Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by El_Fez

If you hit a burp on a streaming service, for the time it takes the buffer to catch up, it can look like someone hit my screen with a mosaic filter. Something like a high profile event - like streaming Wrestlemania - it can look like that for large chunks of time.

So yeah, it's not as much hyperbole as I'd like sometimes.

WWE Network is the worst possible example you could use, as it's by far the most finicky of all the streaming services. A large part of it is dependent on the device you use. For me, Amazon Stick + WWE = crap. Roku + WWE = better.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by yoniweisberg

I didn't know that, I actually (ignorantly) thought that PC gaming was in a boom period because of services like steam.

Well I more meant that Steam and other online focuses saved it. Before that it was basically dead, due to rampant piracy and no incentive to purchase legally other than a moral one. The risk with movies and shows right now is that the quality bump from legal theatrical or disc versions are something most don't care about, and if the streams are arriving close to theatrical debut days then we come back again to the only incentive for most to purchase legally is a moral one.

[CCBong]

I'm paying for 150 Mbps but in actuality I'm usually getting between 160-190 Mbps. I pay $77 a mo & that Includes the local channels. I use to be so hardcore when it came to owning physical media but with having high speed internet, streaming & owning HD digital media (iTunes/Vudu) has been amazing. The video quality has been IMO just as good as bluray quality. I have a high end HD tv with a great home theater surround sound set up that probably helps. I'm a big audiophile/videophile (snob) when it comes to movies so It took me awhile to really embrace digital media. The one thing that Blurays have a leg up on is lossless sound. Vudu & iTunes both offer Dolby Digital plus which is close, & with a great surround sound system still sounds pretty amazing.

[mredman]

Digital looks like crap compared to true HD on a Blu-Ray. Digital has smudges the picture is build in such a different way. Blu-Ray has fine detail. Plus you OWN the stuff you buy instead of trying to own "smoke" would never ever pay for digital.

[master gandhi]

Originally Posted by koover

I think that's cheap!

Agreed. It's a price I happily pay each month. I expect it to be much more expensive when I switch to fiber in the future, but I don't mind paying more for even better service.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by mredman

Digital looks like crap compared to true HD on a Blu-Ray. Digital has smudges the picture is build in such a different way. Blu-Ray has fine detail. Plus you OWN the stuff you buy instead of trying to own "smoke" would never ever pay for digital.

Obviously you have no idea what a digital download is. And continue to confuse it like most people.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

100 Mbps? What are you paying for that?

Not having speeds below 30 Mbps? I have to pay $70 a month just to get 15 Mbps from AT&T and if you want 30 Mbps it cost over $100. You are definitely the exception to the rule here.

I pay $70 a month for Time Warner in LA and get 200 mbps speeds and they are increasing it at the end of the year.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Obviously you have no idea what a digital download is. And continue to confuse it like most people.

If you can't sell it (or give it away) you don't own it.

With DRM-Free downloads there is full control over distribution. Since no one can (legally) sell or give away their downloads when a studio stops offering a specific title no one who doesn't already have a copy can ever get one.

If the download has DRM (most downloads do) then the situation is even worse. If the specific system that has been authorized to use the content stops working and it is no longer offered from the content provider then you will be unable to use your download. It doesn't matter how many back-ups you have if none of them have been authorized to be used with your systems.

[StingingVelvet]

I stopped playing video games years ago but if I tried to sell my Steam account Valve would shut it down, as it is against their terms of service. I can't separate the games from the service either, they have DRM that controls what I do with them. I can't do anything with it, it's a sinkhole of thousands of dollars. Please tell me how I "own" those games. iTunes is the same exact thing.

Vudu and other streaming services are even worse, since they're never even stored on your hard-drive.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

100 Mbps? What are you paying for that?

Not having speeds below 30 Mbps? I have to pay $70 a month just to get 15 Mbps from AT&T and if you want 30 Mbps it cost over $100. You are definitely the exception to the rule here.

