Today in History: The Netflix DVD is Finally Dead
TODAY, today
Fuck it. Two new stories in one day because I was running errands and heard about this on the radio.
On This Day in History, 2023—meaning actually today—Netflix officially ended mail order DVD delivery. Wait. The fuck? They were still doing that? To those who don’t know what a DVD is, it stands for digital video disc, and hearkens to a time when maybe you could afford a place to live if you only had one job.
Blockbuster sure fucked this one up, but Blockbuster was a dick so don’t feel bad for them.
Netflix began as a DVD delivery service before streaming was a thing because we were still in the dial-up era of “SKREEEEEEOOOOONNNNGGGGGGGEEEEERRRRRR” with internet access being about as fast as Donald Trump walking down a slightly descending ramp. Most of us got our weekend movie viewing from a trip to Blockbuster, and back in 2000 the store had the option to buy Netflix for a paltry $50 million, and BB said is this some kinda joke get the fuck outta here.
Anyway, we all know how that worked out. Netflix eventually flourished and Blockbuster fucking died and good riddance Blockbuster you were an asshole. If you weren’t aware, they were like the Walmart of video rentals. Before BB, mom and pop video stores were the norm, and they were cool. Then Blockbuster showed up and used all sorts of nefarious business practices to run them out of business.
But it is much worse than that. Blockbuster was also big into censorship. They were in league with right-wing Christofascists and if your movie showed a wee too much boob or was perhaps a little too gay then they wouldn’t carry it. This was after they’d driven out of business other stores who would carry it. Fuckers. It had a tremendously negative effect on 90s cinema, with studios needing to make “Blockbuster friendly” movies or risk going bankrupt. And it really fucked over independent and minority filmmakers. Another thing Blockbuster did was not give a fuck about classic films. They overstocked the shit out of what was new and hot; older films that you could previously find in those now obliterated mom and pop video stores were scarce inside the BB behemoth.
Anyway, Netflix had a TV show about Blockbuster called Blockbuster and it fucking sucked and didn’t get renewed for a second season so serves the assholes right.
Blockbuster may have sucked, but my sweary history book doesn’t. Get On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down.
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DVD actually stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Eventually, so many people mistakenly said it's Digital Video Disc that it kind of stuck and the people behind the technology gave up.
I snort-laughed out loud and startled my cat at the dial up sound you made! I HEARD that vividly!! 🤣 Well done today, this was a fantastic read and I really needed the laugh. I never patronized BB, only mom & pop video stores. Glad I did now too.