Trevor

Get out of my brain Bob!

mickey65

As a collector of the physical media and wanting to stay that way, I'm just worried that one day a really good movie that comes out I want to add to my heap won't be available on DVD anymore - just as a stream, and forcing me to watch it that way and somehow save it on my computer for any future rewatching.

I'd rather just keep things the way they are with me, and hope that never happens!

drmar35mm

I've collected physical media ever since I was a kid, starting with comic books...then LPs...then Betas...then CDs...then VHSs...then DVDs...then Blu Rays. I like having them physically. But I understand that simply grabbing up the things and hoarding them is not reasonable. I've cut way back on my buys this year and last, and have sold many DVDs off. I apply a few criteria for future buys. Is it a TV show or movie I really enjoy and am likely to watch again? Is the price low enough? If yes to both questions, I will buy. Is it a blind buy of something I would Netflix? Is the cost within a dollar or two of Netflix DVDs? If yes to both questions, I will buy. These criteria have helped me save a lot of money (and shelf space). I guess if DVDs and Blu Rays went away, I would just get on with it and stream. As it is, I have years of content on DVD and Blu Ray.

Wannabe

I can't believe this thread is 10 years old. It's fun to bump it every once in a while.

It's funny how streaming wasn't really a thing back then.

Alan Smithee

And seeing how Netflix now intrudes on the end credits on the newer Rokus, I'm just about done with them. Amazon is also doing this, even on movies you've PURCHASED from them. That's like having your disc player's user interface change overnight.

Wannabe

What happens if UltraViolet goes out of business?

Trevor

It's not really a business though, right?

Wannabe

It is a business entity. I just did some quick research:

This means you MAY be able to continue viewing on a platform like VUDU if UV goes out of business. If VUDU goes out of business, you might be outta luck.

Alan Smithee

I lost one non-UV movie I got from Target Ticket (since CinemaNow has also gone under) [SARCASM]but of course that's nothing to worry about, it's not like it was an IMPORTANT movie- digital is still the future.[/SARCASM]

kd5

Wow, here it is 7 years after my first comments in this thread, my collection has just exceeded 1100, I keep running into movies and TV shows I'd seen long ago for cheap and adding them to my collection, in addition to some new releases I usually pick up for less because I'm a miserly bastard, although I have splurged on a couple lately (Doctor Strange, for one). I still don't stream because I'm simply not interested, but I do have 1100 movies and TV shows I can watch any time I want to, as many times as I want to, for as long as the discs don't rot. I thoroughly enjoy having the physical videos/cases here where I can pick them out of my collection on a whim, look at the cases and all their content, and obsess over cataloging. Working on filling my 4th book case...

slybone

Just want to chime in with "If you can't loan it, you don't own it".

Trevor

I've loaned a lot more digital titles than physical.

slybone

Ok, that's a new one on me. How does one do that? For example, a movie purchased on Amazon Digital?

Trevor

Family subaccounts, shared UV group, logging into their TV app, etc.

TheBigDave

+1

My brother's family is connected to my UV account. They have my entire collection available whenever they want to watch something. We can even watch the same movie at the same time.

I also don't have to worry about them losing or damaging the discs, which happened a lot in the past. I was very reluctant to loan them anything rare or expensive.

slybone

Ahh, I thought that might be what you were talking about. Glad that works out OK in some situations, although we have given out our Netflix login info to my wife's brother with the thinking that since we can watch on 2 devices at a time, no problem, then the next thing we know we can't watch ourselves because his family are watching on 2 devices. I'm guessing not all platforms have such restrictions.

Anyway, thanks for clarifying.

Wannabe

It's funny to look back on this thread. I did end up collecting a sizable collection of BDs... before I ended up selling most of them. Most of what I own on BD is nostalgia stuff. Star Trek: The Original Series, Batman 66, Speed Racer, Universal Monster films, Twilight Zone, etc. Mostly stuff I watched as a kid.

I would have to say that my original suspicion was correct: the general public seems to have lost its appetite for owning physical media. It's much more evident with CDs, but it's happening with DVDs and BDs. And I suspect 4k discs will never really take off... people would prefer to stream 4k content.

SterlingBen

Wow 7 year call back. So have a kid and I do really enjoy watching movies with her. She can't handle slow burn or drama yet but does really enjoy 80's creature features like Critters and Labyrinth. I am thinking about buying a big stack of 3x5 index cards and writing notes to her about each movie as I watch them. Something fun for her to look at when I am gone.

big e

That’s kind of what I’ve been saying for a couple years, but I don’t think the “appetite” so speak, was ever really there with the general public. DVD, in the late 90s, was the new tech kid on the block, so everyone wanted to get in on the new trend. It lasted for a couple years, but like with all fads, the public eventually lost interest and moved onto something else. Based on what I’ve seen, sales seemed to peak around 2005 and began going down in 06/07. This was way before streaming became popular and before the recession really began hitting people, so I don’t think we can place as much blame on these two as people would like. The recession likely hastened the decline, but at that point, I think the interest was already waning. The fact that sales never really picked back up even after the economy recovered, tells me the general public never had a genuine interest in owning movies to begin with. They bought them because it was a trendy thing to do at that time.

meshershark

I still like the control that comes with ownership of media. I can watch what I want, when I want, as many times as I want. Right now, that control is sorely lacking in streaming systems, unless you have the money to subscribe to every service.

If I could be assured that everything I wanted to watch was available via streaming and it only required two or three reasonable subscriptions, I would feel comfortable ceasing my buying. My hand might be forced in the not-distant future as DVD availability dwindles, but until then I will buy titles that I think I'll watch more than once, DVD Netflix the ones I think I'll only watch once but are still worthwhile checking out (because of the superior catalog versus Netflix streaming), and use limited streaming to try out some exclusive titles.

Trevor

I don’t see the limitations on streaming as being any worse than the limitations on physical media. In fact, my ability to watch a physical disc is actually more narrow than my ability to watch it streaming. I’m blessed with WiFi everywhere I go, and unlimited data on my phone if for some reason WiFi isn’t available; but someday that will likely be the norm, and physical media players will be rare.

DVD Polizei

Awesome.

JOE29

That’s the biggest reason why I buy all of these DVD, Blu-ray in the first place. To have them later on in life to use.
Especially during retirement, when i’ll be on a fixed income. I’m hoping that I won’t have to even worry about getting movies because i’ll Already have them available to use.

orangerunner

One of my last posts in this thread was that I probably wasn't going to upgrade to Blu-ray. Fast-forward to today and I have about 500 Blu-rays and still have 300 HD-DVDs and about 1,500 DVDs.

I've never bothered streaming or downloading other that redeeming about 20 or so UV codes with Flixster. That is until Flixster became no longer available in Canada and thus making my "permanent" collection disappear for good.

After recently buying an $99 RCA projector, I've found myself watching more DVDs as the projector does an excellent job of delivering a really nice film-like image. Not razor-sharp Hi-Def but just a solid clean pleasing-looking image.

SterlingBen

Oh as a side note, thinking about my massive library was a good little push to finally get me to cut the cord and cancel cable. Between what I own and some moderate streaming I wasn't even watching but 3 hours or so of cable a week, and really only as background noise.