Technology is dynamic and everchanging. Where yesterday's path breaking devices are obsolete today - just like Pagers became useless after the introduction of mobile phones - DVDs and CDs are now on the brink of extinction with the introduction of Torrents and digital streaming.
In a latest example of technological extermination, Dish Network Corp announced that it will shut down all Blockbuster LLC stores in the U.S. by January 2014, ending an era of DVD and game renting, according to several news sources.
Blockbuster LLC is a U.S.-based movies and video game rental service provider, which was perhaps the most popular home entertainment company in the West. However, demand for its services went down after companies like Netflix, the famous internet-streaming media platform, stepped into the spotlight. Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and was acquired by Dish in 2011.
Back then, Dish had planned to keep 90 percent of the stores functional. However, in time as technology advanced, Blockbuster stores started shutting down gradually. Now the network has stated that the remaining 300 stores will be shut down by the start of 2014.
The closure will cost the company about 2,800 jobs across the country. Though the chain of rental stores will close down, Dish will keep the licensing rights and use the Blockbuster brand name to sell other services. The brand will survive through the Blockbuster on Demand and Blockbuster @Home options, which stream movies and videos to televisions, computers and other devices, reports Bloomberg.
"This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment. Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings," Joseph P. Clayton, DISH president and chief executive officer said in a press statement.
News of the shut-down has stirred up mixed reactions. While some call it the end of a 'relic of the past', most have moved on to digital streaming and expressed that it does not make much of a difference.
"I think it's a shame, really," Susie Morris, a 48-year-old woman, who rented from her local Blockbuster store, reports The Las Vegas Guardian Express.
However, the tech-savvy are not really bothered.
"You just do it online; it's so much easier," Scott Edwards, a 55-year-old male, who was interviewed outside a Blockbuster Store after news of the closure came, said to the publication.
On the business front, Dish does not have much to lose either.
"It's certainly an end-of-an-era type thing, but in terms of that affecting Dish's stock, it doesn't have any particular importance," Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities Inc. said to Bloomberg.
