Since Netflix fulfils my movie watching needs far better than any of the local video stores ever did… yes, I’m okay with that.
Lissener, have you read the article “The Long Tail” that appeared in Wired Magazine a few years ago?
-FrL-
…and how many of those hundreds are available at your locally owned brick and mortar store?
-FrL-
Why does it matter if I’m sending money out of state? I’ve gotten more reliable and less judgmental service from Netflix than from the local place.
I’ve also only found a few films that Netflix didn’t have. Can you name some of these movies you can’t find? And, as Frylock mentions, are they available at the local store? My local store was, admittedly, pretty good at stocking random things. (Living in a big city will give you that kind of access.) But at the same time, I had to deal with people having movies out. Trudging all the way there and back when the movie I want isn’t there is no fun–at Netflix, I don’t have to do that. Plus, it’s much cheaper. And most importantly, no late fees. Getting stuck with a $90 late fee for a movie that I supposedly didn’t return versus only paying about $18 plus tax a month and getting fifteen to twenty films? Way better.
Since my local video store carries nothing I want and requires me to physically return everything rather than drop it in the mailbox, yes, I’d say it is really, really OK for them to bite the dust.
Our town has ONE small bookstore. Everything is sold at full list price. The owner doesn’t like to special order, and when she does, it takes 2 months to get it, at the retail price, of course. It isn’t open in the evenings or on Sunday. In contrast, thru Amazon, open 24/7, the selection is thousands (millions?) of times bigger; all prices are discounted; I can choose used copies for less if I want, and they will be shipped to my door to arrive in a few days. And Amazon isn’t the only source online, all of which have better service and prices than my local excuse for a store.
If I order enough at one time online, the shipping charges are waived. Otherwise, I don’t mind paying a small fee for the at-door dropoff. The local store doesn’t deliver for any price.
So, yes, if this is what corporate giants can offer, I say we need more of them. Bring 'em on. Price, selection, convenience wins every time.
And FYI, Netflix has many warehouses across America, I daresay one in almost every state, more than one in some if the return addresses on the envelopes are any indication.
I just switched to Netflix after using Blockbuster Online. I bailed on Blockbuster because they raised the price for the “unlimited store trade-in”-- right at the same time that Netflix dropped their price by a dollar. (Plus, the clerks were just getting too surly for me…hey, just like in the movies!)
Netflix ships from just a few miles away, so I get everything the next day. They don’t ship on the weekend, though, so I have to plan my returns accordingly. I still cruise over to Hollywood Video occasionally. I’m not aware of any good independent stores where I live now, but I used to love going to Kensington Video in San Diego (right next to The Ken Cinema, what a coinkydink!)
The ones that are available, all of them; I’m the buyer.
Besides the fact that I knew there would be handful of people who would be too overwhelmed with their own cleverness to know a rhetorical question when they see one . . . well, besides that, nevermind; what’s the use?
You know, I don’t care whether it’s bookstores, petstores, or videostores we’re talking about: I hope I never have to live in the world you dystopians view with such dispassion; walled up in my isolation with movies and food slipped under the door while I hide behind the couch.
Yeah, well, most of us aren’t buyers for the local video store, and therefore, the local video store’s movie selection does not perfectly match our personal tastes. In the main, Netflix (and similar services) provide their customers with a wider selection of movies than was previously available to them. Which I tend to view as a good thing.
As for your “rhetorical” question, perhaps you can explain to me why I should care if a business, that does not offer a service I need, goes under? I mean, sure, I’m sorry that you’re going to be out of a job, but I should use an inferior service just to keep you in paychecks? We’ve already got a welfare program in this country. I don’t see why I should further sacrifice my movie watching enjoyment to subsidize your service industry career.
It’s not so much about viewing the world with dispassion. I don’t want to rent movies from the local places because I am not a buyer for a video store. I’m a customer. I also don’t want to deal with a place that has ripped me off in the past. I’m basically switching over to the only good option for me.
–which is why I tried to keep my points general. I do work in a videostore, so the discussion is certainly not irrelevant to my immediate wellbeing, but the point I’ve been trying to make is that I, for one, don’t want to live in world where I have two choices: the internet and a big box corporate giant. I will always buy my books in an independent bookstore if I can, I will always buy my pet food in an independent pet store if I can, and–not only because now I’ve worked in one, but for the same reasons–I will always rent my movies from an independent video store if I can.
