been the biggest cashcow ever. who cba downloading with that?
EDIT: yes your right unemployed people is bad and i dont fancy that, but they did have 5 years notice to be fair :)
Erm... hang about guys - this only applies to the US arm, all off-shore operations are unaffected...
I gave up going about 10 years ago... they were grim then.
KarlHungus
23-09-10, 12:15
Real shame, rented lots of movies from them over the years :(
Erm... hang about guys - this only applies to the US arm, all off-shore operations are unaffected...
looks like it's a way of getting out of leases for the US arm of shops, doesn't appear to affect the Uk at all. The online version of Lovefilm they have is a lot more per month, but I'd suggest it's for real film buffs, unlimited rentals for £13, where I pay 3rentals from Lovefilm for a smaller amount.
So, hopefully, no UK redundancies.
DT.
With illegal downloading being so popular and easy to use though, i doubt it'll be long before the UK arm goes under.
Plus as others mentioned Lovefilm is popular and other services like XBox Live and the PSN offering movies.
Game/Gamestation wherever else will be going shortly as well, at least the stores will anyway. As soon as BT and Virgin get the gigabit LAN going that is.
Mr. Grapes
23-09-10, 12:24
netflix also has better streaming options... lovefilm won't release their API unless you're an official partner with them - so no boxee, XBMC or even Windows media centre plugins :( boo!
amazon own 40% of love film and the rest is divided between the old owners of the poeple who ran the companies that combined to make up lovefilm. its a pretty interesting story how 3 companies competing all agreed to merge into one company with no competitors. its that flexability and made love film a success and made blockbuster a failure in the US
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoveFilm
blockbuster UK is keeping its head above water suprisingly! ther emust be more money in jelly babies than i thought.. nah most of the blockbusters i know sell everthing like a convience store AND are blockbusters..
Google are launching a youtube movies pay to watch service any day now so that will probably be the end of the rest :D
People need the bandwidth first though.
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0902/
Says 95% of the country has broadband, yet only 60% of those get 2mbps or higher.
2mbps is the minimum for HD streaming really, even then that stutters on Sky Player on the XBox 360.
Although i agree it will catch on.
What with the next set of TVs all having their own basic internet TV.
Then we'll see the TVs with Laptop HDD in them for downloading and the next gen HDMI or ethernet 6 or whatever its called streaming straight from the wall into your TV.
i did wonder how blockbuster stay open, every time i go to look for second hand wii games etc, i see the 5 films for 5 nights for £15, has become £10, then £5 etc.
its hassle driving there, hassle taking films back, hassle.
Unlimited cineworld pass for new films, big screen pleasure.
overpriced stock, substandard services: was never impressed with them to begin with.
hopefully they will sell all the stock dirt cheap :D
Mr. Grapes
23-09-10, 12:43
hopefully they will sell all the stock dirt cheap :D
physical media is so last decade :p
Broadsword1976
23-09-10, 12:56
Darn - I was just about to apply for an Assistant Managers position at mine - is this for reals?
physical media is so last decade :p
true - but id rather buy a game for £5 than spend 6 hours downloading 15GB off steam everytime i format my hard drive
Mr. Grapes
23-09-10, 13:05
sames... it was more tongue in cheek really
Fond memories of renting sega games from blockbusters when I was younger. Tend to stay clear of the place now though.
Darn - I was just about to apply for an Assistant Managers position at mine - is this for reals?
no it isn't - the UK side of the business is unaffacted by this filing in the US. That isn't to say the UK arm won't end up going down the same road in months to come though.
DT.
If anyone knows any (ex-)employees point them to my website please :)
Just shows how you have to keep on top of technology and one step ahead. Bad management having going from a market leader to bust. I could've told them 10 years ago digital media/downloads etc. was the future.
BreadMurderer
23-09-10, 14:33
Indeed it is only the US affected but still this will have an impact as a whole. I to agree that it is a dying media but being an employee of them myself (a few years back) I feel for the un-employed I suppose.
I3R0K3N7FEET
23-09-10, 14:34
the only thing i will miss is going tinto the blockkbuster store.. smelling the popcorn and getting ben and jerrys ice cream 2 for £5
our blockbuster sold packet popcorn (not fresh) and the B&J's was closer to £10!
wayyyy overpriced! £1.70 for a small bottle of pepsi, no thanks!
We've never had a blockbuster anywhere near us anyway, so I've never been a member.
This has been a long time coming and was in the news months ago that they'd be announcing bankruptcy in September/October. Not sad to see them go, haven't used them in years.
it's a standard thing to do, declare and then you can get out of a lease without the penalties
If anyone knows any (ex-)employees point them to my website please :)
What is your website about?
I've been eating a fair few packs of Maltesers recently. I hope the offer remains valid...
http://www.bagabignightin.com
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