Coral

In that situation, I would refuse to purchase even if it weren't available any other way to view it. There are so many things to watch, so I'm not going to obsess about one particular film (or a handful of them).

However, I don't envision that would ever happen. If it's available for digital purchase/download - then it'll be made available streaming somewhere/somehow.

Alan Smithee

I've got more than enough physical media already that I would just catch up on more of it and forget about new movies. Then maybe I'd take up reading. But I answered "no" to the question, as I really wouldn't be OK with that happening.

davidh777

I'm not that optimistic, though I could see it happening if we end up in a world in which every major studio and network has its own streaming service. That would suck, though.

latweek

I hate it. But that's exactly where I think this is going. The infrastructure may ride on a cloud host like an Amazon (like Netflix), but the control and cost/profit ratio for streaming must be huge vs. all the physical costs like the product, delivery, etc. etc. etc. etc.

How can the studios justify physical (even if there are buyers), when the studios must make more when they are streaming?

Its like the saying goes, we lose money (or in this case, we lose profit per customer vs. streaming) but make it up in volume?

Trevor

A year or so ago I would have been one of you "give me physical media or give me death" types. Now everything I could possibly want to watch in 500 lifetimes is available digitally 24/7. I would trade every DVD and BD I own for them being in my clouds.

And rights issues are a total non-issue. If Vudu or iTunes take away the right to download/stream something I paid for, it's still out there for me to find. I won't 'illegally download' anything otherwise, digital theft is the same as physical theft, but in that one case (a company revoking what I paid for) I'd have no problem downloading it.

That said, I'm still a hoarder/collector who buys physical media while its here, but if it magically disappeared overnight it'd be no great loss.

OldBoy

yes. very succinct Trevor.

latweek

I do think there would still be a quality loss in streaming vs physical as there is today. Not due to limitations, just due to the predictable "efficiency"/lowest common denominator compression happy mentality. Whether everybody misses that, is another question.

Supermallet

Personally I've begun carving scenes from my favorite films onto wood blocks in case of nuclear war. Can't play those Blu-rays without electricity!

DJariya

How many streaming services can one person or family realistically afford let alone have time to watch? I think it's a pain in the ass when you have to track down 15 different shows or movies over 4-5 different streaming services and having to cough up anywhere from $10-15 per month for each one.

I love having endless entertainment options. But then again, I still have to work 8-10 hours a day and do other things aside from sitting in front of a TV.

I don't foresee discs going away anytime soon.

latweek

Yep, today they're called "channels". But they will be without the technical bandwidth limitations of today's tv over cable.

I anticipate a similar bundling or other similar financial model, as today, kind of full circle.

Alan Smithee

But that doesn't change them taking away something that you paid for- and if you were still able to find it elsewhere, it may not be complete or in lower quality.

It would be interesting if content went exclusively to different streaming services, but likely then people would subscribe to one, watch everything it has, and then go to another- or subscribe to the other only when they have exclusive content they REALLY want to see. At least that's how I'd probably do it, if I bothered with it at all. I would like to see someone else take on Netflix with making quality a higher priority without having the interface intrude on any of the content, and focus primarily on theatrical movies as I care about those more than original shows or such. I still see all of this as a bigger threat to cable TV than physical media.

davidh777

I totally agree, which is why I said it would suck. But the argument was that everything is or will eventually be streaming somewhere, and I said the best chance of that happening would be with a bunch of completely proprietary services. For example, HBO didn't stream any shows on Netflix, then they streamed some on Prime but not new stuff like Game of Thrones. Then they finally made GOT available when they launched their own service.

I find it amusing that we're having the same basic conversation in three different threads: This one, the Ultra HD one, and the BD sales figures one.

Coral

It's funny that we have this topic today about having to rely on streaming to watch stuff, as I've just read that Netflix had an outage today for parts of the US and Europe.

This would be a pain if I was watching a live sporting event, but I can live without having to watch a movie or show for a bit. There are so many ways to entertain yourself these days, and so many sources from with which to do so - that it's not much of a factor to me.

E Unit

It doesn't get real until we start bitching about this in the Political Film and Book Talk subforums.

Ranger

Is it possible to move Flixster movies to iTunes?

Yeah, I think I'd be OK without physical media, but in many cases, digital video costs more than the BD, like digital music costs more than the CD.

PhantomStranger

No, Flixster is part of the UltraViolet consortium, which doesn't include iTunes and never will.

hanshotfirst1138

iTunes and Amazon. Stubborn bastards.

bunkaroo

I keep reading these posts about losing content, Netflix outages, following content to various providers, finding it "other ways" online, etc.

I thought streaming was supposed to be about convenience. You know what's easier than all that? Having the fucking movie on my shelf.

latweek

So true. It is the prevailing zeitgeist of our technology binging culture in 2015.

Coral

It is easier... and I'm a "will only buy if it's in physical form" kinda guy... but unless you're a monster collector, you're not going to have every movie and show on your shelf - and that's where streaming comes in handy.

My collection is small and tight - and while I don't yet have everything I want, I have no desire to build up a collection of movies that I'll only watch once. Streaming isn't 100%... but it's still pretty reliable and still is very convenient.

OldBoy

i beg to differ. with 3,000 now in my collection, it can be a chore finding a movie i want to see right now. i mean the blurays are stored nicely in draw thingies, but there is no order and so i have to look in every draw to find what i want to see. with digitial, it is all right there and in alpha order. big adopter now!

TomOpus

You made it a chore. No order?? Quite frankly, that's insane. I have 1500 and you better believe there's order.

OldBoy

well, if you don't do it with the first, i think all hope is lost by the 3,000th...

bunkaroo

I don't know if I'm a "monster collector" though I do have a large amount of titles. What I've learned about myself over the last 16 years of collecting DVD/Blu-ray is that I might not watch a movie but once a decade, but when I do want to see it, it's there on my shelf. I don't buy things I'll watch only once. I do rent more than I used to. I still take a chance here and there on blind buys but it might be like 12 titles a year which is really nothing compared to what my blind buys used to be.

It's the same with music. I have albums in my iTunes I've ripped from CD's I bought 20 years ago. My tastes have of course evolved, but every now and then I'll listen to something I haven't heard in 5-10 years and enjoy it. And I don't have to go to a streaming service to find it (if they even have it). It's all right there in my collection.

The heavy lifting of building my Blu-ray library is largely done at this point anyway. Before Blu-ray I used to chase the latest edition of a movie in case it represented any kind of video or audio upgrade. With the exception of some first year titles, I've never felt the need to do this with Blu-ray. Sure there are some exceptions but by and large, when I upgrade a DVD to Blu-ray, that's the endgame for that title. So for me it makes even less sense to try and adopt a digital model for ownership.

bunkaroo

Shelves and alphabetical order. That's how I do it with over 1000 titles. Average search time.....5 seconds. If I had drawers...maybe up that to 10 seconds to allow for pulling open the drawer.

Seriously, the biggest chore for me is phasing in a new title. It means making room for it and shifting discs. This is usually a 5 minute process and it tends to only happen once or twice a month depending on if I A) upgrade a DVD or B) "promote" a previously unviewed movie to my permanent collection instead of selling it.