For those not aware of its background; Redbox was initially created by McDonald’s as a test of kiosks carrying a wide variety of convenience items. It later changed focus to copy DVDPlay’s successful, but underfunded, model of low cost nightly rentals distributed from kiosks at supermarkets, and Coinstar, who already possessed a significant footprint in desirable locations, took ownership.
Execution of the Redbox concept is brilliant, with a large red metal kiosk and simple interface that could really only have come from a company with McDonalds’ focus on brand and user experience. –Perhaps Comcast could bring MacDonalds on to help them out, because although their entire menu system stinks, PPV stands out a bit as especially lame.
But what sends me about the concept is that Redbox’s ubiquity and execution completely blurs the line between physical and online services. Because they use physical media for content distribution, combined with the flexibility of the virtual, their $1 a night pricing model makes a mockery both of conventional rental stores, and IP holders’ ongoing laginess in broadly enabling attractive new online models.
Redbox (or their lesser competition) are located in most supermarkets, where just about everyone finds themselves a couple of times a week, so they become the equivalent to a download service in terms of unthinking real time convenience. For those too cheap to pay even a dollar, or who simply want to play the system, Redbox regularly publishes online a large number of codes for free rentals that you can readily access online.
Before discovering Redbox, I never considered whether $6 PPV for films was good or bad, just what it happened to be within the Comcast monopoly. But when, a few times a week, I’m presented with the opportunity to rent the exact same films through Redbox for a dollar, via a far superior interface, PPV just feels daft. Redbox seems a case of logistics and user experience beating the stupidity of the physical world, and making something sublime.
That said, I still far prefer well-designed (non-Comcast) settop boxes, with reasonably priced downloads; so I’ll admit that my affection for Redbox is both for the clever hack it currently represents and for its transformative power than for the thing itself in the long term.
One Comment
I agree and share your admiration for Redbox. As a regular Redbox user, I find the selection is often lacking (or maybe too heavily targeted to my town’s demographic) but as a supplement to my regular store, it’s great. Tropic Thunder? Redbox. Fritz Lang’s M? Regular video store. Redbox really needs to add a drop slot on the side of the machine, to avoid people having to wait in line just to return a DVD. Can’t tell you how often I’ve watched someone mull their video choices while all I want to do is return a disk.
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