Down goes Blockbuster

  On my way to do the usual weekly errand of picking up my mail in
Lincoln Square, I stopped to look at the empty space that used to house
a Blockbuster at the corner of Lawrence and Oakley.  It's like this all over
Illinois.  There are empty spaces a plenty where the once formidable video
giant once stood tall.  To hear the business analyst talk, Blockbuster has
been felled by the technologies of Net Flix and On Demand and I Tunes.  That's true
but there's a story about how these technologies actually surfaced with enough
credibility to actual take Blockbuster down in the first place.  The culprit, as far
as I'm concerned, is AMC Theaters.  Let me explain myself, cause I can sense
one of those confused looks coming on.  You all know that AMC swallowed up
Loews and that that eventually shrunk the theater market.  Naturally, you say.
You see, when AMC shrunk the market, they became a bit more selective about
the films shown in their theaters.  And with this Darwineseque type of thought
process,  more smaller and independent film makers found themselves without
homes. And the ones that DID get to do business with AMC, got little face time
in the kingdom to actually find an audience for their film.  Well, these disfranchised
film makers had to go somewhere to be seen.  Enter, Net Flix.  After Net Flix
there came the distribution hub that I Tunes became.  On top of I Tunes,
On Demand became another alternative for indie film makers and films of smaller
stature.  With the evolution of these new and more convenient movie watching and or
distribution  options, AMC could no longer protect Blockbuster's dominance in the
marketplace the way that it used to.  Plus, there's simply no appeal in going out into
the elements to get a film if it's right there at your fingertips.  Being an indie fan,
I doubt that Blockbuster would even have what I was looking for in the first place.
Yes, I know that Blockbusters demise signals the dissolution of jobs.  Yes, I know
that Blockbusters demise represents the lingering after effects of a struggling economy
that has claimed big time businesses like a hooded menace in a slasher flick.  I don't
weep folks.  I really don't.  It's the dawn of a new age and Blockbuster just got old.
Rejoice indie film makers, the big bad yellow and blue bouncer is dead.