13 replies
20h52m
Blockbuster does still exist and the trademarks are owned by Dish Network. The sole remaining franchisee is in Bend, Oregon.
12 replies
6h37m
My parents owned a mom/pop video store during my childhood. It's still crazy to look back at how in-demand VHS tapes were. We lived in a super small town so there was zero competition. Cable was not common in every home yet. "Be kind, rewind" cost a buck if forgotten. Rewinding to the beginning of VHS tapes was honestly so long that nobody really forgot. The store was eventually acquired by some regional chain, and almost like magic the future started taking its form. So cool to see this.
11 replies
4h26m
So, you needed to rewind the tape to the beginning if you wanted to return it after having partially watched it i.e. at 40%? Now I wonder, did the store owners check each tape on return for this? I hope it was a quick process..
Rewinding to the beginning of VHS tapes was honestly so long that nobody really forgot.
Hmm, if it took so long, wouldn't it have caused the reverse effect? That people would ignore it out of laziness? Maybe I'm too spoiled! :D
4 replies
3h1m
Further wrinkle: it only took a long time in your VCR, which (we all believed) was also bad for your VCR (I mean, maybe? But avoiding stressing the VCR's mechanism was why it took a long time). So, gadget catalogs sold standalone high-speed VCR rewinders, which just about anyone who watched a lot of movies owned. They took less than a minute to rewind a cassette.
3 replies
2h20m
Yep had one of these. For some reason I really liked the sound it made as a kid.
2 replies
2h17m
My friends parents had one… looked like a sports car
1 replies
1h20m
Wow, a bright red sports car. We had one of those in I’d like to say 1988 or 1989. What a memory. Thanks for that!
0 replies
1h15m
You’re welcome!
0 replies
2h18m
Quick process? Just look at it… every rewound tape has all the tape on the same side.
0 replies
1h43m
It took about 3 seconds to check. Pop open the case the tapes came in and look at the plastic window and you can easily see both reels. If the tape was all on the left reel, it was rewound. Just about all rental places did this when you returned the tape. Audio cassette tapes were the same way. The VHS cassette was basically just a larger version of an audio cassette with wider and longer tape.
Pic of rewound VHS: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/0...
0 replies
2h34m
What I remember is that it was a cultural part of movie watching to rewind when the credits hit. You'd use that time to discuss what you saw with whoever you were viewing with. That's how I did it.
0 replies
4h17m
Interestingly, in the very first iteration of home video cassette rentals, the tapes could not be rewound at home:
These rental cassettes were red, approximately 7 inches (180 mm) high by 6.5 inches (170 mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38 mm) deep (however used the same videotape used today) and could not be rewound by a home Cartrivision recorder. Rather, they were rewound by a special machine upon their return to the retailer.
0 replies
3h44m
I mean, you could look at most VHS tapes and tell if they're rewound or not. Don't even need to insert them into a VCR.
0 replies
3h52m
I recall them having a transparent window so you could see where the tape was. I think the process would have been: slide the VHS out of the sleeve and glance at where the tape was positioned. Should take just a second.
8 replies
21h1m
This is beautiful. What warm memories this evokes. Now I can adjust the dimensions and make some dust covers for my books in the Blockbuster video style!
7 replies
16h8m
Renting a movie with Mom and Dad was a special kind of excitement as a kid.
Walking around the store, looking at all the covers to try and figure out what we were going to watch. Usually, you had seen a preview for any given movie, or had at least heard about it, but there was still a lot of "rolling the dice", especially if the actor was famous: I saw Battlefield Earth because the cover looked cool and I liked space sci-fi, but the movie itself made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
4 replies
14h36m
It was, I wonder if such physical experiences will come back in the future.
2 replies
14h4m
Depends.
In my culture, there's a strong push against being constantly online.
Phones must be kept in a backpack or otherwise stowed during social occasions, unless absolutely necessary.
Ideally, you turn them off, stuff them in a Faraday bag, and leave them in your car. Or just leave the phone at home.
Correlated to this is a focus on rebuilding some atrophied skills: getting around without Google Maps, being alone without needing the constant distraction of Youtube, etc.
The idea is that humans are not meant to live a life constantly mediated by an electronic nanny, and that you also need to maintain the skills to get along without one.
Related to this is a preference for physical media, or at least digital media over which you can exercise some control.
0 replies
10h44m
Out of curiosity, what culture are you referring to? I've known a few individuals trying to do such changes, but no wider culture.
