Blockbuster kaput?

[c1ue]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

Did he rent it? Or did he listen to the clerk ?

For him, having a Blockbuster clerk denigrate the movie is a big plus even were I not standing there beside him.

It is now on my friend's favorite all time list. And often he refers to the movie as eerily prophetic.

But then again he is even more misanthropic than I.

[LargoWinch]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

Seems the end is finaly near for Blockbuster:

Blockbuster has announced that there is "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern. A going concern is a qualification that refers to an auditor's assessment of a company's ability to continue operations reports MSNBC.

Article here.

Here is recent market data:
BLOCKBUSTER INC

(NYSE: BBI)
After Hours: 0.00 N/A (N/A) 8:00PM EThelp

Last Trade:	0.77
Trade Time:	4:04pm ET
Change:	0.11 (12.50%)
Prev Close:	0.88
Open:	0.81
Bid:	N/A
Ask:	N/A
1y Target Est:	3.21

Day's Range:	N/A - N/A
52wk Range:	0.13 - 3.55

[metalman]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

Back in the Iron Age, I used to rent videos from BB, Then came torrents and Pirate Bay:

http://thepiratebay.org/recent

for downloading I use

http://www.utorrent.com/

It is not very complicated to understand and set this up.

So now all my movies and video material are directly downloaded to the computer and I view them on the computer screen. Now, home entertainment free.

as a content creator (tech writer) i always pay for content.

there are two kinds of people in this world... those who pay for the output of hard work done by others and those who are always looking for ways to get it for nothing.

i have never met a person who makes content in one way or another who does not pay for content created by folks, even if its in distant field. software engineers tend to be the exception. for some reason they think that a song or movie or article should be available to them for nothing. but... try throwing their code up on the web for free and they raise holy hell. 'i should be paid for that!' they holler. ;)

[santafe2]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

With all those people out of work and with nothing to do but to rent movies and games, I would assume Blockbuster would thrive.

Blockbuster has been dead for a decade. The parking lot in our local Blockbuster was always empty the last few years. Satellite service can't be far behind. Between Hulu and Netflix on demand, does anyone really need it? As for satellite radio, will someone actually pay for XM or Sirius when Pandora is free?

[bpr]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

So now all my movies and video material are directly downloaded to the computer and I view them on the computer screen.

Best $40 I ever spent:
http://sewelldirect.com/pc-to-tv.asp

It's a little flimsy in design, but my fiancée hasn't mentioned getting cable since the purchase.

We have hulu, democracy now, all the other content we could want without the MSM B$ piped right into our TV.

Now, home entertainment free.

Not quite free... you are paying for an internet connection, no?

[don]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

The local Borders here is clearing out their entire stock of DVDs and CDs at 50% off. They're going to cheap impulse crap at the checkouts and the top 15 or 20 of the CDs and DVDs only. Survival but looks grim.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

i have never met a person who makes content in one way or another who does not pay for content created by folks, even if its in distant field. software engineers tend to be the exception. for some reason they think that a song or movie or article should be available to them for nothing. but... try throwing their code up on the web for free and they raise holy hell. 'i should be paid for that!' they holler. ;)

You misrepresent the economics of Open Source.

My best work as a software engineer was put up on the web for free, deliberately. A google search for "cpusets" should find it (my login in that world was "pj".)

There is an economic model for Open Source software that works rather well for certain kinds of software, producing better software than the proprietary equivalents, and paying its programmers just fine, thank-you. It is similar to the model long used for academic research and its openly published results.

[charliebrown]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

I have to agree with metal here. I am an s/w engineer. If you keep taking content for free the pool of people that produce it will shrink and in the end you will have less content or content of lesser quality.

I'm not going to use any inflamatory words, but how much content do you watch and how much would it really cost you if you just joined netflix?
Unless you are going to watch the same thing over and over it really doesn't make sense to own it. Heck I have some favorites that i watch once a year, on VHS. Guess what now I have to buy them again on DVD, or buy another VHS player. It probably would be better to rent them anyways. When I bought them hit movies were $30.00 - 40.00 a pop. I could have rented it 10 times now.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Blockbuster kaput?

I have to agree with metal here. I am an s/w engineer. If you keep taking content for free the pool of people that produce it will shrink and in the end you will have less content or content of lesser quality.

I'll agree with that as well, with a twist.

Whatever I business I engage in, be it purchasing, selling, lending, borrowing, hiring, working for a wage, or barter, I try to keep in mind whether the business is a fair deal for both parties.
Business that is not fair to both parties is ipso facto immoral.

Sometimes "free" is good business for both, due to other aspects of the business -- that's ok. Open Source software, such as under the GPL license, is such an arrangement in which I have considerable experience and which I enthusiastically support. But "free" as in taking what was intended to be sold is stealing.