The video store is getting deader every day

Former "dvdplaycanada.com" vending machine

redbox announcement on "dvdplay" vending machine

Well, it appears that my local "dvdplay" machine will be disappearing, taken over by "redbox". Both the Blockbsuter and Roger's video stores in the neighbourhood are gone, and I have not rented a video in at least five years.

$1.50 per day is an attractive price, and this vending machine model does eliminate most of the labour costs of the old video store rental model. But the critical flaw in the business model is that it depends on moving atoms around, when the customer is really only concerned with the bits.

Do I care if I have a physical disc to watch the movie? Or do I only care about watching the movie? If I am going to listen to music on my iPod, do I really need to buy the CD, which I then  have to rip and find a place to store somewhere around the house. Or I rather just buy the audio file from the iTunes Store and be able to listen to it straight away?

It is a fatal mistake for a marketers to confuse the benefit that the customer is seeking, with the way that the benefit has traditionally been delivered. I recenly read about how the sliderule business was wiped out by electronic calculators. The sliderule was merely a tool to deliver the answer to a mathematcial problem. The calculator could do it faster and more accurately. Similarly, online streaming video models can offer more choice and faster delviery than a kiosk model, like "redbox", will ever be able to provide.

So, my local "dvdplay" machine will be come a "redbox" machine, but I don't expect to see any dvd rental machine in my local grocery store five years from now.

PS, Yes I know that "deader" is not a word, but it does convey the meaning I was seeking.