Blockbuster: Blog and Demand

Blockbuster: Total Access

Blog and Demand

(Final Paper)

          Growing up, I usually got bored on Friday or Saturday nights and when there was nothing else to and I didn’t feel like going out, I’d just go to my neighborhood Blockbuster, rent some DVD movies and just sit back with some popcorn and enjoy the fun. Personally, I think Blockbuster is a fantastic movie rental place and it sure beats going to the movies (whose prices are too high for today’s standards). Blockbuster has the best title selections that they have to offer on a nightly basis, which is why I prefer their services.

            As a Blockbuster video customer, I feel that this company has come a long way in terms of giving customers what they want for their viewing entertainment pleasure. In the past, Blockbuster started its franchise through music and video rental centers in different parts of the country. With Blockbuster, people were able to go and purchase movies and music and eventually, this led to bigger and better things as Blockbuster began to take center stage when it began to sell products from video games from Nintendo, as well as video game accessories and even VHS players. Eventually, the company saw it could really hit a gold mine when it started its own chain of rental stores across American and even worldwide after it was purchased by Viacom.

            But as we all know, there’s an old saying that ‘new technology must triumph over old technology’ and this was true when it came to VHS cassettes. Because VHS tapes had a tendency to wear out overtime from constant playing in VHS systems (which eventually led to wear and tear on the player itself), video companies came up with a new and improved system for movies: DVDs. DVDs were the wave of the future in that they not only hold the movie itself, but it’s presented in different screen formats, carries bonus material and extras, production information and so forth. Blockbuster overtime began to see that DVDs could sell more than VHS copies and so they began to do away with VHS cassettes and began to invest in DVD titles. Blockbuster began to sell and rent more copies of DVDs than any other franchise in the country and pretty soon they began to rent out video games from major gaming systems like Playstation, PS2, X-Box, X-Box 360 and so forth. From that day forward, Blockbuster was the place to go if you were looking to be entertained with some friends or your girlfriend.

            Then the company known as ‘Redbox’ showed up and Blockbuster knew it had some serious competition, especially with Redbox’s rent as many DVDs as you want and then send them back when you’re good and ready deal. Blockbuster chose to step their game up too and began using television, the Internet and even web-streaming sites to broadcast to people around the country about their ‘Total Access Program’, a program that I believe is very useful in terms of promoting their business and gaining new customers. Total Access is just like Redbox, but the thing that separates this program from Redbox is that you can rent as many DVDs as you want and then you can either turn them back in when you’re ready, meaning no late fees and get the next title in your queue or you can turn it in for another title that is currently in stock on their shelves in the store. You can keep the DVD that you get off the shelf for as long as you like (which again means no late fees) and then turn it back in when you’re good and ready.

            The best part about Total Access is that you can connect to Blockbuster through Twitter or Facebook accounts if you have them and Blockbuster can send you notifications through your email when they’ve received the last movie you’ve turned in and when your next video will be shipped out, as well as its estimated date of arrival. At first, Total Access was just for DVDs, but now Blockbuster is shipping out other items from Blu-ray discs to video games for rent through this program as well and Blockbuster offers its customers the option of keeping the game or movie for their own collection as a purchased item if they enjoy it and don’t wish to turn it back in. Blockbuster has even began giving people the option to watch movies through their online streaming source in the even that there is no DVD available in the Total Access program or at any of their retail stores.

            Blockbuster has made great use of the Internet to let people know about their new programs through services like Youtube, hulu.com and any other video streaming site that they can host commercials or their promotions on and word is getting around very fast. Thanks to the Total Access program, people no longer have to worry about going to the video store only to be disappointed that their favorite movie or a new release that they wish to see has been picked up by somebody else and won’t be back in for quite some time. I’m sure we all remember those days when a new release had just hit the shelves but do to limited resources, only a few copies could make it to the shelves and by the time the next customer comes in on a Friday night to pick one up, there aren’t anymore. However, I feel that Blockbuster could probably go further if they had a program that could help people obtain certain titles that aren’t in store or are no longer being sold at any other online retailer.

            I think that Blockbuster’s business go can way further with the help of a personal blog-spot program, in which customers tell Blockbuster what they’d like to see more of in terms of movies or services. With a blog page, movie buffs can communicate with other movie enthusiasts  about what they’d like to see or movies that they haven’t seen yet.  There might be a specific movie from overseas like in Hong Kong, Japan or Thailand that hasn’t reached the States just yet and if a Blockbuster customer wants to see it, they can give a notification to the company and ask them if there’s any chance that a particular film can be sent to them through their total access program. Blockbuster can then consult with their people about finding the film that the customer is looking for if isn’t already in their library on DVD or Blu-ray and if for some reason the company can’t send the disc, they can always use their streaming program in order to download the video that they’re trying to see. This would really help Blockbuster in cornering the overseas market for video retail if they can stream movies from other continents that haven’t been shown in American theatres or haven’t been released on DVD just yet.

            I believe that with this step, Blockbuster can possibly double their sales and have more consumers if they are able to provide customers with movies from overseas that are not in any other retail store or even at other online retailers. By asking customers what else they’d like to see, Blockbuster can get a heads-start on the competition in giving the people what they want.   

Facebook might have some competition.

