WB and Universal Team Up to keep making DVDs and Blu-rays!

[Gaastra]

It's got that bad for the dvd market! WB and universal team up to keep making Blu-rays and dvds!

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/u...nt-1203467934/

[ComicJunkie21]

People not buying physical discs amazes me just because it's one of the few ways to ensure that you own the content you purchase. In just a few years we saw that technology changes so much that the digital platforms are not safe to entrust your purchases with. Heck iTunes has been in numerous lawsuits because people didn't read the fine print that says they don't own the music or movies they purchase, in fact it's closer to leasing. People who had flixster, ultra violet know nothing lasts forever with these services. Additionally, I have amazon music and the amount of content that comes and goes on a daily basis is crazy. So without notice the content you purchase could be removed due to a licensing disagreement or some other bs. Hopefully, people realize that it's better to purchase physical in the long run or risk paying for the same content over and over again while never truly owning it.

[AndrewCrossett]

Yep... I buy every movie and TV show on disk if it's something I expect to watch again in the future. Streaming is convenient and requires no storage space, but those are its only advantages. With a DVD I don't have to worry whether Netflix will delete it, or somebody will cut or edit or censor it, or whether my internet connection goes down or gets too slow or the ISPs start metering for bandwidth (which they will when 4K streaming gets to be a thing). Plus, many of the things I want to watch (especially older stuff) is not available anywhere on streaming. And then there are the DVD extras.

Same thing with music... I still buy CD's too, if I want a whole album. (MP3s if I just want one song.)

I want to own, not rent.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I definitely want discs to continue to be made for now, but I do see the wisdom of going purely digital. Storing these things is a definite pain in the ass over time.

It does seem that streaming is the wave of the future. All physical media keeps declining in sales except vinyl albums, which hipster-Millennials are romanticizing because they're too young to know why we dumped vinyl for CD in the first place. Once their vinyl starts warping and the sound starts popping due to dust collecting in the grooves, they'll dump vinyl for streaming as well.

I understand that there is a fear that when you go non-physical, you don't own anything, but over time that will have to evolve if the studios want us to plunk down the cash. The studios will respond to the market as they did with DVD by getting the price as low as possible. In the early 2000s, a season of X-Files was $100 or more on DVD, now you can get the entire series for around that much. If consumers balk enough at not owning the digital copies of what they buy, the business model will change. I do own my digital copies on vudu, but I understand that flixter and ultraviolet have gone belly up and DisneyMoviesAnywhere has become MoviesAnywhere.

It's a gamble, but all of this evolving technology and evolving delivery systems are a gamble. For example, I own a 3D television, but now no one is supporting 3D content. Even on home video, Disney has stopped making 3D Blu-Rays in Region 1. Other studios have followed. You can say that owning a DVD means you can play it forever, but what happens when the manufacturers stop making the disc players? Already, Samsung and Oppo have stopped making Blu-Ray players and new computers may now come without a DVD drive. New 3D televisions are not being made, and it may become harder and harder to find a player with 3D capabilities in the future, so once your existing equipment gives out, those 3D discs will be unplayable.

In the future, disc players in general might no longer be manufactured. Then, what do you do? Throw your DVDs on the junk pile with your VHS tapes because VCRs are no longer being made.

All the studios need to do is assure consumers that any digital copy they buy will be theirs forever, offer a cheap and easy upgrade path to future higher resolution formats, make the digital purchase seamlessly accessible across all devices, and demand for all physical media will drop to zero.

I also want to own, not rent, but I don't mind owning a digital-only format. At this point in my life, I'd prefer it. This goes for books, magazines, and comics, too. Then, our houses can go back to being houses instead of warehouses for all the stuff that has to be maintained and taken care of.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I only get the movies or shows I really , really want on home video. That is how I've done it for years really. Eventually its gonna take an over loading of streaming services and people realizing , they don't own those films when they get yanked to make them realize owning your own movies , games etc is what really works.

