Blockbusters last stand: Movies for Android?

Besides the epic failure of music labels’ inability to find a working business model in the digital age, there is one other contestant in particular vying for “worst performance in the digital arena ever” award: Blockbuster. When I was a kid (not too long ago), I remember going to Blockbuster sometimes as often as a couple of times every week. It was great. The competition with other locals Hollywood Video (now deceased) and Family Video (greatly downsized) ensured the movie rental market was always on the up and up. And then the digital revolution happened. Since then, Blockbuster has for all intents and purposes, failed to figure out this whole disc-less society.

Late last year, they proved even more that they didn’t understand this new digital age when they proposed a pilot program of movies on SD cards. For the first 10 seconds it seemed like a decent alternative. And then the gears started turning — why driving miles to the movie store (wasting all kinds of physical resources) to pick up a digital file stored on a tiny card? Downloading the same file is exponentially easier. Netflix in particular got it. What happened to Blockbuster?

How about another round, shall we? Building off the success(?) of the OnDemand movie download service currently available only to HTC HD2 users, Blockbuster has announced that other platforms are on their list. According to the chain, Android-powered Motorola handsets will gain support sometime this year. One nifty little feature that I have to give Blockbuster credit for is that the OnDemand service actually allows users to DL full movies to store locally. Granted, DRM is laced throughout, but still. When given the choice, if I’ve got a few, I’ll choose the local copy every time. Supporting only one platform won’t cut it this day and age however. Words on the webs is that an iPad version is in the works. That can only help.

Whatever does and doesn’t end up making it to market, one thing’s for sure; Blockbuster needs to get the lead out and quick. They’re closing stores at breakneck pace and holding depressingly boring press conference after conference rehashing the same empty promises we’ve heard quarter after quarter. Does Blockbuster have what it takes to become relevant again? Or do you not even care anymroe?

Electronista