Originally Posted by Mr. Salty (Post 11191030)

...As far the "satisfaction factor," since you don't use an e-reader I don't know how you would know this. What I do know is that I don't miss lugging around books when I'm on the road.

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11191023)

Anything I watch often enough I have on disc.

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11191023)

And yet here I am, in Australia, paying a US company to watch US content..

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11191023)

Caching aside, how is this different from any other data on the internet? Each of us get our own copy of the forums when we visit them.

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11190724)

When DVDs came out, buying a lot of them was the only way to have a huge library at your fingertips. This was now more convenient and cheaper to do than when VHS was around (and the discs themselves were better than tapes).

We're getting to a point, very soon, where it will just be easier for the majority of people to turn on a device and pick from a library of movies to see.

I just don't see the benefit of buying a lot of discs and having a cable TV subscription if I can get 80% of what I need through Netflix and Hulu, at 10–15% of the cost.

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11190724)

When DVDs came out, buying a lot of them was the only way to have a huge library at your fingertips. This was now more convenient and cheaper to do than when VHS was around (and the discs themselves were better than tapes).

We're getting to a point, very soon, where it will just be easier for the majority of people to turn on a device and pick from a library of movies to see.

I just don't see the benefit of buying a lot of discs and having a cable TV subscription if I can get 80% of what I need through Netflix and Hulu, at 10–15% of the cost.

Originally Posted by The Bus (Post 11190724)

When DVDs came out, buying a lot of them was the only way to have a huge library at your fingertips. This was now more convenient and cheaper to do than when VHS was around (and the discs themselves were better than tapes).

We're getting to a point, very soon, where it will just be easier for the majority of people to turn on a device and pick from a library of movies to see.

I just don't see the benefit of buying a lot of discs and having a cable TV subscription if I can get 80% of what I need through Netflix and Hulu, at 10–15% of the cost.

Originally Posted by Nebiroth (Post 11190963)

You will when a favourite movie gets permanently pulled from the internet virtual library for all time - then you'll be thinking "gee, I wish I owned my own copy of that, like on a DVD kind of thing"

I always chuckle when people say that streaming gives them 'control'.

It is illusory. Streaming is nothing more than the theatrical model - but in your sitting room. You choose which movie theatre to go to (pick what film you want to see), pay your fee and watch.

The reason the studios love streaming so much is that it puts control where they've always wanted it: in their sticky fingers. They have never liked the idea of the audience being able to assume permanent ownership of a high quality copy of a film or TV series.

And streaming features geolocking - it's like region coding, only ten times worse and very difficult to defeat (they analyse your IP address and billing address to ensure that non-domestic users are totally blocked)

That's less important to people in the US, but here in the UK, I probably own more non-UK discs than domestically produced ones. If I had to rely on streaming, then I just wouldn't see those titles.

I also have no doubt whatever that once streaming reaches a critical mass, the prices will go up, pay-per-view will come in, and there'll be unskippable advertising and all the rest of the rubbish that blights broadcast TV (including subscription TV). There'll be a huge fuss, then everyone will get used to it and it'll be the accepted norm.

The reason the modern generation likes stuff like this is because it satisfies their instant-gratification, constant stimulation, mayfly attention span lifestyle. The one they grew up with. To wait for anything is unacceptable. To do without being constantly entertained in some way, by a movie or a vacuous 'conversation' is to be bored.

On a purely IT background level, I hate the sheer inefficiency of streaming. It already takes up about 25% of all available bandwidth and is about the most inefficient use of internet resources imaginable there is because it's a one-to-one single use service. If you watch a movie, all of the data has to be copied to you - and you alone. Watch it again, and yes, it gets copied all over again. The traffic multiplies by the number of people watching because they each get their own individual one - it's like a movie theatre having to be sent a film copy for each individual in the audience, then when they leave, all the copies are burnt and new ones sent out for the next lot.

Originally Posted by Trevor (Post 11231067)

While I'll never give up my physical media, I see this as being a big factor in "the decline" and even influences me to a degree.

Until recently, if you wanted a large library of films at instant access, you needed to purchase titles. Renting was an option if you lived in an area with rental stores with good selections, and you didn't mind paying almost as much (or more) to rent than to buy; but instant streaming wasn't available.

If I was coming into film collecting now as opposed to 1998, I would probably buy a heck of lot less. And if I, one of the hoardiest hoarders here, can say that; then I imagine that Netflix and other streaming availability affects the film buying habits of Joe Consumer greatly.