0 replies
5h50m
Why are they turning the phones off then placing them in a Faraday bag? I've only heard this before when someone is trying to subvert surveillance.
0 replies
13h58m
Unlikely. You might as well ask if we will get back to hand writing physical correspondence. It will be trendy to avoid being online (or at least give the appearance of doing so) but it'll never be a widespread phenomenon.
1 replies
11h30m
Even renting digitally had a certain intimacy and enjoyment to it. The wait was exciting. Picking out what you wanted, waiting to get home/have it arrive in the mail let the mind explore the movie and build a personal connection to it, something that streaming just doesn’t fulfill to me.
0 replies
8h12m
It might also just be the fact that you were younger then.
7 replies
12h3m
This brings back some nostalgia for sure!
I was a BB customer and worked for Hollywood Video for quite a while, just as Netflix started taking over. It was sad.
There's a lot to be said about the "old school" way of movie rentals. Looking back and seeing Netflix and the other streaming options sprouting up, and the "cut the cord" movement.. it was neat. Until you look at where we are now. We're now paying and exponential amount of money for the same level of entertainment.
We all got swindled, and it's too late to do anything about it now.
5 replies
10h49m
There's a lot to be said about the "old school" way of movie rentals.
Please do say it! I'm old enough to remember VHS and video clubs, but may be not old enough to have a lot of nostalgia about it.
I can't think of what was better then. Sometimes you'd get a kind and knowledgeable video club owner who'd made fantastic recommendations, but more often than not it was an underpayed kid who just wanted to go home.
May be people used to take watching a move more seriously, and therefore enjoy it more, when the process was more involved and you didn't have millions of movies and shows a few clicks away, but does that count as an advantage?
We're now paying and exponential amount of money for the same level of entertainment.
This was certainly not true where I lived. The ammount of movies and shows that get watched in an average household these days would bankrupt the family in the 90s.
4 replies
10h0m
What I found better about it was the algorithm-free browsing experience. You would just look at the shelves and decide what to watch. The movies were broken down into basic genres, and sometimes there would be "staff picks" or something, but beyond that it was just you and the movies. This meant sometimes you watched really bad stuff, or good stuff, or stuff you wouldn't normally watch, or whatever.
No doubt there's a certain amount of nostalgia baked into these impressions. But definitely the thing I remember most fondly about that era was how decisions about things (movies, music, cereals, blenders, etc.) were made by looking at what was available and (maybe) doing a bit of research with external sources (like a "movie guide" book or whatever), rather than constantly wading through a morass of "recommendations", fake reviews, broken search functionality, and so on.
2 replies
8h0m
> What I found better about it was the algorithm-free browsing experience.
Not algorithm free, just a different kind of algorithm. Probably a mix of marketing and manual curation. Video stores (at least good ones) would be organized for you to find exactly what you were looking for… even if you didn’t know what you were looking for. If you saw a wall full of the most recent summer blockbuster movie, you might be drawn to rent that one. Why? Because you’re perceiving that movie to be “popular selection”. Or if there was a special section of “date night comedy”, you could browse there if that was what you were looking for.
But “staff picks” might have been a shelf with movies that weren’t performing well, with maybe one or two interesting movies to make the rest look better. Studios may have even paid for that placement (at larger chains). I have no idea if this really happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
As I see it, the algorithms are trying to bring order to a maddeningly long list of options[*]. The main goal being to help you find something you’d like to watch. If you like it, you’re happier and you’ll go back to that source (and keep paying for it). Regardless of told the source is YouTube, Disney+, Netflix, or Blockbuster Video.
In this way, we’ve always had curation… so effectively the algorithm wasn’t a “we think you’d like this”, maybe it was a “Randall” at the counter who you could ask for recommendations, or just a well organized store that led you to something you might like.
* - except the dark pattern algorithms that want you to just keep consuming media or increase “engagement”. I’m trying to look at it from a positive side.
1 replies
7h17m
I worked at blockbuster. Sure, we had the wall of new releases and occasional promotions, but the rest of the store was organized quite simply. First by genre, then alphabetically. You could opt into curation, but it wasn’t the majority of the store.
0 replies
5h30m
yeah. the primary algorithm used by bbv was which titles, and how many, were sent to the store. i worked for bbv and picked up shifts at different stores around my metro area and it was always interesting to see which stores had the “indie” titles and which had the high volume, popcorn title new releases. one of the biggest titles i can recall was independence day. my home store got a decent amount, but then i covered for someone at another store the next weekend at a high volume store and the number of id4 new releases was insane.
another store i transferred to had a healthy supply of laser disc titles and members of the local professional basketball team essentially supported that store’s laser disc business.
