ReelTime another nail in the coffin, but the video store refuses to die

Adam Turner
Wednesday, 06 December 2006 06:30

Your IT - Entertainment

The video store at the end of my street is the creature that just won't die.

Like The Blob, The Thing or Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, my local video store refuses to take the hint and exit stage left, or stage right even. ReelTime's Download-To-Own service might be another nail in the coffin for the video "store" concept, but bricks and mortar players like Video Ezy are experimenting with their own services in order to stay in the game.

Predicting the demise of video rental stores has long been easy sport for crystal ball gazers. The promise of high speed internet access for all was supposed to beam the latest horror flicks directly into our lounge rooms. Luckily for video stores, the B-grade horror movie that was Australia's broadband rollout never came close to delivering on this promise. The Attack of the VoD was a pipe dream in need of a fat pipe and, like all good menacing threats, it sank back to the murky depths to contemplate a sequel.

Meanwhile the video store still lurks on my street corner like the undead on a Saturday night. Sure it's been resurrected under a few different names, but a shot in the arm from DVDs and computer games helped it survive the introduction of pay television.

Those still sounding the death knell for video stores throw around terms like digital television, interactive television and Personal Video Recorder. A sharper picture does little to improve a second-rate reality TV show starting third-rate celebrities and interactive television hasn't got past the trial stage for all but the most basic of services.

Personal Video Recorders have a huge storage capacity, letting you automatically tape your favourite horror shows every week - even the second-rate reality TV shows starting third-rate celebrities. Entertainment appliances can only take so much punishment though so, when yours decides to spontaneously combust rather than tape the terror that is Celebrity Makeover, don't expect your warranty to cover it.  [continued]