Posted on 07/15/2018 3:40:22 PM PDT by BBell
If Blockbuster knew which way was up, they’d assemble an emergency task force of IT professionals, and rebuild their business model from the ground up, leveraging all that high speed digital technology has to offer, and throw in some new feature or twist that Netflix doesn’t have. A longshot but pretty much their only route to survival.
“Even the IBM computers are running the same floppy disks from the 1990s, she said, shocking the younger employees.
“No one can hack these computers, so that’s a good thing,” she said.”
LOL
Especially Sears. They were the Amazon of their day. Both didn't want to cannibalize in-store sales.
I would think that if customers wanted to park in front of your store you would be better off letting them do so. Rather than chasing them off so people can take pictures of your failing business.
They would also build a time machine to go back 10 years and do what you say when it might have helped.
I remember buying a DVD player sometime back in the very late 1990’s and there was a coupon for the new Netflix. I was a bit leery about it so I never joined but as Netflix grew I often wondered why Blockbuster didn’t try to do something about the competition. Redbox too.
They had enough corporate muscle and finances to move into those arenas yet didn’t make a move. I guess they didn’t learn from Sears.
I hope Starbucks will be next.
No luck. Customers flooded the store and called to ask if Harding's store had them in stock. Of course, Harding told them.
Gene Wilder died?
Once upon a time Blockbuster execs mocked Netflix as Netflix offered itself to BB for sale at a nominal price. Reminds me of the media mocking Trump back in 2015.
Exactly! Sears was just a middleman selling products through their catalog. Why they did not have the foresight to transfer this to the internet the way amazon did we will never know. They had the capital and reputation to do it.
I remember the first time I heard of walmart in 1989. I said they would never get a big as k-mart. LOL!
Blockbuster did exactly that about 10 years ago...and failed at it. Netflix ate their lunch.
Now the game is not just streaming delivery, but creation of new content.
Blockbuster tried doing exactly what you said, they failed — miserably. By the time they did Netflix was already well established and on its way. Blockbuster is a textbook example of too little, too late.
Polaroid is another example. Although never as big as Kodak, Polaroid was a large, well-established company. They were about the only significant player in the “instant photography” marketplace.
They developed instant movies in the 70s — just as Betamax and VHS came out.
They had little interest in digital photography when that was new.
Today, there is some “retro” interest in Polaroid, but the company is a shell of what it once was. It was a failure of vision.
My husband’s from Arkansas and remembers the first four Walmarts. I’m from Atlanta and remember the first four Home Depots.
They’re 15 years too late, and out of runway.
I’m from the Boston area and remember the VERY first Staples.
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My husband’s from Arkansas and remembers the first four Walmarts. I’m from Atlanta and remember the first four Home Depots.
...
Imagine buying stock in both at that time.
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