[WebLurker]

People not buying physical discs amazes me just because it's one of the few ways to ensure that you own the content you purchase. In just a few years we saw that technology changes so much that the digital platforms are not safe to entrust your purchases with. Heck iTunes has been in numerous lawsuits because people didn't read the fine print that says they don't own the music or movies they purchase, in fact it's closer to leasing. People who had flixster, ultra violet know nothing lasts forever with these services. Additionally, I have amazon music and the amount of content that comes and goes on a daily basis is crazy. So without notice the content you purchase could be removed due to a licensing disagreement or some other bs. Hopefully, people realize that it's better to purchase physical in the long run or risk paying for the same content over and over again while never truly owning it.

Yep, huge reason I generally don't like streaming and only get stuff there that had codes with the disc. I have gotten some music digital only, but seeing as you can download the tracks, thus have a copy if the originals were pulled, it's not quite the same.

(I do get the points about digital saving space and that physical only lasts as long as the players are made, so I guess its whatever works for the person.)

[Buried Alien]

I still buy physical media for stuff I really, really want to keep.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Gaastra]

As a kid of the early 80s I grew up buying movies (well after they stopped being $70 for a vhs tape! Yikes!) so I still have a big collection of movies and animation. Still have vhs tapes also. (uncut star wars!)

With that said I have the digital codes from the blu-rays so I might as well use them so I use vudu (with movies anywhere) for my digital copies. I don't mind spending $2 to scan my dvds and blu-rays I own to buy a $2 digital code in vudus disk to digital program also. Not everything is removed if it's no longer for sale as I still have my case closed episodes and still have the live action he-man on my vudu and both are gone.

I guess I do both digital and real dvds but no way i'm picking a digital copy over a real one!

From this outdated picture I have a pretty big dvd collection. This is only the first bookcase of animated shows! I have 2 more! This is only the animation dvds and not even the live action or tv shows or vhs tapes or Disney tapes! (was messy also as the room was getting redone at the time and stuff thrown on the shelfs and everywhere!)

[IMG][/IMG]

[WebLurker]

As a kid of the early 80s I grew up buying movies (well after they stopped being $70 for a vhs tape! Yikes!) so I still have a big collection of movies and animation. Still have vhs tapes also. (uncut star wars!)

With that said I have the digital codes from the blu-rays so I might as well use them so I use vudu (with movies anywhere) for my digital copies. I don't mind spending $2 to scan my dvds and blu-rays I own to buy a $2 digital code in vudus disk to digital program also. Not everything is removed if it's no longer for sale as I still have my case closed episodes and still have the live action he-man on my vudu and both are gone.

I guess I do both digital and real dvds but no way i'm picking a digital copy over a real one!

From this outdated picture I have a pretty big dvd collection. This is only the first bookcase of animated shows! I have 2 more! This is only the animation dvds and not even the live action or tv shows or vhs tapes or Disney tapes! (was messy also as the room was getting redone at the time and stuff thrown on the shelfs and everywhere!)

[IMG][/IMG]

I do collect and watch a lot of stuff, but I have wondered at what point do you reach the limit where you're probably not going to re-see everything in your lifetime.

[ComicJunkie21]

I definitely want discs to continue to be made for now, but I do see the wisdom of going purely digital. Storing these things is a definite pain in the ass over time.

It does seem that streaming is the wave of the future. All physical media keeps declining in sales except vinyl albums, which hipster-Millennials are romanticizing because they're too young to know why we dumped vinyl for CD in the first place. Once their vinyl starts warping and the sound starts popping due to dust collecting in the grooves, they'll dump vinyl for streaming as well.

I understand that there is a fear that when you go non-physical, you don't own anything, but over time that will have to evolve if the studios want us to plunk down the cash. The studios will respond to the market as they did with DVD by getting the price as low as possible. In the early 2000s, a season of X-Files was $100 or more on DVD, now you can get the entire series for around that much. If consumers balk enough at not owning the digital copies of what they buy, the business model will change. I do own my digital copies on vudu, but I understand that flixter and ultraviolet have gone belly up and DisneyMoviesAnywhere has become MoviesAnywhere.

It's a gamble, but all of this evolving technology and evolving delivery systems are a gamble. For example, I own a 3D television, but now no one is supporting 3D content. Even on home video, Disney has stopped making 3D Blu-Rays in Region 1. Other studios have followed. You can say that owning a DVD means you can play it forever, but what happens when the manufacturers stop making the disc players? Already, Samsung and Oppo have stopped making Blu-Ray players and new computers may now come without a DVD drive. New 3D televisions are not being made, and it may become harder and harder to find a player with 3D capabilities in the future, so once your existing equipment gives out, those 3D discs will be unplayable.

