Slashdot Mirror
Blockbuster Trying To Woo Disgruntled Netflix Customers
jfruhlinger writes "'Netflix Customers, Say Hello to Blockbuster' is the subject line of an email making the rounds trying to convince customers to switch services in the wake of Netflix's contentious price hike. The bankrupt video store chain is now owned by DirectTV and has its own streaming service. How did Blockbuster even get these email addresses? Are its services really going to be cheaper and/or better than Netflix's in the long run? Is 'You'll hate us less than Netflix' really a viable business model?"
Relatedly, reader assertation asks, "Can anyone suggest a streaming movie service that has a selection comparable to Netflix and will run on a computer using GNU/Linux?"
Dish Network picked up Blockbuster. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/06/us-blockbuster-dishnetwork-idUSTRE7351VA20110406 Also note the "Subsidiary of Dish Network" part here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_Inc.
As an alternative, in some ways even better than Netflix, Blockbusters is a viable choice for DVDs by mail, particularly if you have a store that is (still) close to you (despite the massive store closures). But as a streaming service, no... BB streaming is still only a competitor to PayPerView, which is pretty much what BB's streaming service is... BB DOES NOT do streaming subscriptions, which is what Netflix is and really has no competition. With Netflix you give up new releases for a subscription that gives you unlimited viewing of admittedly older content that also doesn't match DVDs in breadth, but the price is right-ish. With BB, you get new releases for streaming at the high (to consumers, not to studios) prices. BB *will* have to change to compete... but its really all in the hands of the studios...
I'm mentioning this because a lot of people forget that many public libraries have excellent video collections. It won't always be the latest and sometimes you'll have to wait for a popular movie, but most libraries also seem to share the same philosophy that GNU/Linux users share: the are advocates of freedom.
... While it isn't purely netflix's fault ...
Netflix CEO sits on Microsoft board. The reason for Linux mishap is purely political.
Amazon Prime works fine on Linux. I hope that Blockbuster will not shun our business either.
I dropped Blockbuster and subscribed to Netflix last month, and in many ways, I'm regretting it. Netflix is good for streaming some TV shows (as long as you are OK with watching last year's episodes) and a few movies, but it is waaaaay behind in streaming worth-while New Film Releases, and their user interface is horrible. When you go to New Releases, it shows you anything new to THEM, not new to the market. Unless someone can tell me where it exists on NetFlix's site, one cannot just look for "movies released in the last week or last month or last year". It just shows everything that NetFlix added to its list. Makes it incredibly frustrating having to go to someone else's site to find movies that were released, then go back and search Netflix to find out that they don't even have it. And if you want the new releases, you can only get them in the mail, in which case, how is that better than Blockbuster? Some people probably like just browsing through B-movies, speghetti westerns, and 50s-80s flicks, but I watch a lot of movies and seeing the latest straight-to-DVD Val Kilmer movie isn't my idea of a Friday night. Blockbuster missed the boat when it came to streaming and NOT having a subscription streaming service left them sinking in their dingy. I have no interest paying per-movie. If Blockbuster offered subscription streaming, I'd probably dump Netflix, because they don't have the selection or the interface.
Archive.org has over 2600 feature films in addition to many more other kinds of videos. All public domain, all $free, to their webpage embedded player or download as MPEG4, Ogg Video or WMV.
Donate to this 501(c)(3) nonprofit and deduct the gift from your taxes.
--
make install -not war
You would probably be throwing a fit if someone were copying GPLed code in a released product and not releasing the source.
Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.