The idea of stopping by a Redbox kiosk and renting your choice of movie for less than a couple of bucks seemed spectacular. A small disk would slide out the right side of the kiosk and off you went; your only task was to remember to return it the following day. 

When I was a child, I remember looking forward to the after-school stops at any nearby Kum & Go to pick out my choice of movie from the tall red movie dispenser. As the years went on, my family eventually stopped using Redbox due to other TV streaming platforms. We could rent any movie or watch any show with just the click of a button. I am sure several other families have tended to do the same. Over the course of COVID-19, I feel that streaming platforms have become greatly advanced and are the most common way of watching movies or shows. 

We have heard of many stores and companies going out of business after the pandemic hit. Redbox could probably fall into that list; this retail company for sure is suffering from the pandemic. With quarantine lasting months, going to a Redbox kiosk was not at the top of a to-do list. Over the past year, several streaming platforms have become more and more popular and useful. Most people watch their shows or movies through Disney +, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube TV, Netflix—the list can go on. I feel that the variety of streaming platforms is increasing drastically and is becoming ultramodern. The advantages of these platforms are that you can watch whenever, you can rent whenever and you can buy whenever. According to CNBC reporter Sarah Whitten, DVD sales have decreased 86% since 2008. A physical DVD is seeming more and more inconvenient. 

With these advanced technology platforms that we have in the world today, renting a DVD and having to drive it back to the kiosk a day later seems almost redundant. I rarely see people using DVD players anymore or even storing videos or pictures on one. If Redbox continues to keep its kiosks around, they better be coming up with a new system. I am afraid this old way of renting movies is coming to an end, which does not look good for the future of Redbox.