heirbrande

Blockbuster CEO: I Wanna Be Like Apple

I see the point of the posts that say this is a hair-brained idea. I agree with the last poster though. These are CEOs and they are not going to
sit and let a company go under- well many of them try not to let that happen, but there are a number of bad apples who should be
fired.
However, this can work, but it definitely requires some fundamental changes I believe. I'm sure a lot of people think Circuit City stores are
gloomy, yet Blockbuster stores are brighter and more organized. So Blockbuster's management will need to evolve the look and feel of Circuit City
to look more like Best Buy, which I
think has a lot of shelf appeal and a better layout. Circuit City , in my opinion, doesn't even have a good logo. Omagine giving a friend
directions using either store as a landmark. You can recognize the yellow
and black Best Buy tag a mile away. Not so with CC. "Oh yea look for the sign with the Circuit City writing" as opposed to "look for yellow and
black Best Buy tag". This change will cost money that they do not have now, so if the deal goes through, which I
suspect it will sooner or later with the state of the economy like it is (hostile takeover coming?), there will be a big lag time in revamping
Circuit City stores.

More importantly, Blockbuster will need to make its TotalAccess service more like Netflix. It needs : (please see my website for the rest of my opinion-- trying to save rambling space on SA's server :-P )

Will Blockbuster Rewire Circuit City - And Itself?

I have a different opinion. I think this is a good pairing IF the management is good. Supposedly, Blockbuster has good management and CC doesn't. Maybe the CC side can benefit from that. But I think the reason this makes more sense than people are crediting to the deal is that video is Blockbuster's domain and music is Apple's by way of the iPod. If Blockbuster doesn't go after video streaming that is more accessible than via mail (remember their version TotalAccess is not that great) then someone will, which would make the Blockbuster we know today irrelevant. With TVs going all digital next year, there is bound to be a merger of the internet and television programming. Microsoft realized this years ago, trying to push their media center version of Windows. However, like many things MS has come up with, they are before their time and some of their ideas would be better suited on the set of Star Trek at the time of their introducition. For example VOIP was pitched by MS long before Vonage, Skype or Packet8 under NetMeeting. I tried it way back then and thought "this is pretty neat but kind of cumbersome to have to have speakers and mic's on both ends."
Apple is aware of the convergence, which is why they have tried their hands at Apple TV. Jobs is not really interested in becoming a TV producer -- yet.
Now, recall Google's early beginnings Nov 6 1999 on the way backmachine: web.archive.org/web/19... It's kind of cute because of the "Try our special searches:" phrase.At the time, it was hard to think Google would be what it is today.
Believe that if Google had the chance to get into the mainstream media whether by buying up broadcasting spectrum or through cable, they will do it. For Google though, it is not a financially sound plan because they would have trouble scaling and afterall, they are in the advertising business not TV broadcasting business. So better for Google to wait a little longer to jump in.

Blockbuster's CEO and Icahn as well as Jobs and probably those at Google and Microsoft realize the tremendous potential of connecting to people using something many use everyday (other than the cell phone), their television.

Takea look at this :
www.microvision.com/pi...

There is a grander plan in the works I bet. Yes, Blockbuster already dabbled with the idea of streaming movies to phones, but who wants to watch a movie on their phone or PDA's small screen?
With a device like the one above, which incidentally hits the market later this summer I believe, this will be a great thing for Blockbuster.
People have their cell phones with them Everywhere! I bet you, the reader has your's within arms reach, yes? Movies, news, sports, entertainment or PowerPoint slide shows even can be projected out of the upcoming cell phones. Circuit City might be a place to pickup one of these phones or any of the other gadgets that will work well with BlockBuster's plan. The CEO has been good at turning companies around so I think he is not got a brain problem but rather insight. Right now, we all are just not privy to all the facts that will make sense, but for Icahn to back the deal something's up.
My opinion is that many more people use a TV than an iPod. True, Apple has it's Apple store, but Circuit City could BE Blockbuster's Apple store. My prediction is that some other company will partner with Blockbuster to help deliver not only movies, but also other media via it's set-op box. Blockbuster has amazing name recognition so they will push other plays right out of the water. A company like Microsoft or Google can jump on board later. Circuit Buster, or whatever it will be called, can distribute the next new gadget in their stores then the content providers will line up to push their software products. I see a model kind of like Sirius satellite radio just the content is both audio and video instead of just audio.

Blockbuster CEO: I Wanna Be Like Apple

I have a different opinion. I think this is a good pairing IF the management is good. Supposedly, Blockbuster has good management and CC doesn't. Maybe the CC side can benefit from that. But I think the reason this makes more sense than people are crediting to the deal is that video is Blockbuster's domain and music is Apple's by way of the iPod. If Blockbuster doesn't go after video streaming that is more accessible than via mail (remember their version TotalAccess is not that great) then someone will, which would make the Blockbuster we know today irrelevant. With TVs going all digital next year, there is bound to be a merger of the internet and television programming. Microsoft realized this years ago, trying to push their media center version of Windows. However, like many things MS has come up with, they are before their time and some of their ideas would be better suited on the set of Star Trek at the time of their introducition. For example VOIP was pitched by MS long before Vonage, Skype or Packet8 under NetMeeting. I tried it way back then and thought "this is pretty neat but kind of cumbersome to have to have speakers and mic's on both ends."
Apple is aware of the convergence, which is why they have tried their hands at Apple TV. Jobs is not really interested in becoming a TV producer -- yet.
Now, recall Google's early beginnings Nov 6 1999 on the way backmachine: web.archive.org/web/19... It's kind of cute because of the "Try our special searches:" phrase.At the time, it was hard to think Google would be what it is today.
Believe that if Google had the chance to get into the mainstream media whether by buying up broadcasting spectrum or through cable, they will do it. For Google though, it is not a financially sound plan because they would have trouble scaling and afterall, they are in the advertising business not TV broadcasting business. So better for Google to wait a little longer to jump in.

Blockbuster's CEO and Icahn as well as Jobs and probably those at Google and Microsoft realize the tremendous potential of connecting to people using something many use everyday (other than the cell phone), their television. My opinion is that many more people use a TV than an iPod. True, Apple has it's Apple store, but Circuit City could BE Blockbuster's Apple store. My prediction is that some other company will partner with Blockbuster to help deliver not only movies, but also other media via it's set-op box. Blockbuster has amazing name recognition so they will push other plays right out of the water. A coupany like Microsoft or Google can jump on board later. Circuit Buster, or whatever it will be called, can distribute the next new gadget in their stores then the content providers will line up to push their software products. I see a model kind of like Sirius satellite radio just the content is both audio and video instead of just audio.

What Is Blockbuster Thinking?

Initially, I thought this was an ill-conceived iplan. However, I think this is a pretty good yet sly move after taking a closer look: Blockbuster is launching a setop box later this month that will use the Movielink service which has had some success. Next year, all new TVs are required to go digital. With Circuit City delivering the TVs and setop boxes (and converter kits for old TVs) and being an established electronics retailer, I'm predicting that Circuit City will see a lot of people buying new TVs and a trial subscription (or free subscription) to whatever service Blockbuster is launching. Blockbuster already has many links in the movie industry so it seems like a great match. Also, Icahn is known to love money and when he smells it he will not stop. People would get hurt along the way, but his goal (and shareholders' goal as a by-product) of making money will be met. Remember Icahn's association with Time-Warner. :) Also Apple is trying to move into delivering movies with Apple TV. Jobs knows how to make money so, this will be an incredibile deal for Blockbuster if the management is right. The stock is relatively low now and is priced so that a lot of people can get on board at this price.