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Why HD/SD downloads will remain a niche for the foreseeable future
I wanted to share my thoughts about why downloading/purchasing (so no one gets confused) won't take off:
1) Fragmented solutions - There are too many competing for the same small pie. You have Itunes, Vudu, Netflix, Vongo, Amazon, Real.com, the defunct Movielink, etc. More and more services are trying to follow the apple model (Itunes + IPOD) by creating a great device to go along with their service, but none have succeeded. This is also going to be a problem as well because someone is not going to buy 3 or 4 set top boxes to get the various movies that are on the services when they can go out and get a dvd/hd player that has all the movies that they could want. 2) Piracy - Most of the people who download movies are downloading illegally. It'll get worse and worse as more people get faster connections. Unless the government steps in I don't see anything changing. 3) Infrastructure is not there. Let's face it, even with the fastest connections, it takes forever. By no means is it slow, but until we can get up to japan type speeds (60Mbits/sec) nothing is going to happen. Also, the fact that many rural areas still don't have high speed access is telling and probably won't get high speed for a while. 4) The studios - They are already starting to add digital copies to movies. This is probably one of the top reasons why downloading will remain a niche. People are going to see great value in having a hard copy as well as a digital copy of the movie that they have bought. It also saves them the time to download and the cost of buying into a service. 5) Storage space - While we have terabyte HDs today, the space that video particularly HD video eats up is enormous and for downloading to take off, set top boxes or whatever people download to, will need at least 10 terabytes which honestly is not going to happen anytime soon. 10000GB / 30GB to be optimistic gives us space for about 333 movies. Which is overkill, but isn't asking too much if HD downloads are to take off. 6) Reliability - Imagine having your whole entire collection on one disc, now imagine having that entire collection be destroyed. That's the reality with downloading. Having your entire collection one a set top box is a bad idea and with disc based media you can go out and buy a replacement disc except for Salo. :) If that happens once, people are going to tell others the horrors of having to redownload their entire collection because the set top box crashed. 7) Anonymity - This plays a factor because who wants to be monitored for everything they download. Nobody. This will be another major deterrent to downloading. Any comments or criticism are welcome. |
Spot on. I really don't see a viable Digital Downloads solution for the next 15+ years. It may do well for rentals, but thats as far as it will go.
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Nope. I can see HD downloads as the way of the future. If it's something you can get through you cable provider like a DVR. If I'm cruising through the channels for something to watch and I can order an HD version of No Country for Old Men (Hey, I don't need an overpriced Blu-ray player!) to start playing immediately and it's not very expensive. Then why not?
I think it will work so well for rentals it will put most rental places out of business. As for purchasing movies for keeps, I think one company will have to step up and show everyone that they are the best movie service available (like Apple did for Ipods) |
First, a mod note. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THIS ABOUT HD DVD OR BLU-RAY AGAIN. Thanks. Anyone leading this astray will be reprimanded.
namja Moderator, DVD Talk Forums |
I think some people here may call that a "doom and gloom" view of downloading but ... anyway ... I'm not sure what you exactly mean by "foreseeable future," but if that means 10 years, then I totally agree. I imagine the downloads to become the norm in about 10 years. If you mean way beyond that, then I strongly disagree. Here are my thoughts on a point by point basis.
1. They are fragmented, but I imagine that they will all carry most of the movies from the top studios in the near future (like within 10 years). 2. If piracy becomes "worse and worse" that means that there are going to be more and more downloading, meaning downloads are becoming the norm, not a niche. -wink- 3. It won't happen everywhere, but I can't imagine living in a top 20 USA metropolitan area without 60mpbs within 10 years. 4. I don't know what that has to do with downloads, so I'm going to skip this one. 5. I don't foresee people downloading 30GB movies. Maybe 10GB. And that quality will be acceptable by most everyone. At 10GB, 1TB = 100 movies. And in 10 years, we'll all have tens of terabytes (if not hundreds). People who care about the added PQ/AQ/extras (I imagine most of us HD Talkers) will buy the discs, but we're in the minority. 6. In terms of collection, yes, that is a big problem. Until SSD becomes much cheaper and more reliable (yes this is still an issue), people will not be collecting movies on a mass scale via download. I hope that when we have tens of terabytes in 10 years, it'll be either SSD or something even more reliable. If not, then this will definitely be the deal breaker. 7. I think this is a non-issue. Look at the iTunes store, for example. Over 4 billion songs have been purchased. |
Well, at least in SD I'd say that in less that 5 year VOD (Video on Demand) will be the norm.
