A slow death for video stores

Years ago I now recall a Rotary Club meeting when the guest speaker failed to materialize and yours truly was pushed into offering an impromptu program on some new fangled thing called the internet. I was smart enough to say little. But I did venture one prediction now realized: Video will emerge while the video rental business will suffer, if not eventually die.

This was at a time when video stores across America were booming. These were times before DVDs and consumers still had to choose between VHS and Beta to run cam recorders for home movies …or to rent the latest blockbuster movie to watch at home rather than go out to an actual theater. Business was brisk.

Both grocery stores in Gallatin (yes, kids, once upon a time….) had huge video tape sections for overnight rentals. There was even a business dedicated to renting video tapes, operating out of the old skating rink here in town. Other local video stores followed.

I’m no sage. I hardly envisioned UTube or video over voice on Skype or the explosion of entertainment services like Netflix. Nobody worried about video security cameras and smart phones were still decades into the future. But we did have a Super Nintendo at our house. It took no mental genius to see how kids would grow up addicted to flickering screens.

Gallatin Publishing was helping to bring dial-up internet service to this community. There really was no question about how all things digital were on the grow.

Entertainment supercharges the digital age. Many probably prefer not to admit this but there’s more time spent playing video games on smart phones than for practical or educational purposes. Today the few games that are familiar to me are visual upgrades to the same basic games of Nintendo. But, obviously, interactive gaming has elevated to international competitions with large prizes for winners. Virtual gaming is prevalent on all levels, even Bitcoin which is being played as a disrupter in financial circles.

Gaming is everywhere. Video games are even entering theological thinking. A man in Kansas City coined the word, “theoludology” and chose it as the topic of his doctoral dissertation in systematic theology.

Matt Millsap is the assistant director of library services at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. According to an article published in The Pathway, Millsap admits to being somewhat of a video game nerd. But he argues that the time has come to seriously consider even video games as a means of communicating the gospel (as long as what’s presented is held accountable to scripture).

After all, Millsap argues, film and television are common topics for theological dialog, and religious thinkers have been pondering painting, literature, sculpture and music for hundreds if not thousands of years. Why isn’t the same true for an art form that’s emerged in the past 40 years?

“Theo” (a combining form meaning god) “-ludo” (Latin root for game or play) “-ology” (a branch of knowledge) …for a doctoral dissertation. Whoddathunkit?

I suppose I wonder about the future of video because, frankly, I didn’t really see all this coming. When I became editor of this newspaper working for publisher Joe Snyder, I pecked on a brand new IBM Selectric typewriter (with a carbon ribbon) and spent countless hours developing film for greyscale prints in the darkroom. I never dreamed of my workday spent just this past week developing a photo gallery and video for the new Lake Viking website soon to roll out onto the worldwide web.

Aspiring young editors today must also be proficient video editors, capable of communicating effectively on multiple forums. Not by choice because, actually, they have no choice.

How do ol’ dogs like me learn such new tricks? Well… ahhummm, instructional videos …not rented, but provided free online. The business ploy is to cement loyalties to the royalties for the software necessary not just for LakeVikingMo.com but for a growing number of real estate websites we develop and host. It’s kinda like using the cloud… not by choice because, actually, we have no choice.

Video is booming via smart phones; the video rental business definitely isn’t — not since the Internet and video streaming came to towns across America.

The Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] reports that one of the last Blockbuster stores still in business is located in Edinburg, TX — and it’s in the process of liquidating its stock. Another Blockbuster in Eagle River, AK, will soon close its doors. This is quite a comedown for Blockbuster.

In the early 1990s the chain was 9,000 stores strong. Now less than 10 remain open for business. Most of the handful of active video stores in the nation are in locations with poor Wi-Fi access or in big cities specializing in hard-to-find movies and documentaries and video games.

Yes, you can still rent a video down at Dungy’s Market in Gallatin. There’s also a Red Box offering video selections for rent over at Casey’s, and you can purchase DVDs at a couple of stores in town. So, there’s still demand, but the video rental business is well past its heyday.

The demise of video rentals is a reminder that nothing — even if wildly successful — is indefinitely secure in the marketplace. It’s not as if I need any reminders. Many voices pronounced print media dead long before the drop in video rental sales. And yes, there are days when I wonder if this newspaper published every week since 1864 has about run its course. But, with apologies to Mark Twain, I must say the reports of print’s death are greatly exaggerated.

Maybe print, especially a weekly newspaper, isn’t even as exciting as renting a very  old, outdated video. The news, after all, is sometimes like eating your vegetables while so much video is like binging on desserts.

All I know for sure is that every two weeks I’m very, very thankful to make another round of paychecks for the more than 20 people working here. There are no guarantees.

I know it’s ludicrous to mention Gallatin Publishing Company in the same breath as any national business enterprise. But perhaps, if we can hang on for a few more years, even a dinky little weekly newspaper like this one will have outlived the rise and fall of Blockbuster.