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Wal-Mart Enters NetFlix's Business
wcbrown writes "AP reports that Wal-Mart is entering into the online DVD rental arena, currently dominated by Netflix. Wal-Mart is starting out with 13,000 titles, six distribution centers, and competitive pricing. With a seriously tremendous infrastructure and expansive will, Wal-Mart stands poised to overtake Netflix. To say the least, that's not going to be good for business."
Last week my local Walmar had a large vending machine that dispensed the DVD that you wanted to rent. and the machine would accept the returns also.
All I needed was my credit card/ debit card.
Maybe they are looking to expand in both online rental and vending style?
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
That "walmart only, propietary" deal happend to me with a couple of my small refillable propane tanks. I got two from walmart, turns out they put a "walmart_only_ thread on the filler valve, you are forced to get filler-ups/exchanges only at walmart then, unlike my other ones that I can take anyplace handy.
I didn't mind walmart when sam walton was still kicking, it seemed like they at least made an effort to have "made in USA" stuff in abundance, and didn't have weird polices like this propane deal (and what they will probably do with DVDs-good call there), but now,since he's died and who knows who is running it as an economic division of the chinese peoples liberation army, I've about almost completely removed them from sucking on my wallet. Once in a great while I get stuck, and have no recourse but to go in there, and every time I see aisle after aisle of lost homes, lost jobs, lost equity, lost cars, basically a lot of lost hopes and dreams disgusied as cheap trinkets, like what were used to purchase manhattan island. Trinkets, ohhh shiny and cheap.
They are that-cheap. Cheap as in price, cheap as in quality, but very expensive with a bigger look at when once those dollars leave the shores of the US and cease acting as an economic force multiplier.