Cable companies are having big profits from VOD, and satellite is coming to VOD too. It's just too easy, if you want to watch a movie, just browse some menus and you are in. You don't have to leave your home. I've personally used Comcast VOD for renting movies and Xbox Live and both of them are really good. I prefer Xbox Live quality for HD movies but with Comcast you have the movie in the moment. Still, I have a very good internet connection and downloading movies through Xbox Live is really fast for me. It just take a couple of minutes for me to start watching the movie. |
my thoughts, as briefly as i can state them:
-- i think in the "near-term" (next 10-15 years), download/VOD could easily become the primary way people rent (SD) movies. netflix is already positioning itself to get in on a piece of that pie. -- i think downloads have the potential to overtake physical media in the long-term (15+ years from now) as the primary way to own movies, but only if the CEs agree on some kind of technology standard and procurement service. the technology must be able to address the concerns raised in this thread, among others, such as collection backups, protection against piracy without handcuffing the honest consumer, etc. personally, i think it's a long shot. |
Downloading will eventually play a bigger role....for the rental market. But not to own. People like to buy stuff, physical stuff. That's not going to change.
Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and every other retailer will continue to want to use movie media as loss leaders to get us in their stores. I do like the idea someone had mentioned before about having a system that lets you upload your own store bought movies onto a home server and then be able to browse and watch that way. That would be cool. Then your back up is your physical disc. |
Click the below link for my downloaded movie collection!
Eh. Doesn't have the same impact as owning the physical media does. OP hit in spot on. But I do think that it will be the wave of the rental market in the future. It will just never replace physical media for ownership. |
I think VOD will supplant the rental market within a five-year window. Convenient and profitable.
I think that it will supplant physical media at a slower rate, around 15 years from now. What is ownership? If you can click on an icon and launch the movie, what is the difference? If you are "all about the movie" like a lot of people say, then owning a library of discs should be no more attractive than "owning" an icon on the screen. Both are methods to watch a film. I think quality will get better over the next few years, and IMO the convenience is already there. I like having my collection, but the idea of not having to get up and go through the rigmarole of getting a disc ready is somewhat appealing to me. |
Originally Posted by Qui Gon Jim
I think that it will supplant physical media at a slower rate, around 15 years from now. What is ownership? If you can click on an icon and launch the movie, what is the difference?
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It still boggles my mind how people here don't get that the average person has one goal in mind: watching a movie. They will use whatever method completes this goal in the easiest way possible.
This whole thing about owning a movie collection is a collector mentality and has nothing to do with what the dominant future business model may or may not be. |
Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet
It still boggles my mind how people here don't get that the average person has one goal in mind: watching a movie. They will use whatever method completes this goal in the easiest way possible.
This whole thing about owning a movie collection is a collector mentality and has nothing to do with what the dominant future business model may or may not be. I am a collector. I like to collect things. MOST people are not and don't understand people who are. These are the people that will drive VOD forward. Also, since this will be the defacto place to discuss this topic, can a mod change the title to reflect that this is a discussion and not a manifesto? |
The popularity of gift sets and special cases like steelbooks tells me there will be a place for physical media. If all people cared about was the movie, these kinds of things wouldn't sell well enough for them to keep getting made.
I'm not sure the lack of anonymity will be much of a deterrent for many. Surely NetFlix has a record of everything you've rented and/or watched instantly. People don't mind because they like the service, and it will be the same way with VOD. Then there are the online retailers like Amazon that track your purchasing history, but I suppose if you vary between different stores, they can't get too much of a profile on you. |
Originally Posted by Drexl
The popularity of gift sets and special cases like steelbooks tells me there will be a place for physical media.
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Originally Posted by jiggawhat
1) Fragmented solutions - There are too many competing for the same small pie. You have Itunes, Vudu, Netflix, Vongo, Amazon, Real.com, the defunct Movielink, etc. More and more services are trying to follow the apple model (Itunes + IPOD) by creating a great device to go along with their service, but none have succeeded. This is also going to be a problem as well because someone is not going to buy 3 or 4 set top boxes to get the various movies that are on the services when they can go out and get a dvd/hd player that has all the movies that they could want.
