I’ve always hated renting movies or television; back in the days of Beta vs. VHS, some national chains grew up knocking all the local stores out of the market, and I stopped renting. Invasive required questionnaires, rude and demanding store employees (heck, I’m not a customer of Blockbuster, but still had to deal with the rudeness of the manager at the South Queen Street, York, PA store - I’m a neighbor who had problems with their parking lot lights, and was told by the manager there it wasn’t her problem and basically to buzz off), it just isn’t worth it. And to spend four dollars a night for a DVD I can buy for $12 seems pretty stupid, too. So I bought what I really wanted to see, borrowed from friends discs that they wanted to loan me, and ignored anything else until it showed up on a UHF station at four in the morning.

But no more, baby. I’ve found Redbox.

Ok, there’s this website at www.redbox.com where people with a sense of humor programmed an amazing example of useful technology. Create an account (no invasive information; an email address and a password is all that’s required), tell it your ZIP code, and start browsing. When you find a movie you want to rent, select it and it’ll tell you at which Redbox kiosk in your area the disc is available. I happen to have one within walking distance, and another at the Giant grocery store up the road although in many areas these are sitting at the ubiquitous McDonalds, so almost anything they have available is close to my house. Rent the disc by giving the website your credit/debit card number, and hooray and huzzah - the disc is reserved for you! Wander by the kiosk, swipe the card you used to rent the disc, and the machine spits it out. When you’re ready to return the disc, stop by a kiosk, tell it a disc is being returned, drop it in the slot, and you’re done.

Oh, did I mention all this is available for $1.00/night, with no late fees?
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