Blockbuster's Dying Breath...

Blockbuster's closing here in Marion.  We loved it.  It's less than a mile from our house.  We were on the pass, which meant we could go in and get 2 new movies at any time with no late fees.  Every month it auto-paid.

So we had not jumped on the Netflix band wagon.  My step-daughter at college wondered what reason she would even have to come home with no Blockbuster for her and Spencer to use in the service of hours of endless boredom. ;-)

Alas, at the sell-out Tuesday, I bit the bullet and bought a Toshiba Blu-Ray device that has built in wireless and that you can use either for Blockbuster or Netflix.  I cancelled my pass, signed up for the DVD mailing service (which simply does not satisfy last minute people like us who might go through 4 videos on a Saturday).  What I expected is that I would be able to buy some sort of online pass to use with the Blu-Ray.

Not so.  As a sign of Blockbuster's death, I have to pay $3.99 per video we "rent" through blockbuster.com.  It's valid for 24 hours.  This of course means that if we were to have any Marathon Saturdays, we will have to pay nearly $20 to do it.

The final insult was not only that the "signing" package only gives you $5 free (=one On Demand rental) but that our inaugural movie last night "wasn't eligible" for free.

My conclusion?  Blockbuster will go bankrupt in the next 12 months.