I pay TWC 176 dollars a month for TV with DVR and internet and I get, on average, 300 Mbps. This is one of the reasons why I've stuck to streaming. Not to mention, my neighborhood is about to get Google Fiber by Spring of next year. Crossing my fingers, but I should almost never have a problem with internet connection when it comes to streaming entertainment in the future.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Jumpman

I pay TWC 176 dollars a month for TV with DVR and internet and I get, on average, 300 Mbps. This is one of the reasons why I've stuck to streaming. Not to mention, my neighborhood is about to get Google Fiber by Spring of next year. Crossing my fingers, but I should almost never have a problem with internet connection when it comes to streaming entertainment in the future.

It costs you more than double of what I pay for all of my physical media and you don't get to keep any of it. What a deal!

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

It costs you more than double of what I pay for all of my physical media and you don't get to keep any of it. What a deal!

Listen, I would've drop cable years ago but two things prevented this; sports and the wife. The wife ain't giving up that DVR no matter what. And second, I ain't trusting the ISP's for my sports. My family is too into sports to not have it on cable. I'll always be that way.

Listen, I still buy the Blu on occasion. In fact, I have about 4 discs on pre-order that I really want on physical media but at the same time, because of space and kids, I ain't gonna ever own everything I've ever like/thought was okay/loved over the years. Virtually impossible. So, I made some tough choices.

I have digital downloads from iTunes that are essentially permanent rentals. These are films I really like but I don't want them on Blu. They are not the absolutes. As for as streaming goes, no issues with revisiting an old film I haven't seen in a while on Netflix, HBO, or Amazon. I actually prefer it in a lot of ways.

My entertainment life is a mixture of both the old and the new ways. As a former, serious collector, I can never totally give up the old ways. At the same time, because of circumstances, the new ways do work out well for me.

It is what it is.

[StingingVelvet]

For me it's CNN and the wife. The wife ain't giving up DVR'd reality shows even if the Russians invade.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

For me it's CNN and the wife. The wife ain't giving up DVR'd reality shows even if the Russians invade.

Same. I broached this subject when we realized we would be getting Google Fiber in our neighborhood next year and the look she gave me suggested that if I want to live a long and healthy life, I better not touch her DVR. Period.

[wvuwhat]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Because that's easy to unload?

I have fast internet. And, I pay wayyyyy less for a HD code.

The only things I buy anymore are steelbooks.

Far cry from walking into Best Buy/Target/etc. every Tuesday and paying $20 for a blind buy.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by mredman

If a harddrive crashes all of it is gone. Had a 500 MB harddrive and it crashed. Every movie and tv show and pics from vacation and concert was gone.

Which is why you keep a duplicate backup drive for each drive you own. It doubles the cost but it's the only way to go.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Samsung have a really small 2TB solid state external hard drive on the market. Those are supposed to be way less failure prone than the ordinary hard drives with moving parts. Anything with moving parts is prone to break down. The problem is that the SSD hard drives with any substantial space on them are RIDICULOUSLY expensive as of now. That 2TB external SSD Samsung hard drive is $710 on Amazon right now!

I'll wait until the prices become reasonable and until then hope and pray that my current 2TB Western Digital My Passport doesn't break down. I try to do all the right things that will expand its lifespan, always "safely remove" it, only plug it in when I'm using it, have it on one single spot and not carry it and shake it around much, etc. Hopefully that will make it last for some time until external SSD drives that have plenty of space become affordable.