Lissener I’m happy for you that you have all of these nice stores availble to you. Obviously, you live in a large city with a large city that can support a locally owned video store with obscure films. My locally owned video stores idea of obscure is anything not made by Fox, Disney, or Sony. With my Netflix subscription I’m actually seeing the smaller obsucre films. I get to watch foreign films that don’t even screen anywhere near where I live. I get to see small documentaries. And yes, we can also chuckle at the campy goodness of Buck Rogers streamed onto our computer.
I do Netflix because my only other option is a local video store that carries about 500 movies and adds one copy of each movie that comes out and then charges $5 a movie late fee after your one day rental. Or I can do a chain store with an impressive 800 movies. they actually carry a few classics. I think they had 25.
The independant movie makers are better served by my Netflix subscription than my using a badly run, overpriced video store in a rural town. Supporting the independant isn’t some Black and White argument. This isn’t an either or proposition with good guys and bad guys.
lissner, it’s not like Netflix is some huge mega-corp. It’s not owned by Rupert Murdoch or GE. It started out as a few guys with a good business plan who seized the moment. They’re just one company that does one thing and they do it well. And they’re local enough - they’re not in China.
Netflix also does something for the independent filmmaker - they have exclusively distributed over 100 indie films. What’s so bad about that?
Not sure how they do things out there in your high-falutin’ Seatlle but back where I grew up the local independent video store had nothing but new releases, smutty movies, and bass fishing/deer hunting videos. They used to have a foreign film section…but as everyone knows foreign cinema is not as provocative as a good ole’ huntin’ video.
On the other note about big box corporate tyrants, big box offers more employement in any one given town then your locally owned book, pet, and video stores combined. Not to mention benefits…
What a way to railroad this thread into a forum for your pretentious hippie
rhetoric. Few have ever done it with such ferocity and finesse. 
I don’t drive and, haven’t recently moved to the area, haven’t yet located a convenient “local video store” where I can rent DVDs. I believe there is a Blockbuster I can get to on public transit, but I haven’t bothered to check them out yet, since I didn’t care for the one that was a few blocks from my house in Chicago. Which is why I intend to sign up for Netflix.
I am not unsympathetic to the business realities of small local businesses. While there is a Borders bookstore walking distance from me, I do make the effort to check out the local used bookstores.
Keep in mind that many public libraries are starting to offer large collections of DVDs for their patrons. I’m not just talking about boring Masterpiece Theatre episodes or dusty old Britcoms or the occasional interesting documentary, but recent movies, classics, foreign and cult films, TV shows on DVD, and more. And you can always use inter-library loans to get titles beyond your local library’s collection.
Well obviously if you, anecdotally, have no alternative, then–OBVIOUSLY–why do I have to say such obvious things?–obviously, if you have no alternative, my “rant” is not directed at you. Obviously. But the store I work for used to support 6 employees with benefits, and keep up with the needs of its “physical plant,” and spend the ridiculous amount of money required to slowly replace all its VHS tapes with DVDs. Then Netflix happened, and all the rich people with “Buy Local!” bumperstickers on their SUVs simply disappeared. The store’s income dropped by more than half. Now, we have 3 employees, with NO benefits–not even a bus pass–we replace maybe a couple dozen old titles a week–all our purchasing power goes for Knocked Up and Touristas–and, still, we’ll probably be out of business in a couple years.
And all the people who come in and spend 20 minutes with me discussing recommendations before they choose a movie, or who rent from our “Screen Gems” [recommended] section, or our special theme displays, will be *shocked *of course. But still, those are the people who haven’t bailed for Netflix. Obviously, if I know them as customers, they’re not the people I’m complaining about.
But those people, the ones who’ve gone to Netflix, will also be surprised when a neighborhood institution–25 years at the same address–is gone; as surprised as they are when they shop for airplane tickets by one single criterion–price–and then complain that the seats are narrow and the snacks are cheap. Moral: people are stupid.
It sounds like it’s only directed at the people in your neighborhood, then. I’d wager that most people don’t have access to the kind of video store you’re praising, and that therefore Netflix is a more rational choice, better across the board in every category except convenience and local jobs.
Spokane’s not a small town, but still, there’s no real alternative to Netflix here other than chain stores. The independent stores have higher prices, smaller selections, and they’ll send the cops after you over $8 in late fees.
Not actually all that obvious, based on what you wrote.