https://wupe.com/ixp/922/p/say-goodb...n-new-england/

Now it's official. Chapter 7 bankruptcy filed. Chicken Soup for the Soul to liquidate

https://deadline.com/2024/07/redbox-...m_term=6431290

No, not Screen Media too! (/sarcasm)

I never did this, but you COULD fit two discs in the cases so a few times I slipped in copies of 70s TV recordings as a bonus when returning discs for the next person who got them.

The chapter 11 bankruptcy has now been changed to a chapter 7 and the company will be liquidated. Redbox is now no more.
https://variety.com/2024/digital/new...ul-1236067161/

And rentals are essentially dead now. Glad the studios never went with rental priced discs, that sure would’ve come back to bite them.

I heard Redbox stopped renting games because people would return a photocopy of the front of the discs which the machines could read and count as returned. Games generally cost more than movies so stealing them was a real problem.

I went in to the one Walmart that still had a Redbox machine and it was still up and running. The power might be on but you probably couldn't rent a move from it.

Posted on the machine today, even though it's been off since the end of May

I guess the store was tired of dealing with customers asking about the kiosk not working, and any kiosks in all the stores with the logos on the bottom of the sign will probably be turned off around the same time (if they are still on). The parent company probably went through the legal process to shut down and remove the kiosks.

Someone on the Redbox Reddit forum brought a machine home and has posted videos of them messing with it. They said they got it to work using 4 power outlets.

Safeway is evidently in no hurry to get rid of the machines ---
it's still there with the sign attached at my store...

Doesn't mean that it is safe or won't trip the breaker. Four outlets = I am guessing that is one for the computer, one for the motor for the carousel, one for the lighting, and one for the compressor? They posted an image of the label that has the electrical information for the compressor for the cooling system, which says that it needs 18.9A.

I also saw that they said that the machine said it weighs "like 750 pounds" which means it's twice as heavy as a stacked washer and dryer. Aside from the hassle of trying to move something that is that large, there is also the question of if the upper floors of an apartment building could support much weight structurally.

I will say that I had to go to Walgreens by my house the other day, and since I parked in front of the Redbox machine I checked and it was still turned on.

Would you really need to turn on the compressor if you have it inside the house?
That is, can you rig an ordinary fan to cool off the interior instead?

No one needs one of these fucking things in their home.

I guess it depends on where you live and how warm it gets wherever the Redbox is sitting and if the box has the means to let the hot air out. They need a cooling system to prevent it from getting too hot while sitting in the sun, ideally it would not need one if it is in a cool area and the computer got enough air to prevent it from getting too hot. Your computer is in a case with venting so that it can push hot air out, but they are not in a big metal box designed to keep the elements out. It should be noted that the label with the electrical information also says "For Outdooor Use Only", so who knows if it vents anything that you wouldn't want to be breathing if it sits inside your home if the compressor is on. This isn't like a Coke machine or a refrigerator that are made to sit indoors. The only time I have ever seen them sitting indoors was in the entrances to Walmart, which are designed to push air out of the building, not to circulate.

But really this is the truth. They are ridiculously big and kind of tacky looking. Then when you factor in how much trouble they are to get them to be able to be used for your personal collection it seems like more trouble than they are worth.

Wall Street Journal article with pictures of liberated Redboxes:

https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/...ovies-4e285ee8

It's behind a paywall but the dude standing there is no liberator.

Waste of electricity, and you won't have access to any of the movies inside unless you plan to get a locksmith.

I don't know if it takes a standard key like most vending machines, but the lock could probably be drilled out.

I got to that WSJ article for free but now see there’s a paywall. Try this one:

https://gizmodo.com/redbox-is-dead-n...nes-2000510628

Don’t have room for one but glad some are being saved for history’s sake. There’s a warehouse in Texas with a bunch of VHS rental vending machines also. An apartment I lived at in the mid 90s had one that we could use for free, had mostly older movies and a lot were stolen during a break-in.

Similar to having old style arcade machines at home ?

Assuming they are still functional, at least they make some sense. What are you going to do with a dead Redbox machine? Look at it?

Heh.

Some folks reverse engineering the redbox software, and finding confidential subscriber information dating back almost a decade.

https://www.404media.co/tinkerers-ar...ineering-them/

https://entertainment.slashdot.org/s...gineering-them

Or, of course, running Doom on it.

Not at all. You can play games on arcade machines, or pinball machines, etc. If you own a jukebox you can play music on it. You're not gonna watch movies on your Redbox machine. It's not even good for storing your movie collection, it would be a huge PITA and just a big tacky eyesore in your home. Buy a nice bookshelf for your movies instead.