SSD drives are a very bad idea for archiving data. SSD drives that aren't used regularly and just put in storage fail within just a few short years. You can read about it online. I also used to think SSDs made more sense due to the lack of moving parts, but sadly from what I've been reading they degrade rapidly if just left in storage with data on it. I don't know why that is. They're not a long-term backup plan. Neither are mechanical drives really, due to bit rot. I archive some of my discs on mechanical drives but I use winrar to break them up into smaller segments for archival and create par2 backup files. That way, I can verify the file integrity at any time and repair the archive files if there is any damage over time due to bit rot. If you just store the films ready for playback, they can degrade over time due to bit rot and you'll never know it's happening until you try watching them years from now. The downside to that is the extra time and work of archiving them into winrar files, and creating the repair files, and then when you want to watch them you need to extract them. Lots of extra work but I feel far better with them stored like that than if they were just dropped as is on a drive. Any data that's valuable to you should be on multiple drives, with repair files available in case repair is necessary.

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by wvuwhat

I have fast internet. And, I pay wayyyyy less for a HD code.

The only things I buy anymore are steelbooks.

Far cry from walking into Best Buy/Target/etc. every Tuesday and paying $20 for a blind buy.

I've never paid more than $10 for a Blu-ray movie and most of them have been under $5. You shouldn't assume that everyone buying physical media is paying more than those who are buying digital.

Plus if your buying digital copy codes then you are completely reliant on others buying physical media and not wanting their digital copies for you to get a deal. If physical media starts doing worse than you won't get as good of deals on digital.

[koover]

Originally Posted by mar3o

SSD drives are a very bad idea for archiving data. SSD drives that aren't used regularly and just put in storage fail within just a few short years. You can read about it online. I also used to think SSDs made more sense due to the lack of moving parts, but sadly from what I've been reading they degrade rapidly if just left in storage with data on it. I don't know why that is. They're not a long-term backup plan. Neither are mechanical drives really, due to bit rot. I archive some of my discs on mechanical drives but I use winrar to break them up into smaller segments for archival and create par2 backup files. That way, I can verify the file integrity at any time and repair the archive files if there is any damage over time due to bit rot. If you just store the films ready for playback, they can degrade over time due to bit rot and you'll never know it's happening until you try watching them years from now. The downside to that is the extra time and work of archiving them into winrar files, and creating the repair files, and then when you want to watch them you need to extract them. Lots of extra work but I feel far better with them stored like that than if they were just dropped as is on a drive. Any data that's valuable to you should be on multiple drives, with repair files available in case repair is necessary.

After reading this post, which is good by the way, it has become even more clear to me. What the hell's the point of even collecting anything any more if its tech based? I mean this drive fails, that drive will deteriorate over time, the cloud will eat me and ALL my data and I won't be able to recoup it, the servers will crash, streaming will never work because there'll never be enough bandwidth, companies will pull titles, they have all the rights and own you, if it's not physical you don't own it.... But your disks will rot!! On and on.

No one is wrong.....it's just......read this entire thread like I have. It's Armageddon on the grandest scale. Lol. Nothing will last no matter what it is when it's tech based. Maybe it's time for us "adults" to stop worrying about storing this, backing this up, burning this, etc. and go back to basics and spend more time with our family and kids. Maybe even have the kids go out and actually play with their friends instead of sitting in front of their phones, tablets, tv or whatever. Everything goes full circle so I wouldn't doubt it if we actually see young people out and about doing things that has nothing to do with a computer, phone or tablet.....generally speaking.

For me? Continue to collect and watch my blus while not worrying about what the heck is going to happen 10 years from now when an entire new form of entertainment comes along. Most of us have upgraded from one format to the next so we should be used to this. It's just going to keep happening. If I take care of my disks, they're going to last for quite a few decades or longer. No matter what we own or back up, it will go away (figuratively speaking) and something new will replace it like it has since the beginning of time. Or it goes full circle, becomes popular again and is the new cool retro thing to "OWN"

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by koover

If I take care of my disks, they're going to last for quite a few decades or longer. No matter what we own or back up, it will go away and something new will replace it like it has since the beginning of time.

When something new comes out the discs I already have don't stop working. I'm not at all concerned that I'll continue to be able to watch all of my Blu-rays and DVDs for the rest of my life. Worst case scenario is an individual title stops working and I have to buy a used disc from one of the thousands of other people who still has a working copy: they are my back-ups.