Poll: Do you still visit the store for movie rentals?
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 7th 2008 9:45PM
posted Aug 7th 2008 9:45PM
[Image courtesy of Boston]
posted Aug 7th 2008 9:45PM
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It's been like 5 years since i was in a video store (thank you netflix)
Same here. Never liked the places and Netflix being cheaper and better sealed the deal.
8 years. I'm amazed when I see people inside a blockbuster.
I have a Blockbuster Online plan with unlimited in store rentals so I go with online for any movies that aren't as likely to be in the store or are ones that my wife isn't interested in. We trade these in for newer releases in the store.
I love having the best of both worlds - I take all my Blockbuster online envelopes back to the store to swap out for free rentals. And now that they've ramped up carrying blu-ray in-store, well, that's just even more gravy.
Ditto. I take my BB Online movies to the store and swap them out. Even though there's supposed to be a limit of 5 swaps per month, that is only per store. I have a Blockbuster by my job, a Blockbuster by my house, and a Blockbuster on the road between. So, I can almost swap as much as I want.
I dropped Netflix for Blockbuster for this very reason. It's so much more convenient to have a queue full of Blu-ray/HD-DVD movies, and then just return them in the store (which is about 2 miles from me) for more Blu-ray titles (usually the newer releases that sometimes have a wait online).
I wasn't aware that there was a limit to how many you can swap in-store though, because I'm pretty sure that I've done more than 5 in a single month before (but I don't know for sure).
I also get 2 free rental coupons per month that I use for games. Overall, these added values are way worth the extra day it takes to get the movies in the mail compared to Netflix.
Same here. We do BB Online and trade in-store for long wait / Blu titles. Bonus is that when you drop movies off in-store, most of the time the next item in your online queue in the next day, so depending on the movies, you could have 6 discs out at once.
silentShab, you must have been grandfathered into on of BB's older plans somehow. I was one the exact same plan with unlimited in-store exchanges and the two free rental coupons but they 'upgraded' me and many others to a plan with a 5 in-store exchange limit and no coupons.
I was grandfathered in to an old plan too. I still get unlimited exchanges, but only one free rental coupon.
Until iTunes gets a better selection of rentals in the canadian store, it's still Rogers Video for me.
Is this the same Rogers that has the rights to the iPhone, or is everything called Rogers there?
Same company, different division. :p
Rental? I haven't done that since at least 1999.
Netflix, and redbox thank you! Can't beat $1 for a movie rental when I can't wait.
I only rent movies occasionally and when i do i always go to redbox. With so many codes lying around the web i have yet to pay for a movie. Redbox rocks.
Rent?
I may be looked at negatively for this, but Bittorent is my savior :)
streamed to the TV
Oh, I don't know about negatively, other than you are -stealing-. What you are doing is absolutely no different than shoplifting from Best Buy.
It's a sad world we're in now, when this kind of behavior isn't given a second thought. (Disclaimer - I've done it too. Until I looked at myself in the mirror one day and realized, I don't want to be a thief. I'm smart enough to make a decent living and -buy- what I want.)
Stealing is for low-lifes and slow learners. Fortunately I was a quick learner.
I gotta jump in here because the industries try to equate copy-right infringement with stealing. But there's a big difference.
You state:
"What you are doing is absolutely no different than shoplifting from Best Buy."
No its not. The fundamental difference is that if I take a DVD from Best Buy. They can no longer sell that physical item anymore. That is stealing.
Downloading over bit-torrent doesn't impede Best Buy from selling that DVD. They still own that DVD. They can still profit off that DVD. The person who downloaded the torrent is infringing on the studios copyright.
Similar to when your dad taped the Super Bowl or movies from HBO on his VHS despite the warnings of the announcers. Hell, Tivo-ing is more similiar to Torrenting than "Stealing from Best Buy" is to Torrenting.
You need a new mirror.
My mirror is sparkling clean. It's amazing how one can come up with about anything to justify their own actions.
Actually, downloading a movie -does- keep Best Buy from selling a copy. To you.
And simple logic sums it up - if everyone downloaded a new movie without paying for it, the studios would fold.
You're obviously either unemployed, or a student. Where I work, if they told me one day, "Hey, thanks for spending a month of your time writing that app. We found the same thing online and don't need yours now. Oh, and since we don't need yours, we're not paying you either."
See how it works? You -pay- for what you consume. What's with people that think it's ok to do this? Just because it's easy doesn't make it right. Go get a damn job and pay for it like most of us.
And you need a Real mirror.
Those Games on TV had ads to cover them and wouldn't be resold or rented later.
Though it doesn't eliminate a purchase, it does a eliminate a rental, which does cost them money which they charge, yep, other customers.
Cutting open an Oreos Package at the store and eating 3 of them and then convincing yourself you aren't stealing because they can reseal it and still sell it for less than they paid for it wholesale doesn't make it any less stealing.
And then some of your kind argue that you wouldn't have bought the whole package anyways so just taking those 3 cookies is alright.
"I wouldn't have bought the Car so stealing it for a cross country trip wasn't stealing"....yeah sure.
