Are you less likely to buy HBO BDs now that they're streaming on Amazon Prime?

[brian9229]

Hell no! Streaming quality isnt anywhere near blu quality, even with good bandwidth its NOT THE SAME.

[BaerGriggs]

For older shows like The Wire and some of the Sopranos, streaming could be just as good or even better than the DVD releases. I think the HD stream of the Sopranos was better than the DVDs looked, obviously not better than the Season 6 Blurays. And I'd much rather stream in HD the first time I'm watching a show than make a blind buy, even if I'm nearly positive that I'll like the show. I'm definitely planning on streaming Rome and Deadwood over the summer.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Sopranos is the only one I'd buy on blu-ray, and probably one of the few tv shows I'd buy anyway. For me most tv shows are only a one time viewing experience, especially most of the shows put out today that have boring over reaching arcs that almost never have a good pay off. I know how people love to say oh we're in a golden age of tv right now, maybe so for the first few seasons of a show, but then it get bad and by the finale you're let down, and what have you done...wasted like 40+ hours on something with a terrible ending?

That's exactly how I feel about most TV shows. There are only a handful that I could watch anytime and the rest are good for one viewing only.

[kryptonite1970]

I won't be buying TV episodes as they have low chances of me ever watching em again.

[GenPion]

Sounds great that they are adding these to Prime. However, it would have NO impact on interest in Blu-ray sets. Blu-ray PQ/AQ is much better than streaming quality and actually owning the series (where it can be revisited and not yanked away from an HBO license expiring for example) is another good reason. It's better to have actual quality home media releases.

[Tellymon]

streaming is akin to renting a home, basically flushing your money down a toilet. besides deadwood is worth buying for the packaging alone! greatest set that I own.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Tellymon

streaming is akin to renting a home, basically flushing your money down a toilet. .

Pretty ridiculous assessment.

[Tellymon]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Pretty ridiculous assessment.

You're right. I apologize.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by captveg

I only want & own Game of Thrones, so no, it makes no difference to me.

Same here.
Day One GoT BD's for me!

[PenguinMaster]

Absolutely not. I will never support streaming regardless of the amount of content, a/v quality, or the price.
With everything but physical media the studios retain absolute control over the content.

[Supaclyde]

I'd eventually like to watch The Wire, Sopranos, and Deadwood. I have HBOgo so this doesn't really affect me.

The only HBO blus I buy now is Game of Thrones because it's fantastic.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Absolutely not. I will never support streaming regardless of the amount of content, a/v quality, or the price.
With everything but physical media the studios retain absolute control over the content.

You have a pretty dire view of technology. Personally, I don't need to possess a physical copy of everything I watch. I've thoroughly enjoyed movies on a 5" screen on the back of an airplane seat. It's all about the experience, not where the data resides. At some point soon, the discs will go away; however, the question is: How will that impact your experience as a film lover?

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

You have a pretty dire view of technology. Personally, I don't need to possess a physical copy of everything I watch. I've thoroughly enjoyed movies on a 5" screen on the back of an airplane seat. It's all about the experience, not where the data resides. At some point soon, the discs will go away; however, the question is: How will that impact your experience as a film lover?

When something is only available via streaming the studios can take it away at any point. This has already happened with some TV shows, they were delisted from the sites that had them and they are no longer available for anyone (unless you resort to piracy).
When something is available on Blu-ray or DVD however many millions of copies that were made will continue to exist for decades (if not longer, it's impossible to know the shelf life of a Blu-ray at this point).
All control of the future existence of a particular movie or TV show rests with the millions of people who own it on DVD or Blu-ray.
If discs go away I will not be able to experience certain films after they are no longer popular, I'd say that is a pretty big impact.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

Streaming has kept me from a lot of bad blind buys. It's also nice to be able to binge watch certain series and get caught up to a current season. That being said, I still purchase series that I like. 14 seasons on blu, 16 on DVD. There are more I'm still going to continue to buy. Nothing trumps physically owning my collection, and the ability to watch a complete series when I see fit.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

When something is only available via streaming the studios can take it away at any point. This has already happened with some TV shows, they were delisted from the sites that had them and they are no longer available for anyone (unless you resort to piracy).
When something is available on Blu-ray or DVD however many millions of copies that were made will continue to exist for decades (if not longer, it's impossible to know the shelf life of a Blu-ray at this point).
All control of the future existence of a particular movie or TV show rests with the millions of people who own it on DVD or Blu-ray.
If discs go away I will not be able to experience certain films after they are no longer popular, I'd say that is a pretty big impact.

I think marketplace forces dictate how this plays out. I love the Rockford Files, but I don't think it's going to make it to Blu-ray because the market is too small. But at least I have the choice of watching it in HD on Netflix. It's not economically feasible to mass manufacture everything, but once it's digitized and put on a server, distribution becomes easy. Why completely reject that model?

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I think marketplace forces dictate how this plays out. I love the Rockford Files, but I don't think it's going to make it to Blu-ray because the market is too small. But at least I have the choice of watching it in HD on Netflix. It's not economically feasible to mass manufacture everything, but once it's digitized and put on a server, distribution becomes easy. Why completely reject that model?

Did I not explain why with my previous statements? Does my signature not explain why?

[Scarface32]

I don't have Amazon Prime, I find it a waste of money. Plus I could just use HBO Go, so why would I want to watch it on Prime even if I had it.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by kryptonite1970

I won't be buying TV episodes as they have low chances of me ever watching em again.

Same here. Now matter how great they were, I don't have the time of working my way through several seasons of a show I've already seen. There is always plenty of great new stuff to discover. I have bought some favourite shows and they all sit there watched or have been resold.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by PenguinMaster

Did I not explain why with my previous statements? Does my signature not explain why?

Truthfully, I don't even know what your signature means. A Blu-ray disc is a digital distribution device. Zeros and ones on a disc. What was formerly captured by a camera and committed to celluoid is now captured digitally. How does that translate into killing the preservation of the arts?

[PenguinMaster]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

Truthfully, I don't even know what your signature means. A Blu-ray disc is a digital distribution device. Zeros and ones on a disc. What was formerly captured by a camera and committed to celluoid is now captured digitally. How does that translate into killing the arts?

I mean digital distribution as opposed to physical distribution. Not digital as opposed to analog.

When media is only distributed to customers via steaming or downloads, then the studios can stop that distribution at any time. As soon as something becomes unpopular or copyrights are contested that media stops being available.

When media is on a physical disc then the millions of copies in existence can be freely distributed from one customer to another without requiring any involvement from the studios. The media is therefore preserved as long as the physical disc remains intact (which can easily be decades, if not centuries).