Blockbuster's Death Was Long Foretold - CBS News

When I was around 6 years old or so, Blockbuster opened up near my little neighborhood. It opened up about 2 blocks North of the old Video Rental store that I used to go to. When I first went to Blockbuster, I was a bit apprehensive because I hate change. But I loved it. The carpet looked so nice, I wanted to roll around on it, and everything looked so shiny. The movie covers even looked shinier. I went through the rows of kids movies, having a hard time deciding what I wanted this time, and what I wanted next time. They even had that stand for Pokemon Snap where you get to print out your pictures!

But then I realized that they were going to put the local video store out of business. Even 6 year old me knew that. And I was sad for that video store. It's where I rented my first Tekken game, and a few movies I liked. And this new, shiny Blockbuster came in out of nowhere and it was going to kill the old video store. I never went into a Blockbuster again.

Now more than 10 years later, Blockbuster has become that little video store. It's dead. One by one they are shutting down, and the buildings no longer look shiny and new, but old and abandoned. The blank signs stay up, almost like a reminder of the fallen movie store. There was one still open in the area here a few months back, but a few weeks ago, it shut down too. And I'm a bit sad. I like the convenience of websites like Netflix, but shopping for movies in store is a whole different experience. And soon it will be no more.

What were your experiences with Blockbuster? Will you miss it? Are you happy it's gone?