Redbox: My Epic Journey

Getting digital can require some hands-on learning, so this week I decided to try something I've never done before: I used a Redbox.

I hear that the last Blockbuster (and I believe the last video rental store) in my city shut down this week.  A big reason for that is, of course, the disruptive innovations of Redbox and Netflix.  Personally, I was really sad to hear that so many video rental stores were going out of business.  It's so easy to go browse through videos (old and new) and choose out a few for the week.  But if an industry is going to be displaced, I probably need to get familiar with the new industry.  Imagine if people never gave up their 8-tracks when cassettes and then CDs came out.

So, I traveled over to the Redbox inside a small market just a few blocks down the street (closer than the video rental store I used to go to by the way) and flipped through the available movies.  I had actually gone online before hand just to make sure Kung Fu Panda 2 was really at this particular Redbox.  You, of course, probably know all about the process, but I'm learning, so go with it.  I found my movie, tried to type in the promotion codes everyone told me (DVD ON ME and REDBOX don't seem to work), then used my debit card.

After sliding my card, I realized there isn't really any way that you could possibly pay with cash like at a vending machine.  If you don't have a checking account or credit card, you wouldn't be able to use a Redbox.  Maybe that helps ensure that little kids don't go buying a ton of movies, but it's another example of that digital divide.  The people who don't have access to certain common necessities, you're going to be held back in society.  The ones who are behind stay behind.

Also, I started thinking about how Redbox, Netflix, Amazon.com, iTunes, and other online systems require the use of a credit or debit or gift card.  Could these disruptive innovations not only put physical stores out of business, but also remove the need for cash?  In a few years, will we need actual dollar bills to pay for anything?  If that's so, what does that mean for digital money?  How can you regulate virtual currency if there's no physical representation in a bank?

Tonight I'll watch my movie and return it tomorrow, taking one step forward in my digital knowledge, and then in a little while there will be a new innovation I'll need to try out.  Humanity and I will just have to adapt.