3) Infrastructure is not there. Let's face it, even with the fastest connections, it takes forever. By no means is it slow, but until we can get up to japan type speeds (60Mbits/sec) nothing is going to happen. Also, the fact that many rural areas still don't have high speed access is telling and probably won't get high speed for a while. There is also the factor of the mindset of the average Joe. The tech-savvy don't realize that downloading isn't even on the radar of most people. Also, the number of house holds that have a connection between their television and the internet is a minority and without that, downloading will remain a niche market, limited to those of us willing to go through the hassle of setting that up. Devices like the Apple TV may change this but most of these solutions are still closed loops. What's need is a single box that can suck up all types of media invisibly and making watching downloaded contact identical to just watching television. So far no such solution exists. |
Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema
Downloading will eventually play a bigger role....for the rental market. But not to own. People like to buy stuff, physical stuff. That's not going to change.
People that like to buy movies/TV shows/music on a physical media format will still buy on a physical media format. People that rent and use a service like Netflix might start using new, different services in the future, but I don't see why physical format buyers have to stop buying. I just went "Blu" two weeks ago, and unless it goes the way of Beta; I'll keep supporting the format. I still support the DVD format, and will continue to do so.
Originally Posted by Qui Gon Jim
What is ownership? If you can click on an icon and launch the movie, what is the difference? If you are "all about the movie" like a lot of people say, then owning a library of discs should be no more attractive than "owning" an icon on the screen. Both are methods to watch a film.
Owning the film, TV show on a physical format will be the same as clicking on an icon? If you're really "all about the movie", you'd be buying in best possible way (which would be best A/V quality). "Owning" an icon is not even close to owning the actual movie on a physical medium.
Originally Posted by Qui Gon Jim
I think quality will get better over the next few years, and IMO the convenience is already there.
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Originally Posted by namja
I think some people here may call that a "doom and gloom" view of downloading but ... anyway ... I'm not sure what you exactly mean by "foreseeable future," but if that means 10 years, then I totally agree. I imagine the downloads to become the norm in about 10 years. If you mean way beyond that, then I strongly disagree. Here are my thoughts on a point by point basis.
1. They are fragmented, but I imagine that they will all carry most of the movies from the top studios in the near future (like within 10 years). 2. If piracy becomes "worse and worse" that means that there are going to be more and more downloading, meaning downloads are becoming the norm, not a niche. -wink- 3. It won't happen everywhere, but I can't imagine living in a top 20 USA metropolitan area without 60mpbs within 10 years. 4. I don't know what that has to do with downloads, so I'm going to skip this one. 5. I don't foresee people downloading 30GB movies. Maybe 10GB. And that quality will be acceptable by most everyone. At 10GB, 1TB = 100 movies. And in 10 years, we'll all have tens of terabytes (if not hundreds). People who care about the added PQ/AQ/extras (I imagine most of us HD Talkers) will buy the discs, but we're in the minority. 6. In terms of collection, yes, that is a big problem. Until SSD becomes much cheaper and more reliable (yes this is still an issue), people will not be collecting movies on a mass scale via download. I hope that when we have tens of terabytes in 10 years, it'll be either SSD or something even more reliable. If not, then this will definitely be the deal breaker. 7. I think this is a non-issue. Look at the iTunes store, for example. Over 4 billion songs have been purchased. Would you agree that there is probably a lot less objectionable content for music compared with video? So what happens, when your wife sees that you downloaded the latest Debbie does Dallas because that's only available for download. That's just an example but you can see where I'm going with that. I just don't see disc based media dying and downloads replacing it as it's been forecast for so long. Look at Best Buy, they still sell a ton of CDs. It's not like CDs are going anywhere anytime soon and I see the same happening with BD/DVD. Plus retailers want to be able to sell and the studios will provide it for them. |
I pretty much agree with it all except for #7. I don't understand why anyone would care if what movies you downloaded are monitored. It's not like your pulling down kiddie porn. I picture these same people at Blockbuster with their rental of choice clutched close to their body as they look around with shifty eyes to make sure no one sees what they are renting when they get to the checkout counter.
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Honestly, I'd be shocked if Blockbuster/Hollywood Video is still around in 5-8 years in their current "form".
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Originally Posted by Qui Gon Jim
Yes, among collectors. I doubt if you asked 100 random people on the street what a steelbook was that they would be able to tell you.
As for Jiggawhat's Debbie Does Dallas example, that's what alternate services with separate passwords are for. :) |
Originally Posted by jiggawhat
Any comments or criticism are welcome.
