Renting Movies Online or Instore
Created on 2008-04-11 00:46:31
Everybody loves watching movies. Going to the movie theater and watching new films on the big screen is a part of culture whether in the Australian outback or New York City. But first run movies are battling for screen time at the movie theater, so before you get a chance, it’s already gone. However, thanks to the invention of videotape and now DVD’s, watching the movies you missed in the theaters, or the classic movies you haven’t seen, makes movie rental quick and easy.
But there are so many choices. When the movie rental industry began, you would drive to your local video store and select the movie(s) you wanted and the movie rental store would have several copies of the films newly released on VHS tape. So unless you were at the store as soon as the tapes hit the shelves you could be out of luck.
VHS tapes gave way to DVD and the movie rental store transitioned from thick boxes to thin boxes. Blockbuster had established itself as the leader in movie rental, but there was a upstart on the horizon. The advent of the internet led to the creation of a company called Netflix which revolutionized the way in which the movie rental worked.
Netflix allowed movie rental to be a click on a keyboard instead of a drive to the store. After paying our monthly subscription and selecting our movies, Netflix sent the movies to our door. The functionality of the online store allows us to keep a queue stored on the site so that the next in the queue is automatically sent to us when we send back a DVD.
Netflix has now introduced movie rental on demand, so that we no longer have to wait for movies to arrive in the mail, they can be streamed to our computer screen. Not all movies are available via this method and of course, a computer monitor is not a home theater, but the offer of movies on demand included in the price of a monthly subscription is wonderful option.
Netflix is not the only online store to offer DVD rental via the mail. Blockbuster developed its own offering where you can return the DVD to one of its 4500 stores or use send it back via snail mail. Other online companies have joined the competition such as Intelliflix, Café DVD, DVD Avenue and others. Some of these sites offer films not available at Blockbuster and Netflix, such as adult titles.
Movie rental is a must for anyone who loves movies. The choice to rent at the store or through a postal service depends on where you live and how quickly you want you next movie in the DVD player. But as technology develops, with new Blu-Ray discs and streaming movies, be prepared for the way you rent movies to change again very shortly.
