Miscellany: Blockbuster Total Access

A friend of mine has a Netflix account, and, being a movie buff myself, I decided to try out a movie subscription service to see if it's worth the $10 a month. I chose "Blockbuster Total Access," mostly because they offer an interesting in-store exchange system. Tired of your movie? Go into the score and grab another one (with the default plan, you can only do this twice a month, though).

The first disc came in the mail, and I have to say, having movies sent directly to your door has a certain appeal. I have a free trial of the $9.99/month plan, but I think the sweet spot is the $11.99 plan - while it's only one DVD at a time, you get unlimited DVDs per month through the mail, plus the two exchanges. Netflix is comparable in that you can watch streaming movies instantly on your computer.

(antitrust law geek comment - Blockbuster almost certainly has market power in the meatspace video rental business, but I think a court would find Netflix serves more as a substitute for brick-and-mortar sales than as a distinct market, which would defeat any claim of tying)