Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

I think the bottom line is, IF you deeply care about a particular movie, buy it on disc. If just a casual fan of a movie, there is no harm going digital and saving a few bucks.

I use to think like this, but what are we really talking about ownership of Movies that lose value the minute you take them out of the store. Apple is the Company we are talking about that took those Movies away. They have never been Team Players, and only care about their Ecosystem. I know it could happen to any Studio or Store Front, but I have about 700 Digital Movies and haven't lost one. What are we really talking about, ownership of a Movie that the Physical Copy is dated. Like I keep saying, it's all Digital. Basically they shoot a Movie in Digital, put it on a Server and Distributed Physical and Digital. Who controls the Quality of this Distribution, it has to be the Studios.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I use to think like this, but what are we really talking about ownership of Movies that lose value the minute you take them out of the store. Apple is the Company we are talking about that took those Movies away. They have never been Team Players, and only care about their Ecosystem. I know it could happen to any Studio or Store Front, but I have about 700 Digital Movies and haven't lost one. What are we really talking about, ownership of a Movie that the Physical Copy is dated. Like I keep saying, it's all Digital. Basically they shoot a Movie in Digital, put it on a Server and Distributed Physical and Digital. Who controls the Quality of this Distribution, it has to be the Studios.

The point is, you don’t own the movie if it’s digital. So ownership?

Also, any of your 700 movies could vanish.

[veritas]

You know its kind of scary that digital proponents aren't more up in arms about this whole thing. I do use my digital copies so I would like protections extended for them and this is like the perfect opportunity to start your outrage boycott and get some assurances that actually protect your digital collections from future problems. Instead we have a bunch of people going well they didn't do it to me this time so its not a big deal or well I don't mind re buying my collection every 5 years

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me"

Just because your collections safe for now doesn't mean you should just ignore when stuff like this happens. It wasn't your collection that had stuff deleted from it today but nobody knows about tomorrow.

[flyry]

I'm not worried about the movies vanishing. Besides that was Canada.

I am Curious as to the Movies Anywhere aspect of it as someone brought up before as AFAIK it's not used there or at least cannot be created outside of the states.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by veritas

You know its kind of scary that digital proponents aren't more up in arms about this whole thing.

This 'whole thing' is a tweet, right? I mean, that's what it boils down to, isn't it? Somebody tweeted something, somebody else wrote about it and now people are supposed to what? Man the ramparts?

Over a tweet?

Originally Posted by veritas

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me"

[Groot]

Originally Posted by veritas

You know its kind of scary that digital proponents aren't more up in arms about this whole thing. I do use my digital copies so I would like protections extended for them and this is like the perfect opportunity to start your outrage boycott and get some assurances that actually protect your digital collections from future problems. Instead we have a bunch of people going well they didn't do it to me this time so its not a big deal or well I don't mind re buying my collection every 5 years

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me"

Just because your collections safe for now doesn't mean you should just ignore when stuff like this happens. It wasn't your collection that had stuff deleted from it today but nobody knows about tomorrow.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I use to think like this, but what are we really talking about ownership of Movies that lose value the minute you take them out of the store. Apple is the Company we are talking about that took those Movies away. They have never been Team Players, and only care about their Ecosystem. I know it could happen to any Studio or Store Front, but I have about 700 Digital Movies and haven't lost one. What are we really talking about, ownership of a Movie that the Physical Copy is dated. Like I keep saying, it's all Digital. Basically they shoot a Movie in Digital, put it on a Server and Distributed Physical and Digital. Who controls the Quality of this Distribution, it has to be the Studios.

Originally Posted by Steedeel

The point is, you don’t own the movie if it’s digital. So ownership?

Also, any of your 700 movies could vanish.

You think you own the Movie because it's Physical, what do you own an outdated copy. You Physical Disc guys say you can sell your Discs, but you can't because nobody wants them. So you are in the same boat, Digital could disappear but Physical could too. Yes you can watch your Old Physical Collection, but for how long do you really want too. You buy Old Movies in quantity, but what do you really have....Old Movies that nobody wants. Digital, Physical is all reletive and stored on a Server and could be recovered like any Data File!

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You think you own the Movie because it's Physical, what do you own an outdated copy. You Physical Disc guys say you can sell your Discs, but you can't because nobody wants them. So you are in the same boat, Digital could disappear but Physical could too. Yes you can watch your Old Physical Collection, but for how long do you really want too. You buy Old Movies in quantity, but what do you really have....Old Movies that nobody wants. Digital, Physical is all reletive and stored on a Server and could be recovered like any Data File!

Your comment makes no sense, not that that comes as any surprise. It is good to have you finally join the party, though. Comedy relief is always welcome.

Owning a movie on disc does not make it an outdated copy. Exactly how is my 4K UHD disc of The Bridge On the River Kwai outdated? Only a newer improved edition could do that and the degree to which that may be the case can vary widely.

I do not buy my movies with any intention to resell them. I could if I wanted to, contrary to your hyperbole. You can still sell discs for something as opposed to nothing for a used digital code. If I sold every title in my collection for an average price of just $1 each I would make $7,242. You would get exactly squat for your digital collection. But all of this is irrelevant as I doubt customers of digital content buy their content with any intentions to resell it, either.

