Print
Image Credit: Netflix
A scant six months ago, we all wondered which camp would prevail in the
high-definition format war. But as fate (and the studios) would have
it, Sony's Blu-ray format emerged as the victor, leaving movie buffs
with yet another question: Where will we get our flicks from? The days
of renting movies in a brick and mortar store are slowly coming to an
end, and this new war for your movie-renting dollar is being waged
online. Both blockbuster and Netflix offer video rentals delivered
straight to your mailbox, and while Netflix seems poised to emerge as a
fan favorite, not all changes have subscribers jumping for joy.
Before we get to what's brewing with Netflix, let's first look at its competition. Like Netflix, Blockbuster offers an online subscription movie service. But unlike Netflix, Blockbuster lets you return your movies to any of its participating retail outlets in exchange for a free in-store rental. This perk had the potential to be a key advantage, and it was, right up until Blockbuster realized it was hemorrhaging too much money. To stop the bleeding, Blockbuster raised prices across the board and now limits in-store exchanges to up to 5 per calendar month. Alternately, you can pay a hefty premium to maintain unlimited monthly exchanges. Boo!
Comments are closed on this article
