Friday, September 22, 2006

Now I Understand the appeal of Netflix

I went to the video store, and in one short visit, I understand why Blockbuster is under attack financially now by Netflix.

It isn't the prices, because that is a given... Blockbuster charges too much, and I can't produce any compelling evidence to counter that.

No, it is selection that I think is really killing Blockbuster in this fight.

You see, I went to my local store, and I left disappointed, as they didn't have any of the movies I wanted. I wasn't trying to rent the most obscure of the obscure independent movies either. I wanted 2 of the following:


Gettysburg

Gods and Generals: I've been playing Sid Meier's Gettysburg
Wargames
The Long Kiss Goodnight
All the President's Men(because All the King's Men is coming out at the theatre this weekend)

I mean, I can see them not carrying 1 or 2 of those titles, but not having All the President's Men? There is something seriously wrong with that. And this was a decent sized store too... it wasn't some little store wedged into a strip mall or the like. So after I came home, I decided to just check if Netflix had those titles... and everyone of them was available.

Then again, I guess Netflix doesn't have to carry 50 copies of the Edison Force or any other straight-to-dvd sequel to a movie that shouldn't have been made in the first place. But I think I would rather have selection than guaranteed rental of a few titles.

So, with that, I am looking into joining the Netflix community. Is there anything I should know from anyone currently using the service?

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