NatGertler
10-28-2009, 05:13 PM
The question is not whether Redbox or Netflix is doing the damage to the video store -- it's the one-two punch. Good video stores offer a reasonable depth, reasonably close to now. Netflix DVD has an amazing depth, but a lousy form of "now", with the disk you want always days away, sometimes longer if its an in-demand title. Netflix streaming offers a great form of "now", but lousy depth, particularly in the current titles people most want. So enter Redbox, which are generally more convenient than a video store, and tend to do well with the current disks (and you can check and reserve remotely, so you don't make a trip out looking for something they don't have.) It fills the holes in the Netflix offerings. With a full Netflix setup (including a Roku to view streaming material on my TV), I only do a few Redboxes a year... but I've only gone into video stores for rental maybe twice in the last year, and that was out of desperation for a specific title, coming out empty-handed. If it wasn't for both Redbox and Netflix, that wouldn't be the case.