Renting movies is hard
None of the major video rental systems appeal to me:
- Redbox is for people who visit the grocery store two days in a row. (Why don't they put kiosks at train stations?)
- Netflix DVD-by-mail is for people who watch lots of movies and check snail mail daily.
- Amazon Instant Video is for people who live online, yet are willing to give up control over their computers.
The iTunes Store mostly works for my current set of devices, but all the movies I want to watch are either too new or too obscure for them to have rentals available.
Maybe I should sign up for Netflix but use other means to actually watch movies. At least then Hollywood will have enough money to make good films buy politicians, print and distribute billions of optical discs, prevent paying customers from exercising their fair use rights, and sue my neighbors.
March 2nd, 2012 at 5:46 am
> Why don’t they put kiosks at train stations?
They do, just not very many yet. Chicago (CTA/Metra) and Boston (MBTA) both have some. I think it might be a new effort, the Chicago ones were only installed in December.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/9542038-418/cta-adds-redbox-kiosks-to-select-rail-stations.html
I’ve also seen redbox machines at airports, but I can’t find any on the locator map.
If you have a car (or happen to walk past one), the gas station locations are usually pretty convenient because the redbox is often outside and you can usually park right in front. But I assume you’ve looked and this doesn’t work for you either.
> Amazon Instant Video is for people who live online, yet are willing to give up control over their computers.
I assume you’re aware that in addition to DRMed downloads, Amazon can also stream your videos with Flash. If you don’t want to use Flash streaming, maybe you could use a Roku box? http://www.roku.com/