End of an era

[Onkel Neal]

"Be kind, please rewind," the signs used to say in video stores, urging customers to return their rented VHS tapes spooled back to the beginning.
If only Blockbuster could rewind back to the 1990s.

That was the time when the video chain was the colossus of the movie-rental business, with stores in seemingly every city shopping district and suburban strip mall in America. Visiting the store was a weekly rite for many people, who would show up on Friday evenings to check out the latest releases, navigating a crush of couples and families who had exactly the same idea -- only to find out that the last copy of "Air Force One" or "The Lion King" had already been snagged.

That custom is now as gone as a world with three television networks, a UHF station's late show and a Zenith Space Command.

On Wednesday, DISH Network, which purchased Blockbuster in 2011, announced it was closing the chain's 300 remaining U.S.-based retail stores, as well as its distribution centers.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/tech/g...html?hpt=hp_t1

Man, hard to believe it has changed so much.

I'm gonna go rent a video and DVD tomorrow after work--once more for old time's sake!

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/tech/g...html?hpt=hp_t1

Man, hard to believe it has changed so much.

I'm gonna go rent a video and DVD tomorrow after work--once more for old time's sake!

Ah, some good memories renting movies and games at blockbuster.While cheaper and more convenient options like netflix etc are around, nothing like actually going there and selecting a hard copy etc.

[Red October1984]

I still rent movies...

I would rent them more....but the place we have an account at has a terrible selection.

Usually if there's a movie I really want to see, I'll just buy it.

[Cybermat47]

They're still in Australia. Probably because Netflix hates Australians.

[TarJak]

That's okay we hate em back. Plenty of other ways to get content.

[Jimbuna]

The end of an era...technology overtook them (internet access to music and film).

[STEED]

Blockbuster what a choice of films that is to say 20 films.

Do have Star Wars in?

Yes sir, your lucky we're down to our last 70 copies.

Man that was close...I've rent one, do you have vertigo?

No I don't suffer from that..

[Wolferz]

Who needs a brick and mortar video store when we have a Red Box in practically every other store?
Even Blockbuster jumped on that bandwagon. A little late but they're dragging along on the tailboard.

[AVGWarhawk]

I remember Block Buster opening up their first stores. It was all the rage. Especially in my hood. No cable yet. Then there was the Betamax or VHS wars. VHS winning out in the end. But, yeah, I remember jumping in my mom's Buick to go score a new release.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

I'm gonna go rent a video and DVD tomorrow after work--once more for old time's sake!

BE kind, have a Hamm's, please unwind! Remember Montezuma: "nothing good lasts forever"...

[Wolferz]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

I remember Block Buster opening up their first stores. It was all the rage. Especially in my hood. No cable yet. Then there was the Betamax or VHS wars. VHS winning out in the end. But, yeah, I remember jumping in my mom's Buick to go score a new release.

VHS didn't win. The top dog spot was given to them because the chairman of Sony would not issue licenses to the porn producers to use their Betamax.

Either way, Tape recording has too many problems inherent to magnetic media. We learned that from the eight tracks.
Disc storage media has all but wiped out magnetic tape.

Good riddance I say.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Disc storage media has all but wiped out magnetic tape.

Good riddance I say.

But even that's not infallable, I fear over the next decade many, many families will see their digital family photos corrupted over time thinking that once it's backed up onto a disc it's there forever. It's not.

But it's still better than some Ferric Oxide and Cobalt mix.

Oh, by the way, Beta was a superior quality to VHS but due to the case dimensions it had a shorter play-time, so Sony halved the speed to resolve this but the quality decreased accordingly and equalled VHS until VHS HQ came along.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

VHS didn't win. The top dog spot was given to them because the chairman of Sony would not issue licenses to the porn producers to use their Betamax.

I was not aware because back in them days it was Hustler or Playboy. We did not have much access to the videos.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

But even that's not infallable, I fear over the next decade many, many families will see their digital family photos corrupted over time thinking that once it's backed up onto a disc it's there forever. It's not.

speaking of which, the very first DVD I ever bought back in 1997 or so was "Das Boot", one of the old discs you had to flip in the middle of the movie, which as you may have guessed as seen a lot of play over the years. I rewatched it over the weekend and now see that the image is getting coorupted in parts, i.e. red lines flashing across the screen, still 16 years is a good run

[Mr Quatro]

They don't have to close down ... they could stay open as ACA help centers to help people fill out their ACA forms for insurance.

They could even keep the same name "Blockbusters" bad joke, uh?