Digital Media Digest

I’ve recently become facinated with and addicted to Redbox.  I know I am late to the game, but I just felt it necessary to express how ingenious this idea is.  If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out.  I’ve seen twice as many movies for half the price over the past few months and for the most part the customer experience has been as good as can be expected from any automatic vending service.  You come across the occasional “out of stock” selection and you have to hang out in the McDonald’s parking lot (Circle K coming soon), but you can’t beat $1 a night.  You also may run into the occassional “out of order” machine.  I traveled to 2 Redbox locations tonight because the first one was down.  I ended up returning the DVDs a little late at another location so I’m curious to see if there is any grace with the 9PM DVD return policy.  They would have been on time had the 2 ladies in front of me understood how to insert their DVD correctly.  I can see how the nontraditional barcode might throw people, but I commend Redbox on printing the return instructions very plainly on the casing.

I’ve heard Redbox might be moving into other merchandise.  I even read somewhere that jewelry might be involved, but I can’t find that information now.  If anyone has any insight on how this company is profitable, how their business works, and what is in store for the future of Redbox, I’d love to hear it.