I had just recently gone to a news report in which the google search engine would be devoting all of their efforts to creating a new social network on their search engine. Personally, I think it would be a great idea to see how far google could go with a social networking site and if the features it has will be different from facebook and twitter. The name of the social network is suppose to be google circles and a lot of people think this will be another step up for google in terms of social networking as they already have a video streaming section on their search engine and many other features.

A lot of people are pondering if a another social network is really necessary, what with blogs, facebook and other sites that help you link up and exchange discussions and information with one another. If google circles does pull it off though, a lot of people are hoping that it will have features that will make a lot of its content to be searchable, which some say facebook does not do.

New Media from Students

Based on unc's website and the analysis of Bill Tancer, media plays a key concept in what we see, hear, feel and believe. For starter's, the B.P. oil spill garnered much attention from the public through news reports, newspaper  articles, magazines and especially the internet. Through videos, research and other intel that comes into through the world, the American people were able to learn more about this crisis and began to speak out about it. This in turn led to B.P. dedicating it's resources and assuring people everywhere that the oil spill would be taken care of.

As Tancer put it in his edition of Click, the Internet serves as a byproduct that aggregates our movements and provides a deeper insight into who we are and what we do. Just the same, watching the State of the Union address on t.v. or on youtube also gives us an insight as to who were are as Americans. We know that our nation's economy it at it's roughest point and we watch the news in an effort to gain insight in what Congress is doing to fix or alleviate the problem. And it is through the Internet, Blackberry and other digital resources, that we as a nation can learn more about what goes on in our day to day lives and how it reflects back to us: what we eat, what we drink, who to vote for, what movies to see, etc.

The Internet gives us the ability to do more than just express ourselves: it allows us to increase our options and to embrace the choices that we make in everyday society. 

Obama focuses on technological advancement.

During the state of the Union address that happened earlier this evening, President Barrack Obama gave some interesting insight in the development of our nation's technological advancement for the next coming years. One of the advancements that he promised was more wireless access for the nation and it is true what he said: the Internet is a revolution for our digital culture as well as for business. Who'd have thought that the creation of the World Wide Web would lead to the creation of other small businesses that would later go on to become well-known entrepreneurial giants like amazon, facebook, youtube and so forth.

Obama pointed out that in order for the nation to have a stronger infrastructure will be through the economy and that the expansion of wireless networks will lead to said stronger infrastructure. Because of his speech, talks are now underway with the Federal Communications Commission to create a more robust service for the nation that is already an ocean for blackberry, verizon, smartphones and so forth. Clearly the winds of change will arrive on the wings of digital advancement for the U.S.

Apple tightens the screws on iPhone 4: sources

With the introduction of the iPhone4, the people at Apple are more than determined to make sure that your personal privacy and data are protected inside as well as out from intruders. With the growing trend of cell-phones being used for texting, phone calls and other data transmission, it is severely important that users try to protect their personal information from circulating at all costs.

That's why the people at Apple Inc. have installed new 'screws' that are tamper proof and prevents people from opening the device, thus securing information. Kyle Wiens, the chief executive of iFixit said that the purpose of the new screws was to keep people out of the iPhone and to keep them from replacing the battery with a dead or dying one. He thinks that this tactic would do more harm than good though as it's like shutting out the original owners of the iPhone from doing what they need to do.

So the thing of it is, what's a person suppose to do if they need a battery replaced and can't gain access to the back cover of their phone? The people at iFixit said that if the phone is still under warranty, they technician will replace it for them, but other than that, there would be a charge fee of $79 if it isn't. Though the main theme is to prevent unauthorized modifications of the iPhone, does it restrict the owners from using the phone how they see fit with these new Pentalobe screws that are being installed into them?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110121/wr_nm/us_apple_screws

Breaking News: Shooting of Congresswoman Gifford.

I'm sure you all have heard about the Arizona shooting that took place over the weekend, which was very sad and tragic as normal everyday suburban Americans were gunned down in a brutal display of violence. Among those who were shot was 40-year old Democrat Gabrielle Gifford who was in her third term in the House of Representatives. Though severely wounded, Miss Gifford is staying strong and holding on to her life with all of her might, however several other civilians who were shot at were not as fortunate.


I first heard about this story on ABC World New Tonight with Diane Sawyer and was just appalled at what happened. I then went to yahoo.com to learn more about this story and saw that they had a video report recounting what had occurred during the shooting in Arizona.

Mediated: Chapter 1.

In today's world, we learn that technological advancement doesn't lead to a shorter life expectancy, if anything it leads to a higher life expectancy for the human race. Earlier this evening, I watched a movie called 'Exit Wounds' and it showed a group of people working with a hard-boiled cop to crack down on police corruption. Using today's technology like mini-cameras to gather incriminating evidence, the tech-team in the movie used the information they gathered to let the public know about the inner-workings of police corruption.

Through this first chapter, it has been established that the digital world is our connection to the media world and I believe that is true. Without the computerized digital advancement that mankind has developed, we wouldn't be able to function as the near-futuristic society that we are today. It should be noted that while it is good to rely on the internet, blackberry and other digital products for today's media, we cannot forget our roots from the first newspaper, to the first magazine, to the first radio station that informs society about what's happening in our new metropolis. It is through adaptation that mankind is able to continue its evolution into the information society and to create new tools for the current generation, as well as the new generation.