While doing my holiday shopping a few weeks back, I was startled to find that Waterloo Video – an adjunct of the venerable Waterloo Records here in God’s own Austin, Texas – had shuttered its doors. I shouldn’t have been too surprised, I guess; there’s that whole “economy going in the toilet” thing…and then there’s those little red envelopes that arrive in the mail, envelopes containing DVD rentals with no late charges, envelopes that threaten the very existence of those magical wonderlands known as video stores.
Of course, not all video stores are so magical, and I suspect I’m not alone in shedding no tears over the Netflix effect on Blockbuster Video’s bottom line. But while Waterloo Video was never my favorite, I did feel a twinge of guilt upon spotting those empty shelves gathering dust. For I, too, have sold my soul to the demon Netflix, and for all the conveniences I now enjoy, there is, alas, something missing.
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