Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Exactly. According to Sony, the VCR was going to destroy Hollywood. Thankfully the courts saw it differently and Sony lost. Did the VCR kill movies?

Sony wasn't a movie studio yet. They were the ones pushing Beta format VCRs. They were a defendant in the suit.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Facts are facts. That is a trend. so canyou explain how you would watch a film on a projector or tv in a all digital world, if your home doesn't have broadband fibre?

Okay... so now, in addition to being afraid that they will one day remove the option to watch movies and TV shows at normal speed (because a tiny handful of people watch stuff at higher speeds) and that they'll completely stop manufacturing and selling TVs and projectors because everyone will be watching everything on their phones, now you think broadband internet is going away?

I can't even begin to imagine how much happier your life would be if you relaxed and just watched some content, rather than constantly worrying about things that will never happen (and that you would be completely powerless to stop if they were.) You're going to worry your life away before you know it, and all that stress and concern will have been over nothing...

Originally Posted by Steedeel

some of you guys think (already tiresome) gifs are hilarious and no doubt you will get a lot of thank you clicks for your effort. Maybe that's why you do it? It's tiresome and incredibly predictable. You may think (probably do) the same of me but this is happening guys. Wake up and stop contributing to it.

You know what's really tiresome and incredibly predictable? Your shtick. We can always count on an "outbreak" every couple of months or so. We respond with the exact same common sense and reason, you ignore everything that doesn't fit into your extremely limited world view, rinse, lather, repeat.

I have serious doubts that you ever find the time to actually watch anything, given the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching constantly on display...

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Many were mocked for believing the world was not flat, no?

The difference is, they had evidence, logic, and reason on their side. You only have paranoia, delusions, and irrationality. See the difference yet?

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Again, irrelevant. A 3% drop in 3 years is a significant statistic.

No, it's really not. And since you haven't provided any sort of link to the data so we can read it for ourselves rather than relying on your interpretation, at this point it's just another baseless claim. Cherry-picking bits of data from an article and removing all context is not going to further your "cause" - it just makes you look like you're trying to deceive people because the facts don't support your position.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

In a couple of decades, broadband wouldn't exist at all at that rate IMO.

But your opinion isn't based on reality, so why should anyone care about it? This latest prediction has as much chance of becoming reality as your others have - zero. Zilch. Nada. None.

Relax and watch a movie.

[Mike1981]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

As discussed in another thread, broadband homes have dropped from 70% to 67% in just 3 years. Meanwhile, those homes have mobile only subscriptions and mobile contract only has risen to 13% I believe.

This backs up EVERYTHING I have been saying for the last few years.

Small screens winning out, the death of movies on the big screen and even the smartwatch theory I have. After all, 50 inch screen to 5 inch screen? These guys don't care.

How can you know what those 3% actually used their internet for? They just as easily didn't stream media at all

That statistic is meaningless

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Many were mocked for believing the world was not flat, no?

You're beating the "doom and gloom" view of blu-ray into the ground here. Things are not nearly as bad as you claim they are. Amazing catalog titles are continuing to get a release. Lionsgate literally just created a new Vestron video label, promising to open up a whole catalog of old horror gems for the fans. There are tons of new restorations and blu-ray releases of old 50's 3D classics - I have a nice shelf full of classic 50's 3D films with many more on the way for 2017.

Would I like to see retail treat blu-ray better? Of course. I think that's one of the main things holding back blu-ray. Stores continue to push DVD and yet carry little blu-ray stock, so people are unaware of just how many titles are available on blu-ray. But this doom and gloom is getting old.

[mar3o]

From MPAA boss Jack Valenti:

"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."

[Steedeel]

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12...r-mobile-data/

There you go to the guys who wanted the link.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12...r-mobile-data/

There you go to the guys who wanted the link.

And from that very article you linked to:

"That’s a slight slip, but Pew Research thinks of it more of a plateau, suggesting that it won’t see a sharp decline."

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by LeeFanatic007

Regardless of age it really does boil down to a lot of people who just want to watch a movie for a couple hours, so they do this as cheaply as possible. Netflix, pirating, whatever. They aren't interested in owning a film for the rest of their life and after that film is over generally they just don't care about it anymore. It's hard for me to accept that, but it's the truth.)

