Cosmic Geek

Blockbuster tells Hollywood studios it’s preparing for mid-September bankruptcy | Company Town | Los Angeles Times.

So there’s the news and it made me happy. Why? I’m not sure.

I used to be a big Blockbuster customer. I spent many a fun date night with whoever the significant other was at the time, browsing the new arrivals section. Rewinding sucked and getting things returned sucked and trying to get popular new movies sucked, but otherwise it was fun.

But then Netflix came along and gave me everything I didn’t know I wanted. No leaving the house. Hours of browsing fun and queue management. Super easy and impossibly quick return and receive mail service. And later … streaming … delicious, delicious streaming.

Blockbuster tried to use their muscle to out-Netflix Netflix. But it seems that they failed. And again, that makes me happy. Why?

• Part of it must be that I never liked the idea of the big guys stealing the little guys’ idea and trying to muscle them out.
• Part of it is probably that stupid thing we humans do where we choose someone (team, company, soda brand) and become mindlessly loyal to it. Though I think Netflix loyalty is smart too.
• I think that the biggest source of happiness and satisfaction is the fact that Netflix won with innovation and customer service rather than muscling them out. I feel this is justice considering all of the mom and pop video stores Blockbuster has gobbled up over the years.

Yes, I think we’re there. Innovation = yay! It’s like the nerds won. Again. And I like it.

I do feel bad for the inevitable fallout of all the video store employees that will lose their jobs. But in this economy, it’s a common story. Hopefully, most of them were attending school and on their way to better careers anyway. And if not, then this should be a wake up call.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll watch the end of How to Marry a Millionaire on my iPhone via the new Netflix app.