According to its website, TNR has more than 3,000 locations, including locations in A&P, Dillon’s, Food 4 Less, Food Lion, Fry’s, H-E-B, Kroger, King Soopers, Publix, Quality Food Centers, Ralph’s, Roundy’s/Pick ‘N Save, and Spartan/Family Fare.  It has been around since 2002.  Redbox, on the other hand, burst onto the scene in 2005 and now has 5000 kiosks because of its marketing and operational efficiencies and its partnerships with McDonalds and Coinstar.  It can be found at most any McDonalds, some WalMarts, and any grocery store that has a Coinstar machine.

Okay, now my pragmatic beefs: First, Redbox is miles more user friendly.  One would think the major touchpoint metric of the business model would be the software running the box, and therefore both companies would put professional usability into their development.  Not so, The New Release is a bear to use.  First off (if you're reading this, corporate people), there is no ability to sort by release date.  You can click "Show only new releases" and it shows movies less than a year or two old; but what's the point in that?  At a Redbox, the first thing I do is sort by release date, which shows me the movies I'm looking for before it shows me movies I've vetoed 20 times on my last 20 visits.  At The New Release, I have to thumb through 100 movies alphabetically no matter what I'm looking for, and if I'm barely able to convince my wife to come rent a movie, not being able to scroll efficiently is a death trap.

Second, and another dealkiller: At The New Release kiosks, there is nowhere, nowhere, where it says when the movie's due.  The first time I rented a movie I went home and surfed their website for 10 minutes looking for a time when I had to have the movie in, and it is simply not there.  I'm assuming it's at midnight the next day, but I still don't know that.  Redbox is clearly due at 9 pm to any Redbox.

Third, Redbox has passwords for free movies.  No matter what you do, they'll send you more passwords.  I've even seen them on the news saying they love the free publicity when people set up sites like InsideRedBox.com, which give you hundreds of passwords for hundreds of free movies.  If you're selling a new concept, you have to give free teasers, and Redbox understood that with one of history's most successful viral marketing campaigns–that of sending free passwords in emails and encouraging people to pass said passwords on to friends.

Fourth, you can return a movie to any Redbox.  People, we have too many libraries in America, let alone video rental locations, to have not learned this lesson.  If at all possible, I want to be able to rent wherever I'm at and return wherever I'm at.  I want to be able to go on a business trip or vacation, knowing I can rent a movie here and return it there, or vice versa.

Overall, any rental kiosk is better than a store.  Stores are better for selection, but selection's not worth $5 when you can buy most "selection" type movies for under $10 these days.  Supposedly future kiosks will have the ability to copy movies to an iPod, but I'll believe that when I see it for under $15.  I always feel bad saying a company that's only a few years old is obsolete and needs to be relegated to oblivion, but most movie rental companies are just ridiculous in today's economy.  And Redbox is amazing, so amazing that I'll bet they're a) reading this blog, and b) will send me more passwords for posting about them.  Maybe they'll offer me a job.  The New Release / Blockbuster / Hollywood Video / etc., if you're reading this, please fix the things I said above, make a zillion more dollars, and a) offer me a job, b) offer me money, and c) offer me free rentals.  Thank you and cartago delenda est.

Redbox is a big vending machine/ATM machine-looking thing at your local McDonald's or Smith's grocery store.  Instead of candy bars, soda, or cash, it vends DVDs for only $1 per night.  Yes, even new releases.  They update the movies often.  And it gets better…

You can rent your Redbox movie at any Redbox and then return it at…any Redbox.  That's right, you can rent a movie in Orem, UT, and return it in…Denver, Colorado, or Houston, TX, or New Haven, Connecticut!  And it gets still better…

There are never any late fees.  Not ever.  It's $1 per night for as many nights as you keep it, up to somewhere around 25 nights, then it's yours forever to keep.  Pretty cool, but it gets even better…

You can go online and see what movies are in the Redbox you want to go to, then rent it from home so that the machine won't rent it to some other smart person like you, then you go pick it up!  You can see movie ratings and reviews while you're there on their web page, too.  And the best part…

You can rent Redbox movies for free!  Lots and lots of them.  In a brilliant marketing ploy, instead of spending millions on commercials they email passcodes to customers good for one free night's rental, then tell you to email the passcode to your friends so that they can use it, too.  You can find passcodes here at insideredbox.com.  And I personally saw a FOX newscast where Redbox officially said they think that insideredbox.com is great, so you can use the codes with a perfectly clear conscience.  The only things to know about using codes is that it charges your card first, then refunds the money if you bring it back after one night.  And if you keep it for two nights, it's charged as if you never had a code in the first place.

We've been using Redbox for months now and haven't ever had a problem.  They have kids' movies and exercise videos (who would want one for one night?  I'm not sure…I guess if you want to see if it's any good or something) and new releases and action movies and dramas.  Enjoy!