Arrow Player

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

...and I think for the MOST part, that's by design. When it gets down to it, as long as the movie is easily available "at will" is there really a difference between owning a physical copy, watching it digitally on iTunes/Prime/Vudu or any similar source, or viewing it via a monthly subscription?

I get the point that "holding it in your hand" implies ownership, but does it really? Maybe as long as whatever device that is compatible with exists, sure. DVD's are still around, they're still the media of choice right? Although BD's are better quality.

The few times I DO go to stores for electronics and related, I don't see cassette tape decks anymore, I don't see 8-tracks for decades, the only turntables I see are USB? Digital music is so much more convenient and easily obtainable, its obsoleted the need for such devices. Yes, you can get these online, but their cost and the lack of quality of what's available is lacking. You pay too much for too little. In the last decade the music industry as a whole has frowned the consumer away from physical media....and that's a damn shame. In time, the rest of media will follow music's lead, it's inevitable.

Even today, there are some movies that have had a physical release, and not yet released on digital (A LOT of Vincent Price movies I'm finding) and like you mentioned there are titles available digitally (either to buy or SVOD) that DON'T have physical releases (or DID, and are now OOP).

Your solution is the best at present....embrace both to your ability and convenience. That's what I have done. I'll keep my discs that don't have digital releases, or titles exceptionally wanted by me. The industry as with everything else is in flux, we'll continue to see additional streaming services and don't be surprised if we see additional consolidation by companies to maximize their assets. That means companies who have been titans in the industry may be in play: Arrow, Kino, Criterion, MGM, Lionsgate, Shout!, and others may be merged or acquired. The landscape of entertainment will be vastly different in 5 years then it is today.

I personally think there is a difference over owning a physical copy of a movie as you have control over that. Plus some releases look so damn nice on display. It feels special to have a physical collection to me. Maybe to others it won’t and that’s fine. Each to their own and what makes them happy.

Streaming is good for renting but not so much for owning in my book as the studio has the control over what you can and can’t watch in that respect all though there are some movies that have never had a physical release either on vhs,laserdisc,dvd or blu-ray let alone 4KUHD which is a shame and then in that case you have no choice but to stream. As you say the industry is in flux and until the internet gets better (as some can’t stream for technical reasons) I think we’ll have physical for a while which makes me happy. Like I said before I’m all for the best of both worlds. Hopefully the industry will be able to do both for many years to come. I’ll collect physical copies for as long as I can on the best physical formats to expand my collection so I can always watch what I want if streaming doesn’t have the kind of back catalogue I would want to watch. Plus once you’ve bought it you don’t have to shell out a subscription every month for all the different platform providers which could get expensive. Besides I wouldn’t necessarily want to watch every film on ‘Arrow’ for example as not all the films they do are to my taste. Some are and those are the ones I’d want to physically own like The Robocop (1987) release with all the fluff! Bloody marvellous in my book. Lol.