Netflix vs Redbox rivalry shaping up

Have you seen those red kiosks at Walmart and McDonalds locations across the US? If not, you probably will soon enough. With about 15,000 existing locations in operation, Redbox is currently rolling their $1 DVD rental kiosks out at a rate of one per hour. Cinematech’s Scott Kirsner has a post about Redbox and their competitor, Netflix.

Both offer DVD rentals, but using distinctly different approaches. Netflix’s DVD title selection is extensive, with over 100,000 titles to choose from. In contrast, a Redbox kiosk carries around 200 titles at a given time. The difference is instant gratification…Redbox is an impulse purchase, made at a location you are likely shopping or frequenting. While Netflix does offer instant internet streaming options, it’s not always the same for folks who don’t have a computer hooked up to their entertainment system. I’ve used both services before, and while I wish the instant selection of Redbox was more extensive, there is no denying the price point and convenience. They also allow you to order a DVD online in advance (ala Netflix), for later pickup at your local kiosk.

I honestly did not see Redbox as that useful when I first used the service, but am finding that we use it more and more. Regardless of which you personally use, I think there is one thing we can all agree on…the good ‘ole fashioned Video Store is all but dead.

MSM on Hollywood’s Obsolete Business Model

HDFilmTools shed a little light recently on mainstream media coverage of the major upheaval in Hollywood’s traditional business model. With the credit crunch, the rise of piracy, and slacking DVD sales, the industry is in a unique position that they’ve not had experience with in the past. While these changes have not occurred overnight, it appears that they are finally seeing some major media coverage.

Why Do LA People Suck? John August Responds

Over at John August’s blog, he’s posted some feedback from a reader that asks the question “Why do LA people suck?” and rants a bit about backstabbing and shallow friendships. John does an excellent job of breaking down the themes in the e-mail, nicely explains the difference between friends and colleagues, and offers some tips on how to better network and ask for help. It’s an odd post, but a good one. Check it out.

How to Avoid Common Freelancing Pitfalls

Just a quick blog entry to note a good article over at Freelance Folder on why Freelancing is hard, and what you can do to alleviate your pain as much as possible. Check out the article here.

Building Good Hardware (is Harder Than it Looks)

Building good hardware is not a trivial undertaking. We’ve all seen it time and time again as new companies go through the throes of taking a great concept all the way through the many layers of design and development, to a final shipping product (unfortunately, not always in quantity). We saw this play out for Red Digital Cinema, with their months of revised shipping target dates and hardware changes. Sony dealt with it when they had to fix widespread lens issues shortly after the EX1 launch. Even the mighty Apple has faltered recently with the somewhat buggy launch of the iPhone 3G revision. I’ll say it again; building good hardware is not an easy task. Even while companies miss the mark, what’s is interesting to me is that rarely is the original idea a bad one. In this article I’d like to take a look at several recent product launches from “indie-centric” companies. I’ll also discuss the reservations and deposits business model, a practice that seems to be largely constrained to these small businesses. I’ll sometimes casually refer to this as the “Red-servations” model of business. Obviously the concept of taking reservations in advance wasn’t innovated by Red Digital Cinema, but they really put it on the map with the development of the Red One camera. Read on…

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