2.Strongly agree. One of the main reasons why I believe VOD will never entice the studios to view it as a viable substitute for physical media. 3.Agree. For VOD to replace the current rental and distribution system in place there needs to be an enormous update of the existing infrastructure. Such a project will be a bottomless pit with few, if any, investors willing to act on promises (only). AOL’s recent troubles are a great indicator why any such endeavor would be impossible to sell. 4.Strongly agree. Put aside the war we underwent the studios have proven time and time again that they like to be “traditionalists”. From distribution to pricing to promotion they have followed a system which has a proven record of delivering the results all of them are looking for. Adding the country’s serious economic problems I believe that it is very unlikely that the same studios would favor a new model where VOD will replace existing revenue providers. Finally, there is no precedent in any other mass (consumer) market where online distribution has proven more profitable and capable of sustaining an industry on its own – from books to magazines to music – online sales have not taken over hard/physical content. 5.Somewhat Disagree/Agree. 10 years is more than likely enough for the introduction of a proper device with enough memory to address storage concerns. It is unlikely that such however will be either affordable and/or available on the North American market. Smaller and more technologically advanced markets (Japan) could be a good testing zone but I foresee content availability within such experimental markets as a barrier for enticing manufacturers to heavily bet on it (example: online gaming has been a hit and miss for competitors with exclusivity still being a decisive factor). 6.Strongly agree. There is a reason why people continue to develop pictures and require hard copies even though nowadays there are numerous ways of storing such as digital files, ect. Neither flexibility nor convenience have proven to be key factors, both of which are touted as the strongest points for a mass VOD euphoria. 7.Somewhat agree. This could be an issue only if VOD becomes mainstream. So, I don’t foresee such a scenario not only in a near future but in a foreseeable future as well given the aforementioned trend(s) towards decentralized exclusivity. If the adult industry adopts a similar approach and shifts its business as online-only (not likely) then chances are there will be proper mechanisms to offset any issues that may or may not arise. But that brings us back to point A: having current adult content through your existing cable provider which is neither affordable nor expansive enough to replace physical demand, in effect sustaining both physical rentals as well as “traditional” buys. Pro-B * IFC Entertainment and BLOCKBUSTER Sign Two-Year Exclusive Rental Deal -- BLOCKBUSTER to be Exclusive Rental Outlet for IFC Entertainment's Titles Through Stores, Mail and VOD Download NEW YORK, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move designed to make independent films available to a wider audience, IFC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI)(NYSE: BBI.B) today announced a two-year agreement that gives BLOCKBUSTER® the exclusive U.S. rental rights for IFC Entertainment's titles. The agreement enables IFC Entertainment to reach a broader audience for its films through Blockbuster's stores, by-mail subscription services and digital downloading service, Movielink.com. Under the terms of the agreement, IFC and Blockbuster will share rental revenues from IFC titles. Blockbuster will have an exclusive 60-day rental window, including both the physical and digital rental distribution channels, for each title as it becomes available. During this period no title will be available on a retail basis in any format. After the 60-day period, the IFC titles will be available on a non-exclusive basis both for retail and digital distribution. However, Blockbuster will retain the exclusive physical rental distribution rights for IFC titles for three years after each street date. In addition to carrying IFC titles in its stores nationwide, Blockbuster has installed special independent film sections in approximately 1,000 of its locations, which will include not only IFC titles but also independent movies from a variety of distributors. Blockbuster also plans to highlight IFC titles on blockbuster.com and on Movielink. "We're delighted to join with BLOCKBUSTER as we continue our mission of making independent film available to the widest possible audience," said Lisa Schwartz, IFC's senior vice president of sales and business development. "Blockbuster's national store network combined with its by-mail and downloading services, made this a particularly appealing agreement for us because it gives millions of customers increased access to our movies." "This agreement with IFC is a great opportunity for BLOCKBUSTER to provide our customers with convenient access to the best of independent film," said Keith Leopard, director, film product, Blockbuster Inc. "Whether it's through our stores, through the mail or through digital downloading, our customers will have access to some of the most exciting, thought-provoking films the indie filmmaking world has to offer. We look forward to working with IFC to dramatically expand our selection of independent titles and to being the exclusive rental outlet for films that otherwise might not have gotten exposure to such a broad audience." Titles to be exclusively available for rental at BLOCKBUSTER include: Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, which opens theatrically on Friday, March 7th and was recently nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards including best picture and best director and won the Piaget Producers Award, which