Subscriptions the only way
Even though I'd made a note to myself on Outlook about when my films were due back at Blockbuster, I was one day late in returning them. I'd suspected that would happen. And it did. The worst part was the fact that I didn't even have the time this week to watch either of the two films. So even though Blockbuster's increased the number of days for which you get to keep the rentals, it still doesn't work for me.
Is that true for most people? Netflix at 700,000 strong and growing rapidly (in January the SF Chronicle reported they had 500,000 subscribers) seems to suggest a strong yes:
[The founder of Netflix] Hastings paid a $40 late fee to Blockbuster for a copy of "Apollo 13" that he had forgotten to return.
"It was my fault. I had the movie out for a month, but it really started me thinking about how aggravating late fees were," he said. "It made me not want to rent any more movies."
Netflix, though, started with the traditional rental model, with customers paying for a limited period and subject to late fees because "we were afraid the $20 a month subscription was too radical for consumers," he said. "That turned out to be an error in judgment."
Netflix switched to the subscription plan two years ago.
So are subscriptions the way to go for everything or almost everything? So that we pay a fixed price for unlimited use. Like email or cable TV. Hmmm, maybe they are.
My internet access is a subscription. As is my Wall Street Journal online. As was my Surf and Sip wireless broadband connection around the city. As is my daily hard disk backup from Connected. As is my Verizon "I can't hear you now" cellphone and my AT&T digital cable. As are all my magazines (in fact I rarely ever pick anything up on the newstand).
My latest subscription? $2.99 per month for the Blogging Network. A steal (if I may say so myself). 