0 replies
6h20m
When I found out suggestions have low signal to noise ratio I simply don't look at suggestions anymore. Not in the grocery store, nor in streaming apps, nor on news websites. I go for the content I specifically went for. I do miss out on stuff though. For example, if I go to HBO Max I specifically look at HBO Originals.
0 replies
11h39m
The only thing we can do, as consumers, is stop paying for streaming, pay/rent physical media, and if we truly “need” on-demand streaming then piracy is always a moral option to abusive multi-billion dollar businesses. A $5/mo VPN is far more value than you can get out of streaming, especially if you invest the saved money into a Jellyfin server.
6 replies
8h10m
Since this is a YC site, "Who really killed Blockbuster video": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-really-killed-bloc...
We SHOULD have been streaming on Blockbuster and not Netflix today, but history is just a chain of blunders stitched together.
5 replies
7h28m
From a Blockbuster shareholder perspective, that would be good. From a user perspective, streaming is nothing like video rental and I don't see why we should expect them to be the same company. Why should a rental company that pivots to streaming be better for overall society than a native streaming company (which Netflix isn't, I note).
3 replies
5h15m
Netflix started out as a DVD rental service. The model was slightly different with a subscription that allowed you to have a certain number of DVDs at once, but it was still renting discs.
If they could pivot from rentals to streaming, why couldn't Blockbuster have done it?
2 replies
3h31m
But Netflix mailed DVDs, blockbuster had ubiquitous storefronts of family owned franchises they’d be cannibalizing, I think they were pretty different
0 replies
55m
This is all spitballing of course, but depending on when they released their streaming service, Blockbuster may not have had to close all their storefronts. Staffing would have changed and the business itself would have changed. But at the time, there was an opportunity for a trusted brand to help ease people into streaming.
I purchased VHS tapes, DVDs and subscribed to streaming services within about a decade of each other. That was a big transition for me and I’m technical. With the right kind of revenue sharing, DVD only rentals and cross promotions between streaming and in person rentals/events, they could have had something really interesting. I’m old enough to have rented VHS tapes so this may be a function of my age more than actual opportunity, but I know several people who even now would be far more tempted to subscribe to a streaming service if they could do it in a store.
Again, this is all theoretical, but Blockbuster had a lot of advantages back in the day. It wouldn’t be what it was, but the opportunities are fun to think through.
0 replies
19m
Sure, I wouldn't argue the businesses were identical, though I don't expect that the DVD rental Netflix looked anything like the streaming Netflix.
Where Blockbuster would have moved from brick and mortar to streaming, Netflix would have been moving from mostly a logistics business with warehouses in the middle of nowhere to a streaming/tech business.
0 replies
1h7m
The idea is that Blockbuster already had strong relationships with practically all the makers. Transitioning to streaming would have been very hard, but coming into the market with preexisting relationships would have been a huge advantage.
On the user side, the storefronts could have helped a lot of less technical people set up their first streaming accounts at home. It was a massive mental leap to go from “movies come out of that box under my tv” to streaming and the storefronts could have helped people make that transition.
It’s all to theoretical to talk about whether it would be good or bad for users. Implementing it correctly would have relied on Blockbuster being able to turn itself into a technology company without cannibalizing those things that made it attractive to makers. That is a very hard thing to do and they had to pull it off in a moving market.
2 replies
14h56m
These look very similar to the ones used in New Zealand. I wonder what the regional differences are, particularly the barcode.
1 replies
12h47m
If memory serves me correctly, the main difference is that the reels on the tapes rotated anti-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect.
0 replies
5h6m
As funny as it seems, I am glad nobody thought about it as a true way to prevent cross-zoning like with ridiculous unhelpful initial DVD discs/players Zoning where you could only change your zone 5 times which btw wish someone sue player makers for that.
Its just a matter of reversing the tape content, but I could imagine zoning south versus north hemi, so Australia VHS would not work in Europe :) I mean it would work but you would watch in reverse :)
1 replies
12h50m
The memories! I once wrote a short story once about the “other” last Blockbuster - a place where your VHS videos might just let you truly relive your past, at some great cost, of course. Anyway, I love when weird stuff like this comes to dwell on GitHub.