In the future, disc players in general might no longer be manufactured. Then, what do you do? Throw your DVDs on the junk pile with your VHS tapes because VCRs are no longer being made.

All the studios need to do is assure consumers that any digital copy they buy will be theirs forever, offer a cheap and easy upgrade path to future higher resolution formats, make the digital purchase seamlessly accessible across all devices, and demand for all physical media will drop to zero.

I also want to own, not rent, but I don't mind owning a digital-only format. At this point in my life, I'd prefer it. This goes for books, magazines, and comics, too. Then, our houses can go back to being houses instead of warehouses for all the stuff that has to be maintained and taken care of.

I understand your point and you're not incorrect but I guess I'm seeing it as a longevity issue as well. As of today I could still buy a VCR or DVD player if I wanted to and VHS was created in 1976 and dvd players came out in 1999. Flixster came out in 2006 and shut the video service down in 2018 and ultraviolet was 2011 and shut down last year. These services are just that services and it seems riskier to purchase solely digital with the trend that we've seen so far.

[AndrewCrossett]

The reason they stopped making VCRs is because there was very little interest in collecting VHS tapes... DVDs were so much better in quality that nobody wanted them anymore. There was really no upside to VHS, although I imagine there are some people who collect them, and there are a few titles that were never released on any other format (like the aforementioned un-ruined Star Wars movies).

DVD and Blu-ray, and now 4K, are about as good as home content can get until actual immersive VR becomes the standard. And it's no problem for the same machine to play all three disk formats, so they need never go obsolete like VCRs.

If there is a demand, people will still buy the equipment and people will still manufacture it. They never stopped making turntables even at the height of the CD boom because there was always a demand for vinyl among hobbyists. That wasn't true of VCRs, but if you want a VCR you can get one very cheap at a Goodwill or Salvation Army store or on Ebay. (I still use an iPod Classic even though they're not made anymore... you can still get them pretty easily from third party sellers).

The advent of 4K will keep physical media thriving for a few more years at least, since so little is actually broadcast in that quality yet.

And there may eventually be a resurgence in physical media once 4K becomes the expected standard. Streaming in UHD will require massive bandwidth, and it's very likely ISPs will start metering. Rather than pay through the nose to watch your 4K stuff online, many people might find it much cheaper to just get the disk and watch it whenever, for free.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I don't think that the circumstances that exist today with ISPs, metering, and bandwidth are going to be the same circumstances for the rest of time.

Today, ISPs can't have everyone streaming at 4K unlimited, but that will change over time as there becomes more and more demand for streaming -- just as on the phone side of things, the networks are moving to 5G during this year.

The consumer demand for 4K streaming will provide the incentive for ISPs to upgrade their networks and keep prices low. Right now, we're in the "early adopter" stage as far as 4K streaming is concerned. Network TV doesn't broadcast anything in 4K because the ATSC standard used in North America only goes to 1080p (i.e. 1920p - approx 2K on the wide dimension of the screen), but again, that doesn't mean it will be that way forever.

In the analog world, things were basically set at the beginning and did not change except for the addition of stereo sound in the 1980s. With digital, technology can constantly be advanced. It's just the real-world regulations and equipment manufacturing that take time to implement. It'll take a literal act of Congress to get us to 4K broadcast, but it can be done.

I do see physical media lasting for at least another decade. Obviously, Warner and Universal do too since they've entered into a ten year deal for it, but the very fact that two media giants have to combine their home video businesses really does show the writing on the wall. If Disney should decide to abandon all physical media the way they did for 3D physical media in Region 1, it really would spell the end for it.

The 2020s are going to be a very interesting decade, but the safe bet is that we will see the migration to non-physical media start to escalate faster and faster with each passing year. Again, you can't judge the future based on what's going on today because right now we're in the middle of things with multiple streaming services and lots of redundancy in terms of distributors. Plus, today's consumers get their entertainment using a hodgepodge of physical and non-physical distribution systems. However, over this decade, things will shake themselves out and a clearer picture of how the future will look will emerge.