Sorry Netflix, I’m Leaving You for Redbox

Netflix sent me the movie Broken Embraces about two months ago, and I’ve had the pleasure of letting it sit on my shelf for 8 bucks a month. I’m only kidding myself; I’m never going to watch it. Yet I continue to continue the charade.

Last month, I was house-sitting for a friend who had no internet or cable (no, she is not Amish). In a fit of desperation, I checked out the Redbox website to find the nearest kiosk. To my delight, I could reserve the movie I wanted online (Attack the Block) and then just pick it up. Perfect!

The appeal of Netflix is, of course, the movie is mailed to you and you don’t have to go to a movie rental store. But, Redbox is instant gratification. You want a movie and you can go get it. So you don’t wait for it in the mail and then avoid watching it. You can just pick it up when you are sure you want to watch it.

These days, there are Redboxes everywhere, and in places you usually go anyway (grocery stores, etc.). Even better, it’s only a dollar a day. At most, I’ll rent four movies a month (that aren’t already on Netflix Streaming) and that’s four dollars, instead of the monthly Netflix fee.

Sorry Netflix. I’ll miss the nice surprise of seeing the red envelopes in the mailbox and the delight of ripping open the top flap. But I like saving my money, efficiency, and instant gratification too much.

Redbox, http://www.redbox.com/
$1 per day for most rentals
28,000 locations

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