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"The drive here is like a movie unto itself!"

"We were doing everything not to be Netflix," said Corey. "We were told to say why [the online, on-demand Blockbuster Total Access] was so much better than Netflix. But it had the same problems as the store. It carried mostly new releases, including ones many people simply didn't care about, while Netflix had the new movies people wanted, along with older classics and indie films. Customers brought this up, and all we could come back with was something about brand loyalty. After Total Access ended, that's when Blockbuster really started to fall."

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Photo of what Blockbuster execs are watching right now.

Blockbuster seemed to go out of its way to avoid learning from Netflix. They discontinued older movies to save money, ignoring that Netflix's massive back catalog was a huge part of its success. And while Netflix can be streamed on everything from your Xbox to your toaster, Blockbuster offered streaming exclusively to Motorola phone owners and TiVo users, presumably because brands destined for obscurity need to roam in packs, like buffalo.

You can't even call it rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic, because the Titanic at least had customers who wanted to be there before the whole iceberg thing. Blockbuster could have stocked every movie in existence, and customers still wouldn't have wanted the hassle of picking up and returning movies. You have to put pants on for that!