So I was reading an article on Walmarts acquisition of VUDU, VUDU being an online video rental service similar to several others in the market right now, and started thinking how similar this marketplace is to that of video rental chains in the late 80′s and early 90′s. Back in the day, companies such as Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Mr Movies, Panorama, and a number of other chains were popping up left and right to satisfy peoples cravings for the newly burgeoning home video rental market. Even the gas station on the corner and the Seven Eleven down the street had videos for rent, but as we all know at this point, things don’t last. For a slew of reasons: overhead was too high to support physical locations, margins were too low, wear and tear on inventory, and the introduction of new business models such as Netflix, Redbox, Youtube, and yes, even online rentals have all played their part in bringing about the demise of the traditional rental retail store. Now days I look around and see so many vendors such as Roxio CinemaNow, AT&T Uverse, Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, iTunes, and even pay per view and Stars, and I kind of wonder what it all means. VUDU, like the independent video franchises of yesteryear looks to be one among many providers selling a service that everyone wants and everyone can provide. I hate to say it, but online video, as cool of an idea as it is, looks to become an outdated business model even before it gets off the ground. With so many providers, it will be the vendors that can provide the most innovation for the buck that eventually takes the cake; and honestly, I’ve got my money on Netflix subscriptions as the best overall model in this category. Should be an interesting event to watch though, and it makes me wonder what the next big thing in media distribution will be.

Any ideas, feel free to chime in.