[Eug]

I just joined a local video rental store, with a twist. It's called Videoself and it's essentially a 24-hour shop with 2000 movies in a vending machine.

One interesting part is the fact that you can check what's available online, and reserve it before you get there. It's also quite cheap. $2 for a rental. You can buy the movies as well.

Here's the main page:




This is searching alphabetically in the drama section:




Note that Casshern is unavailable, since I rented it an hour ago:




I definitely like this idea. It's maybe not direct competition for iTunes and more of a competitor to traditional video rental stores, but in some ways I like it more than both.

[milhous]

that's cool. more self-service is more power to the people in my view. and wow the forums look so different, i haven't been around here much since the beginning of the year so it'll definitely take some time to get used to. it's strange, checking nn has been an almost daily ritual for me since 2000 but i've rarely been spending time over here as of late.

but back to your point, this could've been an evolutionary path that blockbuster could've took, but because it would require a significant amount of retooling and a fundamental change to their business model, it just wouldn't work. not sure if you use or have access to netflix, but they have this option now of watching movies through your computer (windows-only, but not surprising) which sounds neat at first, but is completely impractical and useless to the masses because people would much rather prefer watching movies on their living room TV while sitting on a sofa. i rather would've preferred a netflix set-top box similar to that of an Apple TV, that would've been the greatest thing ever.

if netflix can't deliver on this, then i hope apple runs them out of business and offers their own video rental store via Apple TV, i'd be on that in a heartbeat!

[Eug]

Yeah, the Zip.ca (in Canada) and Netflix mail order model doesn't really impress me that much. I'm not interested in waiting weeks to get most of my movies, and I don't like the subscription idea either.

Netflix's and iTunes' download idea is interesting, but that type of service is widely available in Canada, and the dependency on server speeds and the requirement for a computer or a separately purchased set top box doesn't impress me either. Plus, I'm not enamoured with the fact that most downloads are worse than DVD quality, and don't come with any extras.

Videoself's solution is a very good one for my needs. I can just go get the movie whenever I want. The main problem is that the stores are few and far between. For me it's not that bad since my shop is only about two and a half km away, but the traditional video stores I went to before were even closer. It'd be nice if this idea caught on more, especially if the prices remain as cheap as they are. CAD$1.99 (US$1.71) for catalogue titles is an excellent price. Most video stores around here are twice as much, and none offer online browsing and reservation like Videoself does.

[- - e r i k - -]

Yeah, the rental-video in a vending machine was sooooooo popular in the eighties.

It's all just a little bit of history repeating.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Yeah, the rental-video in a vending machine was sooooooo popular in the eighties.

It's all just a little bit of history repeating.

I knew somebody would bring this up. My local VHS vending machines had what, 50 movies for $5 a pop? My local DVD vending machine has 2000 movies, at ~$2 a pop, with online browsing and reservations.

I don't think this will replace traditional video stores by any means, but this really doesn't share that much with the old VHS vending machines.

[Agasthya]

What is the resolution of movies that are downloaded from iTMS?

[Dork.]

We just got one of these machines in our local Wegmans, which seems like a similar thing, except with vending machines instead of an actual store:



You can go online, check to see if a movie is available at your local kiosk, and reserve it.

I can't help but think that this type of service has a very limited window of opportunity: once online distribution of movies gets easier to do (both in terms of bandwidth and DRM), these machines may go away. Then again, they're probably very cheap to maintain, and even if they only get business from people who are not computer-literate, they may still be profitable....

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Dork. 

I can't help but think that this type of service has a very limited window of opportunity: once online distribution of movies gets easier to do (both in terms of bandwidth and DRM), these machines may go away. Then again, they're probably very cheap to maintain, and even if they only get business from people who are not computer-literate, they may still be profitable....

I don't think downloaded movies will take over for quite some time. They still require a specific box, and bandwidth is an issue.

The main way it's viable is from the cable companies, but even then it hasn't taken off. VOD seems to have its niche, but only because cable companies and such can offer it to every single one of its customers, and it doesn't require storage space.

Originally Posted by Agasthya 

What is the resolution of movies that are downloaded from iTMS?

640x480 or 640x360 or whatever. However, some of the encodes aren't all that great, since they use a fairly low bitrate, and the less complicated form of H.264 (so it will play back on the iPod).