I can attest to this. It seems most folks I've known will watch a movie and then it's pretty much a done deal. They have no interest in purchasing it to watch again at a later date. I've known plenty of people who are passionate about watching movies and don't own a single movie. Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox, etc. suits them just fine.

[DarenG]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I've known plenty of people who are passionate about watching movies and don't own a single movie. Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox, etc. suits them just fine.

I don't know anybody like that. I know casual movie goers who like movies that do what you described. However, every passionate person I know still collects.

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I've known plenty of people who are passionate about watching movies and don't own a single movie. Netflix, Hulu, and Redbox, etc. suits them just fine.

Originally Posted by DarenG

I don't know anybody like that. I know casual movie goers who like movies that do what you described. However, every passionate person I know still collects.

For the twenty years I've been buying physical media, I've also watched those around me, and compared our habits...

I have come to the conclusion that:

1. If you look forward to reading reviews, follow certain actors or directors, or try to go to the theater to see a film once a month (of course, having kids hinders that), you're more likely to buy/collect movies on disc.

2. If you passively watch movies, don't care about particular actors/directors, just go to the theater as "something to do for two hours"...etc, you won't be buying movies on disc.

[WhySoBlu?]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12...r-mobile-data/

There you go to the guys who wanted the link.

Thanks. And it should come as no surprise to anyone, but you've grossly misrepresented the data in the (nearly year-old) article. In addition to the bit about it being a plateau and not indicative of any sort of sharp decline, it also has nothing to do with your typical "concerns."

If you bothered to read the article, it goes on to say that the increase is due to low-income households using the internet from their phone service in order to save money and also to people in rural areas who don't have access to the same fast broadband that those of us in cities have. It's also because of the high cost of super-fast internet service in general. In other words, it's mostly a cost-cutting measure, not a paradigm shift.

This is why these periodic outbursts from you are so frustrating...

[mredman]

This thread is pathetic. They will co-exist. The end. Physical media is revenue in billions of dollars. So many thinks digital is smoke. And it really is because you don't own Jack shit

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

It's tiresome and incredibly predictable.

Tiresome and incredibly predictable is the worst, isn't it?

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by octagon

Tiresome and incredibly predictable is the worst, isn't it?

I already covered by bases with that one. I was expecting that reply.

Fair enough, it won't happen. You know best Octagon. Respect your elders blah blah etc..

[octagon]

Originally Posted by LeeFanatic007

Regardless of age it really does boil down to a lot of people who just want to watch a movie for a couple hours, so they do this as cheaply as possible. Netflix, pirating, whatever. They aren't interested in owning a film for the rest of their life and after that film is over generally they just don't care about it anymore. It's hard for me to accept that, but it's the truth.

I think this gets overstated. Sure, people aren't accumulating discs at anywhere near the rates they used to but I don't think that indicates the role or importance of movies has changed appreciably over the past however many years.

A lot of us like to think of movie consumers in terms of two extreme poles: film lovers on one end and people who view movies as simple entertainment (ie consumables) but I think most people fall somewhere in the middle.

Even people who generally look at movies primarily as a diversion or a way to kill time recognize and appreciate at least some number of exceptional movies and put at least some favorites on a somewhat elevated plane. That's always been the case and I'm not sure the overall mix of how many people fall onto this end or that end of the scale has really changed all that much.

[MechaGodzilla]

Steedeel, you've always struck me as a nice guy and I think your heart's in the right place, but you worry entirely too much about this, it's like an unhealthy obsession. Screens shrinking and people being unable to watch movies on anything bigger than a tablet or phone isn't going to happen, if that's where we're headed then why are TVs getting bigger? I'm pretty sure physical media isn't going away for a long, long time either. Even if it eventually leaves the mainstream, there will always be some demand for it, it will just become a niche collector's market instead. Much like what happened to vinyl, which is an ancient format that's still around.