Here’s the story
https://f52.charlieharrington.com/stories/the-other-last-blo...
0 replies
47m
That was a fun read. Thanks for sharing!
1 replies
4h56m
Outside of going to the movies, Blockbuster was pretty much my sole source of video.
I had a TV, but no cable and poor reception (I remember watching snowy news broadcasts of the LA riots). I honestly did be not miss it. This was pre-internet, so most of my consumption was through books.
The interesting thing was when BB would get the latest box set of the X-files. Pretty much the closest you could get to binging at the time. 4-5 tapes, 2 episodes per (it was never the entire season). Watch a tape per week. Always excited when the new set arrived.
0 replies
3h35m
it’s crazy to think VHS and DVD came and went in only a few decades
I remember when Netflix started separating the DVD service from streaming and thinking they were absolutely crazy, because no one would ever want to watch movies from their computer, movies go in that box under the TV…
1 replies
21h36m
That's right. One could erase all kinds of video tapes by running a simple magnetic degausser over them. If one were so inclined.
0 replies
18h57m
I feel like we aren’t supposed to talk about that. Like it’s a rule.
0 replies
22h4m
This is a great addition next to my race car VHS rewinder.
0 replies
20h51m
I appreciate the effort put into breaking down the barcode's information.
0 replies
20h29m
I remember when that location closed, as I went to college nearby. Fun that you did the championships there. Also, really nice work.
0 replies
5h42m
FYI, and interesting thing one can do with this, is load it up as a template in BarTender, by Seagull Scientific, and have a table of all your video collection, and it can autogenterate all the barcodes you'd want - additionally - one can put a QRcode barcode on it pointing to the IMDB rating for it. Or a QR code going to a google sheet library of all your videos... so if you wanted a way to automate print barcodes for a bunch of custom labels, Bartender is the best.
I was making employee badges and someone said they were a "Card Carrying Conspiracy Theorist" so I was making ID badges, and though "huh - what would a "Conspiracy Theorist Badge" look like so while I was learning Bartender I made these.
https://imgur.com/a/badge-iterations-mwyjf9x
Where all the elements are driven by a table (you can connect them to xls, csv, sheets, any DB etc..
You can do barcodes in any format.
(point being you can load in the design elements of this inkscape - and make your own custom sleeves for your library super easy and have the barcodes generate correctly.)
0 replies
15h43m
lol this brings back memories. Spent 5 years working in BBV in high school and college, my first day on the job was when they installed dvd shelves in the middle of the store, was there when we removed all VHS, was there when Netflix streaming began and when we launched our own streaming service. Good times.
0 replies
3h48m
That profile image is top notch
0 replies
6h23m
The logical thing now is to take in a list of UPCs and Geolocation data to generate labels for an entire VHS collection.
0 replies
20h19m
I give this project five bags of popcorn and a little commemorative octocat keychain.
0 replies
16h53m
This would make a fun Jellyfin theme, ha
0 replies
13h2m
Man I miss walking into a BBV and there was this dude at the counter who was absolute expert in horror movies… got me started in Dario Argento, French extreme… Can’t get that out of “max”/Netflix/prime etc
0 replies
3h6m
Now do Dr. Bronner's soap labels! ;)
I think that I saw a news story, that it was closed, now.
Doesn't mean the trademarks aren't valid, though. Here, there be [legal] dragonnes...
Looks like it's still open, at least based on Google Maps.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cE9MCA7TZAdwYSkB6
https://t.ly/Sk3MB
Appears the "OPEN" light was on in July of 2021 from street view.
The most recent review on Google, which includes interior photos of the open store, is just 4 days old.
Yeah I live a few blocks from it and it's still open.
It's still open. I live in Bend and love going there to rent movies.
My wife and I do a retro date night once in a while where we hit up dandy’s to have burgers and shakes roller skated to the car, then rent a movie from Blockbuster… definitely a fun throwback.
they seem to still be getting in new releases, at least as of the end of July:
https://bendblockbuster.com/new-releases/
the Alaska blockbuster did close though.
I suspect that what I saw, was about the Alaska store, then.
That explains www.blockbuster.com linking Sling TV.
I feel like it should instead link to a video in the sling.com domain with almost patronizing instructions on how to convert their login to Sling and promote it as "Your very own Blockbuster at home".
Seems like there's a few of us in Bend. Anyone interested in a meetup? Hell, maybe at Blockbuster? :)
Yep - it's a few blocks from where I live. It seems to attract a fair number of tourists.