went to producer Neil Kopp; Tom Kalin's Savage Grace, which stars Julianne Moore and was screened at this year's Sundance Film Festival; Hannah Takes the Stairs, a critically-acclaimed film by Joe Swanberg that emerged as part of the Mumblecore movement; and Dans Paris, a French language film directed by Christophe Honore. Genius Products, Inc. (OTC: GNPI) (BULLETIN BOARD: GNPI) , a leading independent home-entertainment distribution company, serves as the sales agent for IFC Entertainment. ABOUT IFC ENTERTAINMENT IFC Entertainment consists of IFC Films, a leading theatrical film distribution company bringing the best of independent films to theaters and to the on-demand platform, day and date, reaching over 45 million subscribers. The company's brick and mortar home, The IFC Center, features state-of-the-art cinemas with luxurious seating and high-definition digital and 35mm projection, located in the heart of New York City's West Village. Recent and upcoming IFC releases include: 2007 Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days, which also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film; Gus Van Sant's award-winning Paranoid Park; Harmony Korine's Mister Lonley; Hou Hsiao Hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon starring Juliette Binoche; and Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress starring Asia Argento. Other critically acclaimed films include Patrice Lecontes's My Best Friend, Susanne Bier's academy award nominated After the Wedding and Ken Loach's 2006 Palme d'Or winner The Wind that Shakes the Barley. About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC First Take/IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales division, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company. |
What if the user can download a movie to buy and burn the movie into a physical media? Will this business model work?
From http://www.dvdcca.org/: Retailers and Consumers to be Able to Create Protected DVDs that Work with Existing DVD Players. |
Originally Posted by hanami
What if the user can download a movie to buy and burn the movie into a physical media? Will this business model work?
From http://www.dvdcca.org/: Retailers and Consumers to be Able to Create Protected DVDs that Work with Existing DVD Players. |
Originally Posted by Drexl
Now, that's something I don't really care for because the reliability of burned media is suspect compared to pressed media.
End of story! Pro-B |
Originally Posted by jiggawhat
It's so funny when I was writing the subject of the article I had noted a 10-15 year time frame then changed it to the foreseeable future.
Would you agree that there is probably a lot less objectionable content for music compared with video? So what happens, when your wife sees that you downloaded the latest Debbie does Dallas because that's only available for download. That's just an example but you can see where I'm going with that. I just don't see disc based media dying and downloads replacing it as it's been forecast for so long. Look at Best Buy, they still sell a ton of CDs. It's not like CDs are going anywhere anytime soon and I see the same happening with BD/DVD. Plus retailers want to be able to sell and the studios will provide it for them. |
IFC Entertainment and BLOCKBUSTER Sign Two-Year Exclusive Rental Deal -- BLOCKBUSTER to be Exclusive Rental Outlet for IFC Entertainment's Titles Through Stores, Mail and VOD Download NEW YORK, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move designed to make independent films available to a wider audience, IFC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI)(NYSE: BBI.B) today announced a two-year agreement that gives BLOCKBUSTER® the exclusive U.S. rental rights for IFC Entertainment's titles. The agreement enables IFC Entertainment to reach a broader audience for its films through Blockbuster's stores, by-mail subscription services and digital downloading service, Movielink.com. Under the terms of the agreement, IFC and Blockbuster will share rental revenues from IFC titles. Blockbuster will have an exclusive 60-day rental window, including both the physical and digital rental distribution channels, for each title as it becomes available. During this period no title will be available on a retail basis in any format. After the 60-day period, the IFC titles will be available on a non-exclusive basis both for retail and digital distribution. However, Blockbuster will retain the exclusive physical rental distribution rights for IFC titles for three years after each street date. |
Thats hillarious....this story about Blockbuster and its exclusivity for 60 days with a studio it owns..as proof of some kind of fragmentation of content. Please.
Blockbuster gets all these crappy studios like Weinstein or studios it owns, IFC to give them exclusivity. Do you think IFC is really happy about giving exclusives to a chain that markets to the lowest common denominator? No..but they don't have a choice. More corporate bullshit. Oh and what other physical distribution outlets still exist beyond Blockbuster? I guess Hollywood Video may still exist in some places, it went out of business here two years ago. I'm sure the remaining Hollywood Videos, or whatever other rinky dink chain, is REAL disappointed with not being able to rent IFC films. Actually, this agreement shows why On Demand is superior...hell there is IFC on demand right now (in SD at least) where you can watch what you want, and not have to bother with stepping into a Blockbuster, avoiding the 50 copies of Norbit, to find some IFC "gem" |
I dunno man. Downloadable music sorta snuk up on us and became the norm without too much fanfare. I think for downloadable movies, while it won't be the norm anytime soon, nor "around the corner", is certainly in the foreseeable future - whatever that is.