Somehow you twisted it around in your mind that if you are stealing from the studios instead of a physical object from a B&M it's ok. Is that what I saw you wrote?
FF got a reply in before me and I did miss the HBO part in that game sentence...oop.
Frank Furter, I appreciate what you're saying, I really do, but I don't appreciate the way you're saying it.
Before you go trying to play your "student or unemployed" card, I'm neither. And I also don't bittorrent my content (anymore), I'm just someone who doesn't think you should go and get all high and mighty on a guy who acknowledged before he posted that he "may be looked at negatively for this." You say that it's sad we live in a world where "this kind of behavior isn't given a second thought," well, I'd argue that his comment about how it may be looked at negatively was him fully acknowledging that his activity is frowned upon. Read a little closer and you might find that you don't need to browbeat people before they know that what they are doing is wrong.
It doesn't matter that he acknowledges he's doing something he shouldn't be, as long as he continues to do it. That's even worse than not knowing that what you're doing is wrong.
frankfurter: it's stealing, it's wrong.
heffer: it's not stealing, it's copyright infringement, and it's wrong.
frankfurter: oh! hrmpfh! what's with people thinking it's right blah blah
notice how you got all high and mighty? the argument isn't whether it's right or wrong (it's wrong) it's a question of what offense it is. you're calling it stealing - it isn't. it's copyright infringement. and it's wrong. one way we know it's wrong because there are laws saying it's wrong. calling it stealing doesn't help, when it isn't. that's all.
I don't rent movies that often, but if I do it's on Comcast On Demand.
It's all about the public library - smaller selection, but free.
I use the one dollar one day rental at the supermarket
I went to blockbuster today. I have netflix, but I need to send the movies I have back. Had movie night at the firehouse.
99% of the time it's Netflix or nothing.. Unless it's that 1% of the time where Netflix has a long wait for a new BD release.
I have BB too and use it mostly by mail. It is nice to be able to retrun in store if I want a DVD right away.
I Block Buster wanted to win or at least be more competitive, they would give me a Return by Mail envelope when I rented in store. Its the returning that sucks.
I use blockbuster online, and I get 2 exchanges a month.
I don't like the by mail rentals. We tend to "serial rent". We rent a bunch of movies in a couple of weeks then not again for months or the rest of the year. With by mail services we have to mail them back in and wait for them to mailed back out. We, also, can't watch what we want when we want.
I like the concept of online rentals or by cable rentals, but haven't tried online rentals yet and we don't have cable because we don't watch it.
I used to go to Blockbuster every Tuesday. But ever since my local franchise raised their rates to $5 for a new release rental, I try to avoid that place as much as possible. I am now considering Netflix. I was a former Blockbuster Online subscriber also, again until they raised their rates.
I go to the rental store, which I usually walk to. It's only a mile away that only takes me about 10 to walk to. I only rental one or two movies a month, so Netflix and Blockbuster's subscription plans aren't economical. Plus, the walk is good exercise.
Here in Ireland I rent all the time. If broadband were acceptable, and a download rental service appeared and it wasn't tantamount to rape, I might be tempted to use it. As it is Xtravision (Blockbuster's Irish brand) is fairly cheap, has good deals and a good selection.
Never. It's Netflix for me.
Redbox and DVDPlay for me. Usually reserve online at redbox.com and then pickup at the store. Very convenient.
love the new in-store total access plan by blockbuster.
all the movies i can ever want to rent a month - including blu-ray and video games - for 21.99
it comes out to about 24 bucks a month with tax, but well worth it...especially since the blockbuster is a few blocks walking distance to my place.
the only weird part is that you're in the store all the time...but it's kind of nice to browse the selection in "real life" as opposed to online
I use Blockbuster Online ($1/mo cheaper than Netflix) for Blu-Ray's plus local stores from those movies I gotta have and can't wait for. As usual you geeks got it wrong again. You only think mom and pops and Blockbuster/Hollywood for the non-Netflix stuff. You forgot about public libraries and those $1/day kiosks at grocery stores and McDonald's. Moreover, you didn't mention cable/sat PPV and OnDemand. $1/day for a new release SD DVD is cheaper than than most other options out there.
Does Redbox count? I haven't rented from Blockbuster or Hollywood video in years, but I frequent Redbox all of the time. It is a good complement ot my Netflix subscription.
FWIW, I always hated video stores so the online option was a godsend. I don't want to wait in lines, park, talk to the mongrels working at the store, produce ID/money/credit cards or really in any way deal with a brick and mortar.
If online grocery shopping worked (several attempts with local grocery stores shows it still isn't ready) we'd avoid the store for that too. The sooner I can avoid ever standing in a line, the better.
RedBox is common in Grocery Stores and McDonald's (I live in the DC metro area). It's a DVD rental vending machine. You swipe your credit card and choose your movie and it pops out the bottom. Rentals are $1/day. When you bring the movie back you scan a barcode on the back of the DVD and it charges your card. I haven't seen any Blu-Ray for rent.