zyzzle

The guy has a very good point! Cult films are going to be going OOP and their value will only increase. I'll bet his point is one of the most prophetic in this thread. See you in 20 years.

Xiroteus

I have yet to read the above replies.

My first thought is I do not mind the idea of having all my current media backed up to a harddrive is full quality. I do not like the idea of downloads replaces media, no deals to be had that way, everything would cost full retail most the time or close to it which is a price I will not even pay for a master copy of the film, plus it would limit my ability to play it on different systems with ease, at least at this time.

Mr. Salty

Why don't you click on the link in his sig?

Brian T

But if there's still a demand for all these discs you folks can't part with now, why would you want to part with them then? Or is 20 years the cut-off point for a true, died-in-the-wool "collector" to actually make a transition?

And what if all these movies and more are available for streaming by then, and the next generation, which will make up the majority of the purchasing public for them, doesn't care about owning a physical product (kind of like many under-25's do already)? The value of a bunch of old DVDs will only be high if the content can't be found anywhere else, and will the previously mentioned, yet-to-be-born movie fanatics really care enough to track down an "antique" player to play them on!

Even 20 years from now, a LOT of the stuff in some of these massive collections (including my own) won't fetch anything near what we paid for them simply because they're too common, and by then, too commonly available for streaming. Granted, someone like dkedvd could indeed open his own storefront, but the potential inability to replenish stocks means it wouldn't likely be in business very long. Oh well, I suppose eBay will still be around in 20 years, so there's that. Of renting a table at a flea market. Classy.

Jon2

Some people are going to be in for a really rude and unpleasant surprise when the future arrives and they find out it isn't going to be what they thought it would be.

dkedvd

Then the physical media will be for those who enjoy knowing that in however many years when streaming is over with and something else comes along that they will still own what they bought (or in the case of streaming "long term rent") instead of logging onto their account one day only to find out their entire collection is gone because it's a dead format. What a waist of money that will be. I do not care how fancy pants formats get in the future, I'll always keep my physical media if for nothing else than the security of knowing that what I bought is my property not a studios or media providers. And for those who do not care that they are being f***ed in the a** by the studios... Good for them. I'll be sitting back watching Angus on VHS laughing while they are crying about their lost collections.

hindolio

imho the idea of "collecting" doesnt really have much to do with whether physical media is phased out or not. in fact, i think i would double my efforts if production of physical media stopped right now. if you know what i mean

it doesnt get looked over. theres just not that much to comment on right now. digital media is still in its infancy and no one knows what will happen in the next 10 years.

just imho.

Xiroteus

I would not want to "log in" to any site to watch anything I owned, downloading would require backups like anything else that one has on their computer, a bit of hard drive space for that, at least for now, just easier to have a disc.

Fist of Doom

Now that's what I call preparing for the Apocalypse!

Fist of Doom

doob

My prediction is that.. streaming/downloading is a great way for distributors to get the movies into more homes than before. not just to computers but to Television.. if they discontinue physical media I think it be foolish and probably will not happen for a very long time if that even happens.. which I doubt it. however, they might be more selective and release limited titles to both streaming and physical media and charge more for physical discs.. this might even bring back the Hollywood golden age where they produced soooo many films. low budget b films can go directly to streaming and skip out on physical discs and they will make money (given that streaming is in virtually every home).

technological factors such as big screen LCD/Plasma tvs.. and faster internet connection.. cable companies providing digital TV or something now days (plus Hulu..) it's gradually moving towards that anyway. I really like the idea of streaming.. just turn on TV, select the movie I wanna watch and not have to worry 'bout returning the rented DVD for late fee or hoping the new release will be available for rental.

anywayz I just don't want the film companies to come up with some bs like piracy is forcing them to switch over.. etc etc

Xiroteus

Know it has been bought up somewhere, how much is someone willing to pay for a new release film that is just a download? Fifteen is about as much as I will go on a newer blu-ray of a physical disc of something major, a digital download would just have to be cheaper then they would ever be for to go that way.

Panda Phil

If theres to be a future in streaming/downloaded media, we're going to have to come up with a better distribution method first. Our existing bandwidth infrastructure is already being stretched to its limit. I can't imagine a hundred thousand people all trying to download a new HD film on release day.

rw2516

Personal example of motivation. Making a cd of songs from 1979 I need "No Time To Lose" by Tarney Spencer Band. Not available on cd or for download. So I bought the vinyl LP, transferred the one song to a cd, then imported that one track onto my comp cd. Even with ipods there will always be people hunting down LPS not on cd or available for download, transferring the vinyl LP to cd, naming the file tags, then uploading to itunes and downloading to ipod.

