---
author: ''
category: ''
date: 2010/11/16 11:50
description: ''
link: ''
priority: ''
slug: BB940
tags: ''
title: Internet Killed the Video Store
type: text
updated: 2010/11/16 11:50
url_type: ''
---
A few days ago, the last video rental in the neighborhood closed. It was a Blockbuster and since it's bankrupt in the US it's hardly surprising that they killed the Argentina operation.

But Blockbuster had, years earlier, killed all the *other* video rental shops. So now there aren't any, at all.

So, how does anyone with a DVD player actually use it? Well, he can buy DVDs in the newspaper stands. That's expensive because it's *buying* and it's *late*. Who will want to spend $35 to watch "Due Date" at home 3 months after the theatrical release? There is no NetFlix here!

And of course, you can do what everyone was doing anyway: downoad it, or buy illegal copies. They are often better than the originals anyway, at least in this sense:

.. image:: http://www.bobbyschlicht.com/storage/piratedvd.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1271702206459
   :width: 80%

And really it's amazing. The whole movie rental industry has basically ceased to exist, and the competition is illegal. They sucked so much at its business that they couldn't compete with a "business" that can't do commercials, has no quality assurance. 

Sometimes you got a very bad illegal copy, filmed from a seat in the last row, full of people talking over the movie you can barely see... and still, people preferred to buy *that* for $7 instead of paying $10 for a "quality" rental.

It's a tale of incredible incompetence. Quickly, can someone find me **one** example of an business that got killed by illegal and crappy competition?

There are crappy and/or illegal medicines, but pharmaceuticals still work. There are illegal (unlicensed) places to eat, but restaurants still make money. There are illegal cabs, but real cabs are in business.

This is not even bad, it's just embarrasing.