It seems that purchasing films via the internet is inevitably more appealing

With the advent of online DVD rental services like Netflix and now even Blockbuster, the threat of the internet takeover of video stores, particularly local video stores, is rising. Online rental stores are nothing new and the threat of online buying has been present for several years.

What online rental stores offer is first off, convenience and secondly, there are no late rental fees. A customer pays a monthly

 subscription, based on how often he or she watches movies, and doesn't have to worry about the hassle of getting the video of DVD in on time. Like the music industry, the internet is transforming DVD shopping. As well, the choices--documentaries, exercise videos, foreign films, indie films--just about anything you want you can get. This solves problems like storage space. You go to a local Blockbuster store and find that almost all of the original Nightmare on Elm Street videos or DVDs, if they've made them) are not in stock. With online st

ores, access to just about any film is possible (Lewis, 2008). 

To make matters worse, there are definite disadvantages to local video and DVD stores besides the fact that you have to physically go there, with other people looking around also, and find a DVD that could possibly be out of stock. The fact is film preservation is difficult. According to Straubhaar and LaRose, the nitrate film stock was in use until the early 1950s is chemically unstable. Most of the film from the silent era has been lost because the film begins to get sticky and eventually turns to dust. Even in present day, colors begin to fade and saving them to a digital storage media is costly. How many times have you gotten a Blockbuster DVD and it's scratched halfway through the climax?

 Although this same problem can happen with films purchased online (they do go through the mail), the detail to this kind of problem is probably much more focused on because of the amount of turn-a-round that happens each day. 

Some business owners are worried about what online stores could do to their own businesses. Two local video storeowners in Boston, Michael Solan and Barry Bradley, who own Video Americain, realize the pressures of the internet. But they also take into account that the legal way of purchasing videos online is just one problem they are facing. Downloading films illegally is another giant hurting the industry. Programs like BitTorrent are probably more threatening because they violate MPAA regulations, and yet thousands of people are getting away with it.

The truth is, with the advent of the DVD most videotapes have been replaced. The same goes with the DVD players and the videotape players. As we continue towards a completely digital and electronic era, it is likely that most purchasing will be done online. Like iTunes and its cheap $1 songs, online film stores are an easy, affordable, and legal way to purchase films. Companies like Netflix will be the forerunners in pushing this type of buying. Although some people, concerned about changing their ways and adapting to this digital era, will continue to help make profit for local video stores, the reality is that Netflix is definitely not the first of last company that will take on this billion dollar market of online rental customers.