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Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

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Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#151

Post by h0l0cube »

actusual wrote: post #137
Johnny555 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

today's AI is pretty good It's pretty good at suggesting exactly the same type of movies you've watched before, but not so good at those "but how about something completely different, but something that I'll still like" suggestions, that's where a real human movie buff can help.

This isn't completely true. What you're talking about are called "echo chambers" or "filter bubbles", and there are ways to make sure they don't negatively impact users. Additionally, studies have found that (when A/B testing recommender system vs no recommender system) users create their own, more localized "echo chambers" in absence of a recommender. This is measured by the "diversity" of content consumed, which de…

> This is measured by the "diversity" of content consumed, which decreases if a user is their own recommender.

The recommender in the GP and OP is a video store clerk, that’s probably self selected into that kind of job by their special interest in movies

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#152

Post by burrows »

another_story wrote: post #144
zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

I think what a lot of us are missing is human interaction, especially with strangers. No one is going to reminisce about that time the Netflix algorithm recommended a movie to them. Interactions with others, the stories and sense of community that can come out of it, not to mention building social skills, is being lost. We're making a better world for consumers, but sometimes I wonder if it's a better world for peopl…

> We're making a better world for consumers, but sometimes I wonder if it's a better world for people.

Have you actually on multiple occasions wondered about this? Or has your brain just been colonized by pithy statements?

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#153

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

tantalor wrote: post #131
cmckn wrote: post #67

I was in Bend a few months ago and swung by the last Blockbuster. I rented a movie (and bought a t-shirt), and had to sign up for an account. I received a laminated paper Blockbuster card with an account number scrawled in Sharpie on the back. I wouldn't have guessed that the store was still calling out to these old servers; that's pretty cool. The movie cost 99 cents to rent, which I thought was surprisingly cheap.…

> inconsiderate about including the clerks As in, rudely excluded the clerks, or rudely included? Either way makes sense me to me.

I would presume rudely including - I can imagine that those clerks have to deal with touristy photos on a daily basis and everyone wants to have the employee captured in their "Blockbuster experience" photo.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#154

Post by zw123456 »

kylepdm wrote: post #141
zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

I feel like the difference isn't so much that you have AI recommendations or that of a human, but rather the entire environment is fundamentally different. With Netflix or whatever Streaming Service you have you have an immense catalogue coupled with ease of access to get ratings/critiques/etc. There is so many things to choose from and it's so easy to just say "no" to a suggestion, and likely that thing you said "no…

Exactly!

Going to the video store was organic and analog. Like going to your barista that still insists on using the hand pump espresso machine. Perhaps the human touch still is the best?

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#155

Post by zw123456 »

ryangittins wrote: post #139
Johnny555 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

today's AI is pretty good It's pretty good at suggesting exactly the same type of movies you've watched before, but not so good at those "but how about something completely different, but something that I'll still like" suggestions, that's where a real human movie buff can help.

I've long pondered building exactly this, an anti-recommendation engine. You'd go through and mark some favorite films or genres, and it'd come back with something great but totally unlike your usual picks. Foreign flicks not your thing? Try Parasite. You don't remember what it's like to be an awkward pre-teen? Eighth Grade will remind you. Not a big action movie person? Maybe you need to watch Die Hard. Kids movies…

Agree. Too much here is more of the same. Ugh.

I like cowbell.

Here is an endless loop of cowbell ringing and nothing else.

It's like torture.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#156

Post by zw123456 »

antiterra wrote: post #135
zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

Eraserhead wasn’t exactly a dud for me but it was deeply discomfiting and disturbing (clearly as intended.) Glad I’ve seen it, but very little interest in seeing it again.

Well.

I would agree. You have to see it at least once to appreciate it :)

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#157

Post by bombcar »

amyjess wrote: post #136
bombcar wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'd even rent VCRs and DVD players, which was a big deal early on when they were multiple hundreds of dollars.

They'd rent video game consoles too. Speaking of which, I miss video game rentals. I spent so much time as akid at Blockbuster looking for games to rent. Even now, I'd like to be able to play with a game for a few days before committing to paying for the whole game. (and of course, I say this with a hundred unplayed games in my Steam library...)

https://www.gamefly.com exists but I feel it's days are numbered, what with console makers doing everything they can to tie games to accounts tied to a given console ...

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#159

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

_fat_santa wrote: post #28
kerblang wrote: post #3

It's sort of bizarre that an entrenched, widely despised corporate behemoth thoroughly deserving its own demise has turned into an anachronistic mom-and-pop shop that just gets by. But isn't this the worst of both worlds? It's dystopian nostalgia. Maybe I just have too much of a grudge against the 1980's...

The way I see it, there are really two Blockbusters. One is an evil corporate behemoth, the other is the neighborhood video store that lives on in our memories. These guys aren't keeping Blockbuster running so much as they are keeping the nostalgic memory of it going. TBH I'm a bit surprised no one has tried to buy the Blockbuster brand from Dish and restart the company. I feel like you could effectively run one much…

I think that Dish doesn't want to sell the rights, at least not for a small sum. In the documentary "The Last Blockbuster", they discuss how the rights to continue to use the name for the store are renegotiated every X amount of years (I think it's 3?) and that if the deal doesn't go through that it's essentially the end of the store.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#160

Post by chihuahua »

nend wrote: post #42
hinkley wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also had quite a markup on those snacks. Not movie theater levels, but a lot higher than the convenience store.

I don't really view that as evil though, just basic market dynamics. Similarly, CVS sells cheerios for $7 a box. I don't think CVS is evil, sometimes I'm just lazy.

I totally agree with you, but there are people who refuse to see it that way. If there was an ice cream cart at the bottom of the Grand Canyon selling a scoop of ice cream for $10, some people would be outraged. Never mind that it's a remote location, it's very difficult to supply ice cream there, it's incredibly convenient to be able to buy ice cream there, etc.

For Blockbuster selling snacks, no one is under any pressure to buy snacks there. If you're really pressed for time or don't want to drive to another store for snacks, then maybe the ludicrously high price is worth it. If it's not worth it to you at that moment, then don't buy there.

It's only bad if there's a monopoly or some other form of coercion involved, which is clearly not the case for Blockbuster selling snacks. And yet, to some people, it proves that Blockbuster is the devil...

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