Video iPods and Blockbuster

iPod video rentals at Blockbuster? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. As Bob Cringley explains his idea in a recent PBS article, Blockbuster’s chain of neighborhood video stores is just what Apple needs to reach millions of new customers who don’t have high-speed Internet (or iPods, for that matter). Since they can’t rent movies online, these folks will show up at their local Blockbuster, dock their shiny new video iPods, select their movies, and swipe their credit card. Then they can take their rentals home, plug into a TV, and enjoy them for a week or 5 days or until they expire. No returns. No late fees. Beautiful. And Apple gets to push it’s music and video distribution empire beyond the limits of the high-speed Internet world. Don’t forget that Blockbuster is taking a pounding from NetFlix. They need a new business model to survive. They’ll do it. And we’ll all go home, happily ever after…