I also think it's silly to make sweeping generalizations about Millennials and act like "we" are killing physical media, or are less passionate about film. Like others have said, the younger generations aren't alone in adopting digital media, not even close. And as for being passionate about film, to most people regardless of age film just isn't a big deal, it isn't a passion of theirs, and that's fine. I'd bet the percentage of cinephiles/movie buffs/whatever you want to call them is roughly the same across all generations. Physical media didn't sell better in the past because the general public was more into film, but because in the '80s-early '00s video was what you had to rely on when you wanted to watch something. If people had access to current technology 20-35 years ago, they would've been all over that.

You also don't have to be a collector to be passionate about film. There are probably lots of people quite into film as a medium/art form - some of them future filmmakers, film historians, critics, etc. - who do most/all of their watching via streaming and downloading. Not really that different from how there were cinephiles in all those decades before home video became a thing. Some of us like to collect, and that's not something that will go out of fashion either. We've always existed, and Generation Z and beyond will produce movie collectors too. How and what format(s) they collect will of course depend on what is available to them. I don't collect VHS, LD, etc. because that was "before my time" (I was alive, but way too young), but I do collect DVD, BD and soon probably UHD BD because that's what movies have been released on in my teens and 20s.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

And as for being passionate about film, to most people regardless of age film just isn't a big deal, it isn't a passion of theirs, and that's fine. I'd bet the percentage of cinephiles/movie buffs/whatever you want to call them is roughly the same across all generations.

Jinx

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

Physical media didn't sell better in the past because the general public was more into film, but because in the '80s-early '00s video was what you had to rely on when you wanted to watch something. If people had access to current technology 20-35 years ago, they would've been all over that.

Yes, this is exactly why I referred to people accumulating discs rather than collecting them in the post above. A lot of people bought VHS tapes and DVDs the way they bought paperbacks. They weren't curating personal libraries, they were consuming media through the most accessible, affordable method of the day.

But even those people did some collecting too.

When VCRs were introduced I remember reading an article in TV Guide (back when it was a publication and not just a button on remotes) that talked about how the companies that manufactured blank tapes were a little caught off guard by consumer habits.

They expected people to tape stuff, watch it and then tape over it and were really surprised when people would tape something like The Wizard of Oz and put it on a shelf. Even from the start, some tapes were more special than others.

[bigshot]

If the media format was the determining factor for whether or not we are "passionate about film", we would all be projecting 16mm film prints on sheets on the wall. The fact is, cinema isn't about a physical medium... it's film, it's video, it's discs, it's computer files, it's broadcast tv and movies in theaters. The physical medium is just the container. Cinema is images and sound, and you don't need physical media to appreciate that.

I am more angry at formats than I am attached to them. I have a wall in my garage full of VHS tapes I can't even give away, and I have a ten foot long shelf of laserdiscs that I can't play in my current system. I'm in the process of digitizing my DVD collection so I can have the movies in a format that can be backed up and transcoded if necessary. If I could own movies without having to fill my shelves with plastic boxes, I'd be happy to do that.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

You also don't have to be a collector to be passionate about film. There are probably lots of people quite into film as a medium/art form - some of them future filmmakers, film historians, critics, etc. - who do most/all of their watching via streaming and downloading. Not really that different from how there were cinephiles in all those decades before home video became a thing. Some of us like to collect, and that's not something that will go out of fashion either. We've always existed, and Generation Z and beyond will produce movie collectors too. How and what format(s) they collect will of course depend on what is available to them. I don't collect VHS, LD, etc. because that was "before my time" (I was alive, but way too young), but I do collect DVD, BD and soon probably UHD BD because that's what movies have been released on in my teens and 20s.

This is very true. I read the comment sections religiously on a bunch of mainstream movie sites, and it's mostly talk of how to see it and annoyance when things aren't on easy-to-use streaming sites, or joy about the news Criterion and TCM are starting a streaming service, etc. MOST of the people that even mention physical stuff talk about DVDs, and immediately give up if something's not on Amazon. They're really into movies and watch all kinds of classics on TV and on on-demand and on streaming sites. That's hundreds and hundreds of movies right there, they wouldn't be less "true movie fans" than the tons of people on this site that just simply buy huge blockbusters so they can shake their house with bass, or whatever.