I keep hearing talk about Blockbuster going bankrupt. The latest news I read claimed it wasn't a matter of will they, but when. Implying that it is just a matter of time.

I guess some suggest that there is just too much competition out there for Blockbuster. Netflix, there main online competitor continues to do well. Then, there is all of those kiosk rental machines on every corner and in every store where you can rent a movie for as little as $1.

At any rate I do like Blockbuster. Mostly because they offer monthly plans that allow you unlimited movies by mail, with the addition of you can bring the mailer to a local Blockbuster store for a free movie. Of course it wouldn't benefit you if you didn't have a Blockbuster retail store in the town you live in. Since I do it works out great for me and only $11.99 per month. At that rate I usually end up with 7-10+ movies per month with both online by mail and in store trades. Consider half of those are by mail, which I don't even need to leave my house for and you really can't beat that deal.


Blockbuster

I could go uptown and get one of those $1 movies in a kiosk and maybe save a little. However, they really don't have that many new releases available. Plus there is the waste of time to run uptown to go get one, and the hassle of returning the following day or pay a late fee.

Netflix has either similar or exactly the same pricing as Blockbuster. The only difference between the two that I am aware of is Netflix has a large selection of movies you can watch online included in the price of membership where as Blockbuster does not. But Blockbuster has membership packages where you can return the mailer to a retail store for a free movie trade. Netflix does not have the ability to do this.

So the two are similar by nature. I guess it just depends on if you are one that would sit in front of the computer screen to watch a movie. If so, then Netflix would work great for you. If you are more into sitting in front of a TV rather than a computer to watch a movie, then Blockbuster might be the better option.

I will continue using Blockbuster. Should they go bankrupt, then I would probably switch to Netflix. Until that happens I have content with what I have.