Most people who like movies also like renting movies. However, most people don’t like driving across town to find a rental store, walking down crowded aisles in search of the perfect movie and waiting in line for 30 minutes just to find out they forgot their rental card.

To remedy this annoyance, somebody created the DVD rental company redbox. Redbox is basically a vending machine for movies. Movie enthusiasts can drive to Walmart, pick out a movie, pay with any debit or credit card and be on their way. Redbox exists to eliminate hassles and provide consumers with instant satisfaction and the ability to pay for exactly what they want.

With such a great business model, it’s easy to see why other companies have adopted Redbox’s strategy.

Long gone are the days when people were forced to buy the whole CD if they liked only two or three of the songs. Now, with iTunes and the millions of Internet music purchasing companies like it, music lovers can download music on a song-by-song basis. If a person hears a song on the radio, in a store or on his best friend’s computer, he can go to iTunes, search for it and buy it. It takes five seconds. Purchasers pay for what they want in an easy and convenient manner.

It seems like the textbook industry is also implementing these strategies. Textbook companies like iChapters provide students with the option to buy online textbooks by the chapter instead of by the entire book. Also, students can use websites like www.chegg.com to rent textbooks. Students pay for what they will use. If they know the teacher is only covering chapters three, five and seven, the student doesn’t have to pay more for one, two, four and six.

The Redbox revolution has infiltrated many aspects of our lives, but it hasn’t yet made it to ACU. Meal plans would be well-suited to such a system. Currently, students can purchase meals by how many they think they will eat in a typical week, but they must buy them in a yearlong package. However, it would be more convenient if students had the option to change their meal plans on a weekly basis, depending on the amount of time they would be spending in Abilene or the number of free meals they anticipated receiving.

According to www.product-reviews.net this year, redbox rented its 500-millionth DVD. The website says the economic climate makes $1 rentals more appealing. People like paying only for what they will use; people like convenience ;and people like finding the best deal. Perhaps more companies – or universities – will catch on and provide the public with the service they crave.