The DVD format is well on its way to becoming the most successful packaged media in history (if it isn't already), so what made it so successful? And will any future packaged media ever be as successful as the DVD format?

People were starting to like the idea of collecting movies, and VHS sucked

The price was a HUGE factor. Purchasing a VHS movie wasn't feasible for most people. Now, you can go out and purchase a new release movie for under $20. Buying movies became affordable with the release of DVD.

I think it was the perception of value. VHS software cost about the same but was much worse quality & you couldn't really buy new releases. And laserdisc had the extras but movies started at around $40 for just a bare bones copy. Special editions cost in the hundreds of dollars.

Suddenly you could buy a higher quality version loaded with extras for around $20. Now movies were an impulse buy instead of a major purchase. The perception of value was so great that a lot of people bought more than they could consume.

Plus widescreen TV's and 5.1 sound were just gaining a foothold & the fact that DVD's were for a while, the only sources to take advantage of these further added to their value.

Absolutely agree with everything stated here!

People like shiny things

-Unlike VHS cassettes, you don't need to rewind DVDs after play.

-DVDs don't take as much space as VHS cassettes, nor are they as bulky.

-DVDs are way smaller than Laserdiscs, and they hold more data and provide better picture/sound quality than Laserdiscs and VHS.

-Entire seasons of television programs being offered on the DVD format at a much cheaper price than just a compilation of selected episodes available on VHS and Laserdisc.

-Bonus Features on DVDs that were a rarity on VHS.

I think the success of the CD and the common form factor played a huge part too.

Took the words right out of my mouth. Well said and I agree.

One major factor why DVD's became big was the content and cost to manufacture.

Cheapness

1) PICTURE QUALITY. Because that is what everyone in video stores raved about when seeing DVD for the first time. Then the features like skipping, special bonus, changing audio language, made it more impressive. Picture quality destroyed VHS.
2) No more rewinding! You can pause and the image would not distort like VHS.
3) Movies were finally on CD discs! But people caught on that it was DVD a new optical disc.
4) DVD offered the same cut as the theater experience...widescreen and 5.1 sound. It brought a whole new level of movie viewing, finally people felt immersed compared to VHS.

When DVDs started getting cheap like $14 a movie that's when it really took off. DVD discs were $25 to $30 when they first came out.

DVD Talk

because the porn industry adopted it?

I'm not sure if they knew whether it would be successful or not in its first year on the market. Initially I felt it came out just to replace the Laserdisc.

I think the fact Laserdisc owners bought into it very quickly helped the format. It made sense. Laserdisc owner's had all dropped $500 or more for their Laserdisc players throughout the 1990s, so a new technology with a smaller, CD-sized disc that didn't need to be flipped over for $500 or less was appealing.

As well, the DVD movies for $29.95 were cheaper than the $34.95+ price of the Laserdisc movies.

Everything else has already been said. It's resemblence to the CD, the functions, picture quality, extras and price all played a key role.

More than anything, I say this. People understood what it meant to have a movie on a disc that didn't have to be rewound. More physically efficient, and clearly an advance in technology. Basically, an upgrade that people could "get" instantly.

One more thing: average retailers seemed to support DVD a lot more than they supported VHS. I had to go to Suncoast in the malls to find most catalog titles or specialty releases (stand-up, concert, documentary, etc.) on VHS. On DVD, though, I could find a healthy selection of those things at places like Walmart and Target.

It also helped that DVD rose concurrent with the proliferation of Internet access. And finally, unlike a used VHS, you could visually inspect a used DVD for flaws before purchasing. Obviously, you can't see any manufacturing flaws, but there's still a greater sense of confidence that most of us have in buying used DVDs.

Lastly, all the retailer exclusives really spoke to the collector segment. There was a time when a major release might have five or more exclusives including everything from packaging variants to bonus discs with extra content, soundtrack samplers, toys, lithographs; all kinds of stuff. None of it was necessary, of course, but it was a nice way to add a little spice to your library. It's a shame that in the Blu-ray era this has really fallen off. Now it seems that the only titles that get exclusives are those from the comic book realm and that even then it's usually just a Steelbook or one of those goofy transforming character packages.

There was also a thriving economy at the time. People could afford to go out and spend $500 on a new DVD Player.

And just when I was finally ready for Fox DVD.

Whatever happened to DVD-ROM extras, anyway?

There were also insanely cheap online deals to entice people to adopt DVD as a new medium from sites like Reel.com and 800.com. Alas, the early days of e-commerce seem as remote as the Mesozoic.

For me:

picture quality
OAR
original language (I have a lot of asian martial arts classics)
price
availability of lots of older, obscure titles online

The Size of the Disks, along with their capacity. Prior to this, only a handfull of Complete TV Series were available, now Hundreds of Series are available. (If all the TV Shows, Movies and Other Programming I have were only available in VHS there wouldn't be any space in the House for me to live in!)

Pricing for purchase, instead of for rental.
Size.
Content/features.
Greatly upgraded functionality over VHS, with relatively little additional outlay.
Retailers supporting it [tied in with first item].
The PS2.

In relation to PQ Picture Quality.. Progressive Scan.. 480p... the tech behind.. the... "hey this looks so much better" ... comments.. in additiona (as has been stated)... Animorphic Widescreen... (or enhanced as labeled by some companies)... definately captured an audience..

This was a big one too. VHS sections were fairly big but the titles were all catalogue releases priced around $12.99 and up in until the mid-1990s.

DVD gave consumers instant access to new releases without the four month rental window delay that VHS had. A new release VHS was $89.95 with the same new release DVD title being $29.95 and readily available at most stores.

Size and Picture Quality.

I just know what made me buy a crap load of DVDs when they first rolled out, and that main factor was the quality upgrade from VHS and the price of course, but also because a lot of titles weren't available for rental anywhere. Blockbuster took their sweet time getting them in their stores and rolled them out slowly when they did. And this was the days before Netflix and DVD quality downloads. So for a DVD fan it was either pony up the money to buy it or don't watch it.

Which is why I don't think Blu-Ray can ever take off as much as DVD did. Now there are just too many options to the consumer to see Blu-Ray quality movies that don't include the buying option.