[NOTE: I was a humanities major and thus am not
responsible for accurate calculations. Further, I
probably will not understand the corrections you send
me. In fact, you should congratulate me for getting the numbers right up to whatever point I got them wrong.]

I have not been able to find a direct mention
of how many videotapes are rented every year. But:
According
to Blockbuster: “In 2001, an estimated average of
more than 3 million customers walked into U.S. Blockbuster
stores every day.” [source]

Blockbuster has
38% marketshare in the US. [source]

” …consumers still spend more than twice as much renting
movies on videocassette ” [source
]

Irrelevantly
but interestingly: “…consumer spending on the purchase
and rental of DVDs and videocassettes is already up
13.3% to a whopping $8.79 billion in the first half
of the year.” [source]

So, assume that at 80% of the people who walked into
a Blockbusters walked out with a rented videotape
(while the other 20% were there to argue over late
fees or just to enjoy the continental ambiance). That
means 876,000,000 tapes and DVDs were rented from
Blockbuster in 1991. With a 38% share, that means
2,303,880,000 tapes and DVDs were rented that year.
Assume that DVDs and videotapes rent for the same
amount, which means that the ratio of tapes to DVDs
was 2:1. So, 1,535,920,000 tapes were rented and 767,960,000
DVDs.

The FBI warning on videotapes displays for
approximately 30 seconds. Assume that you can fast
forward over it so that it only takes ten seconds.
Since the FBI warning is unnecessary to honest citizens
and is ineffective in thwarting thieves, that means
that last year the FBI stole 4,266,444 hours from
American citizens. Assuming an average (don’t ask
which type of average) salary of $50,000 in the US,
that means the FBI stole $106,661,111.11 in lost productivity
just from videotape viewers. Since DVDs prevent you
from fast forwarding over the warnings, the total
is 6,399,666. hours, worth $159,991,650.00. And, since owners of VCRs and especially DVD players probably represent the higher income brackets, these numbers are undoubtedly low.

As
the Republicans say about taxes, “It’s your money!
” (Actually, the point about taxes is that it’s
our money, but let that slide.) I want it back!

Categories: Uncategorized dw