18 January 09
Blockbuster, Where Art Thou?
Remember Blockbuster? With all the talk in the media about how Netflix has integrated their streaming service with yet another device, Apple and Amazon’s strong entry into the on-demand world, and services like Hulu and Boxee, Blockbuster seems like a distant memory.
After taking almost too long to play catch-up to Netflix’s mail service, the last I heard of them was when they were trying to buy Circuit City almost a year ago. All of this was sounding quite desperate to me, and I assumed their days were shortly numbered. During this year’s CES coverage, the hosts of one of CNET’s podcasts caught themselves doing the same. “Is Blockbuster even around anymore”, they half-joked.
Turns out they are, and they made their own big announcement at CES that they were getting ready to release their own streaming set-top device. Blockbuster clearly doesn’t have the media buzz that all of the other players have, but maybe their massive retail presence will allow them to stay in the game long enough to, well ... stay in the game.