I just look at the ease with which I can watch HD movies/TV show on Xbox Live, now, and that's all the proof I need to see that an even bigger model of the same thing is not too far off. |
Originally Posted by SoSpacey
Click the below link for my downloaded movie collection!
Eh. Doesn't have the same impact as owning the physical media does. |
Originally Posted by brianluvdvd
Maybe I am reading this wrong but how does signing an exclusivity contract with one company make films available to a wider audience? Wouldn't it be best to release them to every rental company possible? :confused:
Pro-B |
MOD NOTE:
Okay, let's get this back on topic. Please discuss the future of downloads without going off on a tangent. Thanks. namja Moderator, DVD Talk Forums |
Originally Posted by aintnosin
... the U.S. market for high-speed broadband is only going to get worse as the ISP's either throttle or meter our bandwith, making downloading large movie files either impossible or prohibitively expense.
The telcos/ISPs all want a piece of the entertainment pie. They are of the opinion that they deserve it because their services make it all possible. It's very similar to the idea that the music labels have that they deserve a cut of revenue from the sale of music/mp3 players like the iPod. And Microsoft fed this parasitic notion by brokering a deal with Universal Music that gave Uni a dollar from every Zune sold.
Originally Posted by aintnosin
There is also the factor of the mindset of the average Joe. The tech-savvy don't realize that downloading isn't even on the radar of most people. Also, the number of house holds that have a connection between their television and the internet is a minority and without that, downloading will remain a niche market, limited to those of us willing to go through the hassle of setting that up.
IMHO, the very success of DVD disproves the notion that movie collectors are a minority. Sales figures of individual DVD titles show it's nonsense. Unless your notion of a "collector" is anyone who has more than some arbitrary number of DVDs. Most people I know (that I would not call "movie collectors") must have a few dozen titles.
Originally Posted by aintnosin
Devices like the Apple TV may change this but most of these solutions are still closed loops. What's need is a single box that can suck up all types of media invisibly and making watching downloaded contact identical to just watching television. So far no such solution exists.
I'm a life-long Mac guy who doesn't have an AppleTV and no intention of getting one anytime soon... if ever. Not that I think there is any issue with it or Apple's solution, it's just that what it offers is of no interest to me. |
For rentals only
I had this debate with my assistant the other day. I'm male, my assistant is female. I'm 35, she's about 25. I'm married, with a child. She's single. So, that makes this a little more interesting.
She thinks the downloads are the way to go. I argued that it's still got a long way to go in replacing the sales of DVD. She didn't agree. She enjoys watching movies on her computer.....I told her that I enjoy watching them in HD on my 55" HDTV. What it really breaks down to is if you want to "own" the movie, or just watch it. I like On-demand, and I also subscribe to HBO, Cinemax, and Netflix. I'd still say that the majority of the movies I watch at home are purchased DVD's. It's also lifestyle. When she is no longer an assistant, and she has more scratch, married/boyfriend, bigger place, etc....she'll get a widescreen TV. That changes this argument. When you can download a movie, show it to all your friends, play it in your car for your daughter on the way to school in the morning, all in 1080P glory with surround sound, then you have a shot - but just a shot with someone like me. I'd also argue that a movie is nothing like music. Music is something people listen to while doing other things (most of the time, anyway).....so it's passive entertainment, in short bursts (3-5 min. songs). A movie DEMANDS your attention. I do download (legally, thank you) music, but I still buy a lot of CD's. Specifically, if I'm into that band. But, hasn't music become very disposable...in terms of an art form? There are "artists" that had hits, won awards, etc. that no one cares about today. But, there are tons of movies that are revered that are older than dirt. You buy it when it came out on standard DVD, then again with it was re-released as a 2-disc set, and remastered, then again on HD/Blu-Ray. I could go on and on all night, but I am boring you all to tears with this :) Just my opinion |
Originally Posted by TheKing
Are you saying that at this point in time, men are more likely to watch porn on on a physical disc rather than the internet? Downloading revolutionized the porn industry, perhaps more than it has any entertainment medium.
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