Listen closely and see if you can comprehend this simple truth that applies to buying movies via any method: people purchase content because they very likely want to watch that content more than just once. People love to rewatch their favorite films; it is one of the biggest reasons for having purchased them in the first place. Otherwise, a rental would suffice.

If old movies were not wanted, old movies would not continue to be marketed and sold. Catalog titles are a very popular part of this market: people love old movies. More catalog titles are released every single week on disc, which clearly demonstrates to anyone with a rational mind that there is plentiful demand for them. Even the major streaming services routinely add older titles to their selections providing further evidence that people want older movies.

If people buy "Old Movies in quantity" clearly they must have wanted them which also proves that somebody wanted them. You should try reading your sentences out loud, maybe then you could grasp how absolutely illogical they are. The market for old movies exists for the simple reason that there is demand for them: a pretty basic business concept.

Your comments ends with an equally odd remark. Physical discs are stored in their attractive cases adorned with their front and back cover art; many have slipcovers, too, and these can be sold as well if the owner so desires. Some fetch a pretty good price, too. There's an entire thread here dedicated to selling and trading them. Can you sell the digital code card you bought for anything?

Digital files of all kinds can be stored on any storage device and therefore they can be recovered from any storage device. If there is a point to your stating the obvious here, I am uncertain as to what it is.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Yes you can watch your Old Physical Collection, but for how long do you really want too.

Until they pry my remote from my cold dead hand.

[flyry]

Alcha's posts really are trump-ish

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You think you own the Movie because it's Physical, what do you own an outdated copy. You Physical Disc guys say you can sell your Discs, but you can't because nobody wants them. So you are in the same boat, Digital could disappear but Physical could too. Yes you can watch your Old Physical Collection, but for how long do you really want too. You buy Old Movies in quantity, but what do you really have....Old Movies that nobody wants. Digital, Physical is all reletive and stored on a Server and could be recovered like any Data File!

Sell the discs? Why would I want to do that? I’m a collector not a trader.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by flyry

Alcha's posts really are trump-ish

You would make a good politician too. You ask questions of me, then ignore my answers when they don’t suit you.

[stonesfan129]

Originally Posted by flyry

Alcha's posts really are trump-ish

And what's wrong with Trump?

[stonesfan129]

Apple can delete purchased movies from your library without telling you...

I'm not sure if this was already posted, but this is one of the biggest reasons I still buy Blu-ray and can't go entirely digital. It would be lovely if I had a huge digital collection only to find out the server is down, my account got deleted or banned, or whatever other mishap and then I am locked out of everything I purchased (well, indefinitely rented, since I don't actually own it). You can never get locked out of physical discs unless they stop making players. Legal or not, you can also find any number of free programs to make your own digital versions. I think it's extremely bad business to sell people digital copies without making it clear to them that you never actually 'own' what you are 'buying.' It's too bad Steve Jobs never got Hollywood to sell non-DRM movies like he was able to with music.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by stonesfan129

Apple can delete purchased movies from your library without telling you...

I'm not sure if this was already posted,

That is literally what everyone has been talking about for the past several pages of this thread.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Sell the discs? Why would I want to do that? I’m a collector not a trader.

I think his statement on selling discs may have been, at least in part, in response to my earlier response to Groot, addressing the asinine assumption that any and all movies will be perpetually available to purchase digitally somewhere else even if removed from one provider (I have bolded the statement regarding selling in the quote below):

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

I have plenty of movies that I've bought a few times over. I also have movies in some formats that have never gotten later re-releases in other formats. If taken away, there are no newer options.

There are some movies that may get a better transfer on a newer edition, but there are others that may get a "remaster" that has way too much DNR. Therefore it is not worth upgrading at all, or only if there are new supplements with the new edition essentially being a "bonus disc" to go with the older edition.

But there have been instances where previously bought movies through digital distributors are replaced with the newest transfer. That can be beneficial in many cases, but can also be a problem in others if the new transfer is more "tampered with" than the older one.

Even if a new physical version with a better transfer comes out, not all special features from a previous edition may make the cut.


The bottom line is that it should be up to me as to whether or not I "upgrade," and whether or not that upgrade will be in addition to and supplementing previous editions in my collection in some capacity, or if I opt to sell off / get rid of those other editions. If I do get rid of anything, then that should be purely my decision and not that of the company that I bought it from.

This was meant more as a general statement of physical collecting and not necessarily what I do (I generally don't sell off older editions when I get a new one, regardless of what does or doesn't carry over to the new one). I was just saying the option is there.

And for those who would do so, even if it means selling off a disc for $1, while it might not be much, it's still an option, and it's ultimately up to them.

[Groot]

I didn’t specifically say they would be on other digital services. I’ve addressed this in the past. If it’s online now, it’s gonna be somewhere. Just like an OOP disc is somewhere.

But please continue.

[Vilya]

ready if this thread turns political.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Vilya

ready if this thread turns political.

let's hope it doesn't.... regardless of one's political viewpoints... aren't a lot of you just sick and tired of hearing political bickering and insults? I'm getting to the point where I can't even stand looking at the news anymore....

[The_Donster]

Yes, let’s see a thread get locked down and members face the hammer of the mods with real world bullshit.