I see a lot of people yearning for the days of Blockbuster Video. While I understand the pangs of nostalgia, I never loved the company, and I certainly do not miss them and their family-friendly policy that stifled adult creativity.
I miss the days of little independent video stores, or my personal favorite, Erol’s. I don't see them coming back anytime soon.
Steaming is part of the reason video stores died off, but it wasn’t the only one. DVD was a massive blow. DVDs were made with the collector in mind and, for a brief, glorious period, everyone wanted their own video library. Discs were generally inexpensive and who wanted to return them when they had so many supplementary features?
Another problem was the fragility of DVDs. People could toss VHS tapes around and not damage them, but discs are easily scratched. I don’t know how many I rented that looked like someone played air hockey with them. After a point I simply gave up.
I do understand the warm feelings so many people have for Blockbuster. They remember being little kids when their parents would take them to a Blockbuster store. Everything is bigger and brighter when you’re young and Blockbusters were lit up like a carnival.
Families picked out a movie or two and then grabbed some radioactive popcorn on the way out. Maybe it was Friday evening, and everyone needed a break. Call out for a couple of pizzas, pop in a tape, and enjoy a movie together.
Laughs, tears, screams, people enjoyed these things as a group. Fewer were locked into their immersive little worlds inside their gadgets.
Good times. I badly miss family movie nights, only we didn’t go to Blockbuster.
I understand that collecting isn’t an option for everyone. Buying movies can be expensive, especially if you were likely to only watch them one time.
Going to the movies isn’t exactly practical either. I love theaters, but a family of four can spend over a hundred dollars these days. With gas prices, food prices, and rising costs of just about everything, people need an alternative.
There’s one right in front of our faces and many don’t even think about it.
It’s the greatest institution in the world. I am talking about the public library.
I go to my local library multiple times a week. It’s just a small neighborhood branch, but they have an impressive number of movies just sitting there waiting to be watched.
You can load up the kids and drive over to your nearest library. Bring them in and let them pick out some books, and everyone can choose a couple of movies.
I realize it’s not an option for everyone. Some libraries have drastically reduced their movie collections, and some may have completely removed them. Most, I think, still have plenty to choose from.
It’s just like Blockbuster, only better. There’s no charge to take items home. You can keep them for several days and not face any fines. If it takes a while to get to them, you can renew your checkouts from home.
Just take your selections up to the friendly employee at the desk and check out your movies and books. Some places have automated checkouts, and I don’t care for that. It’s too much in the direction of machines taking over in an increasingly artificial world. It’s far better, I believe, to have a human being do the work. I’d rather see someone with a job and contribute to the economy instead of paying for and upkeeping a bunch of contraptions.
Most of us who love movies with all our hearts are physical media advocates. We are fighting to keep the medium alive. One way is to buy new movies as they are released. Another is to borrow them from the library. When more patrons are checking out movies, they are far more likely to add to the collection.
I've checked out dozens of movies from the library in the past couple years and only one was too damaged to watch.
If you no longer have a player, they are available for reasonable prices. For a night out at the movies, you can get a nice Blu-ray player that will also play DVDs. In addition to that, you can also listen to compact discs through your Blu-ray or DVD players. You can still find players at thrift stores, but I'm seeing fewer of them. People are beginning to wise up.
If you insist on streaming, most libraries have free services like Hoopla and Kanopy.
Forget making it a Blockbuster night and make it a library night. Just as you treasure the memories of the Blockbuster experience with your family, your children will remember library nights.
Written by Mark Sieber
I miss the days of little independent video stores, or my personal favorite, Erol’s. I don't see them coming back anytime soon.
Steaming is part of the reason video stores died off, but it wasn’t the only one. DVD was a massive blow. DVDs were made with the collector in mind and, for a brief, glorious period, everyone wanted their own video library. Discs were generally inexpensive and who wanted to return them when they had so many supplementary features?
Another problem was the fragility of DVDs. People could toss VHS tapes around and not damage them, but discs are easily scratched. I don’t know how many I rented that looked like someone played air hockey with them. After a point I simply gave up.
I do understand the warm feelings so many people have for Blockbuster. They remember being little kids when their parents would take them to a Blockbuster store. Everything is bigger and brighter when you’re young and Blockbusters were lit up like a carnival.Families picked out a movie or two and then grabbed some radioactive popcorn on the way out. Maybe it was Friday evening, and everyone needed a break. Call out for a couple of pizzas, pop in a tape, and enjoy a movie together.
Laughs, tears, screams, people enjoyed these things as a group. Fewer were locked into their immersive little worlds inside their gadgets.
Good times. I badly miss family movie nights, only we didn’t go to Blockbuster.
I understand that collecting isn’t an option for everyone. Buying movies can be expensive, especially if you were likely to only watch them one time.
Going to the movies isn’t exactly practical either. I love theaters, but a family of four can spend over a hundred dollars these days. With gas prices, food prices, and rising costs of just about everything, people need an alternative.
There’s one right in front of our faces and many don’t even think about it.
It’s the greatest institution in the world. I am talking about the public library.
I go to my local library multiple times a week. It’s just a small neighborhood branch, but they have an impressive number of movies just sitting there waiting to be watched.
You can load up the kids and drive over to your nearest library. Bring them in and let them pick out some books, and everyone can choose a couple of movies.
I realize it’s not an option for everyone. Some libraries have drastically reduced their movie collections, and some may have completely removed them. Most, I think, still have plenty to choose from.
It’s just like Blockbuster, only better. There’s no charge to take items home. You can keep them for several days and not face any fines. If it takes a while to get to them, you can renew your checkouts from home.
Just take your selections up to the friendly employee at the desk and check out your movies and books. Some places have automated checkouts, and I don’t care for that. It’s too much in the direction of machines taking over in an increasingly artificial world. It’s far better, I believe, to have a human being do the work. I’d rather see someone with a job and contribute to the economy instead of paying for and upkeeping a bunch of contraptions.
Most of us who love movies with all our hearts are physical media advocates. We are fighting to keep the medium alive. One way is to buy new movies as they are released. Another is to borrow them from the library. When more patrons are checking out movies, they are far more likely to add to the collection.
I've checked out dozens of movies from the library in the past couple years and only one was too damaged to watch.
If you no longer have a player, they are available for reasonable prices. For a night out at the movies, you can get a nice Blu-ray player that will also play DVDs. In addition to that, you can also listen to compact discs through your Blu-ray or DVD players. You can still find players at thrift stores, but I'm seeing fewer of them. People are beginning to wise up.
If you insist on streaming, most libraries have free services like Hoopla and Kanopy.
Forget making it a Blockbuster night and make it a library night. Just as you treasure the memories of the Blockbuster experience with your family, your children will remember library nights.
Written by Mark Sieber
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