this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Video rental stores were expensive, as much as one rental a month would equal a Netflix subscription. You were at the mercy of their inventory which you couldn’t check ahead of time before wasting a drive and was often only one copy each of older favorites plus new releases and didn’t have a lot of fringe options or foreign releases. Getting a movie in a mail and keeping it until you watched it, with no late fees, no “by 9pm” bullshit, etc, was awesome. Netflix was the perfect improvement over the video store!
I watched so many odd movies, old classics, and foreign films thanks to Netflix DVD by mail. In many cases, some of those haven’t made it to digital distribution and now aren’t available except through the purchase of an out of print DVD or pirating.
Netflix’s DVD by mail service exists but it isn’t maintained, and some of these important old DVDs are getting broken and not replaced.
Actually, it ended last month
Sad!
I was about 10. The economics weren’t front of mind for me.
I too didn't get Netflix when it first came out, and your reasons weren't my experience at all.
My experience new releases were $4-$5, and often older releases were $1-$3, while Netflix was $20 for the month.
Blockbuster had a "guaranteed to be there or it was free" deal for the major new releases, with whole walls dedicated to just one movie. It was rare to miss out on the blockbusters. Older movies and fringe/foreign options though I agree with you.
For perspective on my experience: was a college-aged kid, who got together with friends on the weekends to watch a movie, you'd rent about 4-5 movies per month so Netflix was roughly the same cost.
Mostly rented major new releases but an occasional cult classic, inventory was never a problem, nobody wanted obscure stuff.
Video stores seemed more convenient. Everybody (in my friend circle) had a Blockbuster <5 minutes from their house and well all drove. So easy to pick up a movie and drop it off on the way home. Plus you didn't know what you wanted to watch until you're about to get together with your friends: what if everyone wants to watch the Comedy blockbuster, but you got the Drama blockbuster? I want to be able to survey my friends and decide at the last minute or be able to pivot, I don't want to have to decide a week ahead of time or not make a last minute change if everybody is in the mood for something else.
This was my personal experience and why Netflix didn't seem like a great idea.
For people watching tons of movies, and more obscure stuff, I can see how Netflix was a great idea. But people watching mostly blockbusters and only renting one movie a weekend with friends (which I thought was most of the population) I didn't see the value.
You don't need to tell me why I was wrong, clearly I was wrong, but that was my perspective at the time. And as a family-man now, one thing I didn't consider was the families renting a lot movies (2-3 movies for the kids + 1 for the parents every week) - now that's a huge market I hadn't considered.
Well, the 3-at-a-time DVD plan for Netflix was $18/mo in 2005, and I distinctly remember a one or two at a time DVD plan (my plan for under $10). This article confirms the $18/mo plan and alludes to the cheaper options...
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/technology/circuits/in-the-competition-for-dvd-rentals-by-mail-two-empires.html
Also, what made video stores truly SUCK was the late fees. Sure, a new title rental would be $5, but real people with real lives struggle to get a video back on time. The story of the start of Netflix was the co-founder owing $40 in late fees for Apollo 13--in 1995 dollars.
Sure, the American consumer was/is "I want it, and I want it now" and Netflix unlimited plans was always about "I want to see one of these 200 movies, surprise me." Like I said, great for arthouse and fringe picks saving you $20-$25 per disc to buy--if you could find it.
I am sure even if that time... 2000's until the early 2010's... I would use a Blockbuster for new releases and patiently wait my next foreign or arthouse pick from Netflix.
Regardless, what is sad to me, is what promised to be the future of being able to see any movie, ever, on demand, is now clearly a reality of seeing what the services will pay money to make available to you, when they feel like it, and you're stuck accepting it. There was a time I thought we'd see an end to piracy because the lame barriers of access were gone, now they're worse than ever.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Same for me. I also LOVED going to the rental shops (Blockbuster and Hollywood) as a young newlywed. It was like our date night every weekend. Just browsing and browsing trying to convince each other and compromising over movies. I could not see how Netflix could replace the experience. Boy was I wrong hahaha.
Oh they've replicated that browsing and browsing and trying to convince the other experience a bit waaaaay too well. Have to now plan for length of movie + 30-60 minutes browsing and selecting it of free time for movie night.