Blockbuster was around when we were kids. Those were the days when it was exciting to drive to a store, select a movie to watch, drive home to watch it, and then drive back to Blockbuster to return it!
That seems silly now, but that inconvenience could actually have been more valuable than we realise.
I distinctly remember a rental deal Blockbuster would have on weekends – rent 5 movies for $7. It was easy to select the first couple of movies, but you could spend ages searching for the last one to make up the 5. Which made you wonder if you really wanted to watch it in the first place. You also knew up front the time you were committing to – by renting 5 movies, you were choosing to spend 10 hours of your weekend in front of the TV. It really made you think twice about how you were spending your time.
Today, could you imagine being at home on a Friday night, and pre-selecting what you would watch on Netflix for the weekend ahead? We don’t do that. Instead, we just consume (or binge..).
Is that better?