Maybe I'm wrong but, I find it hard to believe entire catalogs of the studios will be available for instant viewing via on demand/streaming. It would be nice but I don't think so. And what about the zillions of foreign, independent and silent films. Just as there are people still interested in silent films today, there will be people interested in 1960's Hell's Angel biker films far into the future. If they can't stream it they will hunt it down in whatever format they can find. And since those that had a dvd release were underpressed and distributed compared to a big new releases they will be hard to find and those that want it will pay to get it from those who have it. I didn't see entire pallets of Kingdom Of The Spiders in Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Nor an entire wall devoted to rental in Blockbuster. Netflix didn't even get it(the new version). There will always be people who will want it, as long as there are people interested in older movies.

As for playability. There will exist some device in our homes to retrieve data from 5" disc through our lifetimes. Even so, those motivated enough to track down obscure movies are the type of people motivated to find a way to retrieve it.

Regulus

They can have my DVDs after they PRY MY COLD, DEAD FINGERS FROM AROUND THEM!

meshershark

Since we're still recovering from deep recession, I wouldn't read too much into layoffs or declining sales. Discretionary entertainment is one of the first things people cut when budgets tighten but also one of the first things added back when wallets grow plumper.

Once people really stop buying DVDs, companies will have every incentive to move to protected streaming so they can charge per access. If they can't sell you a copy, they want to rent you viewing rights. You owning something for life isn't in their interests. Neither is selling a digital copy that they can't fully control. One of the things reducing piracy now is the desire for many to have an actual physical copy with all the packaging and materials. If all you get is a file, you won't care as much where it comes from.

cungar

No but I expect the number to diminish so much it will kill demand and thus kill the market.

dkedvd

Very true. I can tell you right now. If physical media ever goes away you can start calling me "the captain" because I will pirating like mad. For the studios to only offer long term renting (streaming) for all their films is just wrong and should not be in any way legal. So if they want to screw me I'll screw back. And I can guarantee you I won't be the only one. Just look at music. I don't know many people who pay for music anymore. And hell... That is something still available in a physical format. So from a piracy standpoint alone getting rid of physical media would be a mistake. And as we all are aware, no matter how hard they crack down on piracy or how well they try and protect their media there will always be ways to crack it and get your hands on a free copy. That's not the way at all I want to go because as a collector I want to own the real deal but as a forced renter it will be another story.

boredsilly

Netflix streaming is the shit, and the only thing that's holding it back is they don't have the majority of their catalog available. Still, I greatly prefer that experience of watching movies, over owning a bunch of dvds. There was a time when I thought having a bunch of dvds was awesome, but I'm well past that now. Like someone else said, I like looking at other people's collections, but I don't want to have one of my own. I have a handful of dvds now, and I'm really contemplating putting them in a cd binder so they will take up even less space.

Bring on the digital!

dkedvd

And remind us again why you are a member of DVDTalk? Traitor!

Drake

Space limitations aside , I would think that anyone (especially on this board) that has invested in a good size movie collection has very limited need for streaming.

I have over 900 DVD's and a good portion is from the 30's,40's,50's and especially the 70's. For me streaming would be attractive but just for newer movies and maybe stuff since the beginning of the nineties that I don't have well covered in my collection.
I don't even watch TCM any longer because basically they are showing big chunks of my collection every night!
Last week a Fios rep told me I could get HBO/Showtime Free for the next 3 months and I turned her down. She was surprised and I told her that I didn't
need HBO/Showtime that had a movie collection that would blow those stations away...well at least for my taste.
So I guess streaming will be great for the average family who come home from a hard days work and don't have time to stop and look for videos to watch, they can sit on the couch and pick from a menu.

Brian T

DVD is a dead format. Some folks just haven't realized it yet. They tend to be the ones who've spent tens of thousands of dollars building "collections" they may not be able to watch in their entirety more than once in a lifetime (depending on how long that lifetime is, of course), and now they're concerned enough about being stuck with a massive white elephant with no residual value to routinely gauge the opinions of others on forums like this one, where at least half of the respondents will probably make them feel better. The rest will be labeled traitors, especially if watching takes precedence over owning!

dkedvd

No. Its not about how much we have spent or how much we own. Its about ownership in general. Streaming is not ownership. You are paying to rent. Its also about the love of collecting just as much and the enjoyment of watching the titles you have collected. If renting for the rest of your life is ok with you then fine. But for us collectors its not. If we are paying for a title then we want to own that title. And I feel its wrong to be forced to rent.

WallyOPD

Is this serious? It's their content, why should it be illegal for them to control the way they distribute it?

dkedvd

I was waiting for someone to say that. Yes you are correct it is their content. And they can do what they want with. But its a very popular content that hundreds of thousands of people want. And to force renting only upon us is wrong. So is it their right? Yes. But does that make it right? No! I just personally feel that it should be illegal to F*** over the people that keep you in business.