End of an Era: Blockbuster Video, R.I.P.

original store image by Kingstonist

Yet another thing your kids won’t understand at all – returning a video.

The writing’s been on the wall for a long time, frankly – as soon as used DVDs became cheaper to buy there than new ones were to rent, there was just no point. But the concept of buying used movies is probably going the way of the dodo now too.

Blockbuster were in many ways a really terrible company – overpriced, never having what you wanted in stock if it was anything other than a new release, staffed with people who knew nothing. It was also a formative part of my life: though I called it Cockbuster, Schlockbuster and Lackluster, the “Blockbuster Night” was still a tradition.

So even though I absolutely shouldn’t, as I look around at the stacks of “3 for $20” used DVDs that fall on me half the time I walk past my shelves, I’ll miss it all the same.