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

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

My Best Buy still has 4-5 isles of movies. I was there a couple days ago and quite a few people were buying movies . Some of the 4K titles only had 1 copy left , some were sold out .

People have been using Best Buy as total evidence as to the status of physical media. They ignore tidbits like this.

There is still plenty of physical media at Best Buy with many titles exclusive to them in special editions. But do not look for streaming at Best Buy, CinemaNow is history.

[Wendell R. Breland]

It would be interesting to know for a fact if Best Buy has been upstaged by Walmart with their new disc displays.

[Show spoiler]

[Steedeel]

I was reading about health insurance costs in the US (uproar in U.K. because Trump wants to get his paws on our NHS) and I see the average costs per month is $350? How the heck do you guys have any luxuries at all? Disc or otherwise. That is a ludicrous expense.

[cpr3584]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I was reading about health insurance costs in the US (uproar in U.K. because Trump wants to get his paws on our NHS) and I see the average costs per month is $350? How the heck do you guys have any luxuries at all? Disc or otherwise. That is a ludicrous expense.

This is correct. I pay about $270 for my family-of-4. Co-pays for doctors visits will cost us $30 cash. Without getting too political, its still better than govt health care, which is still available here in the U.S.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

This is correct. I pay about $270 for my family-of-4. Co-pays for doctors visits will cost us $30 cash. Without getting too political, its still better than govt health care, which is still available here in the U.S.

How the heck do you afford food bills, heating bills, health insurance and mortgages? is it a case of middle class can, working class can’t? That’s only a couple of hundred short of the mortgage I was paying per month!

[cpr3584]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

How the heck do you afford food bills, heating bills, health insurance and mortgages? is it a case of middle class can, working class can’t? That’s only a couple of hundred short of the mortgage I was paying per month!

Here in the U.S., i would say 75% of families are dual-income, meaning both husband and wife work full time. The cost of housing and food has gone up considerably over the last 10 years or so, but wages have only gone up slightly. Unless you are making about $130,000 a year, you can't support a family. Wife has to work in some capacity.
Its not easy. my day starts at 6AM, i take both kids to school, then commute to work. kids go to bed around 8PM, then i get a couple hours of personal time to watch movies/tv. Luxury purchases like Blu Rays, nights out, events, sports are tough to work into the budget, but we usually find a way

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cpr3584

Here in the U.S., i would say 75% of families are dual-income, meaning both husband and wife work full time. The cost of housing and food has gone up considerably over the last 10 years or so, but wages have only gone up slightly. Unless you are making about $130,000 a year, you can't support a family. Wife has to work in some capacity.
Its not easy. my day starts at 6AM, i take both kids to school, then commute to work. kids go to bed around 8PM, then i get a couple hours of personal time to watch movies/tv. Luxury purchases like Blu Rays, nights out, events, sports are tough to work into the budget, but we usually find a way

It’s tough here, and that’s without health insurance costs in the hundreds. I have always thought living in certain states in America would be incredible but health insurance like that makes me glad we don't have to pay it (yet!)

I will never moan about NHS waiting lists again.

[alchav21]

So where are we going with all this cost, everyone has their priorities. I Retired from a good company so my medical has been covered fairly well. As for Internet and IPTV, I pay over $75 but have FTTH. Fiber has been one of my top priorities when I saw the need for Bandwidth. Streaming Movies and TV Shows I think are the Future, and I Love It!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

So where are we going with all this cost, everyone has their priorities. I Retired from a good company so my medical has been covered fairly well. As for Internet and IPTV, I pay over $75 but have FTTH. Fiber has been one of my top priorities when I saw the need for Bandwidth. Streaming Movies and TV Shows I think is the Future, and I Love It!

Did your company pay a large percentage of your healthcare insurance? I understand this is common in many states?

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Streaming Movies and TV Shows I think is the Future, and I Love It!

Best Buy CinemaNow, Flixster, Paramount Store, Sony Pictures Store, Target Ticket and the studios (UltraViolet) thought the same thing. But, like you, they were wrong. So some are going back to a newer version of pay TV, as in direct SVOD. Disney has already said that they estimate to be profitable by 2024. AFAIK, Warner (at&t) and Universal has not made any predictions.

[quirkmanly]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Did your company pay a large percentage of your healthcare insurance? I understand this is common in many states?

It's not really a state thing. Many larger companies are able to offer really good health benefits to their employees, with pretty reasonable monthly premiums and low out of pocket expenses for encounters. I work for a health insurer and I have around $200 taken out of my bi-weekly paycheck for medical, vision and dental coverage, and we're also responsible for the first $3K in health expenses from the start of every year. At one point in the mid 2000s, premiums were seeing double digit % rises every year where I live, but things have cooled down considerably now. It can be quite rough for smaller companies and individuals, depending on where they're located, though.

The alternate is paying out of pocket for everything, and that is Russian roulette.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by quirkmanly

It's not really a state thing. Many larger companies are able to offer really good health benefits to their employees, with pretty reasonable monthly premiums and low out of pocket expenses for encounters. I work for a health insurer and I have around $200 taken out of my bi-weekly paycheck for medical, vision and dental coverage, and we're also responsible for the first $3K in health expenses from the start of every year. At one point in the mid 2000s, premiums were seeing double digit % rises every year where I live, but things have cooled down considerably now. It can be quite rough for smaller companies and individuals, depending on where they're located, though.

The alternate is paying out of pocket for everything, and that is Russian roulette.

I see, so the bigger the company, the better off you should be? I understand some of these firms have been asking for higher contributions from their employees of late though, have you seen or heard any evidence of that?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

I see, so the bigger the company, the better off you should be? I understand some of these firms have been asking for higher contributions from their employees of late though, have you seen or heard any evidence of that?

If you keep talking about healthcare, I might have to report you to a moderator.

Oh,...



I'll show myself out.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

So where are we going with all this cost, everyone has their priorities. I Retired from a good company so my medical has been covered fairly well. As for Internet and IPTV, I pay over $75 but have FTTH. Fiber has been one of my top priorities when I saw the need for Bandwidth. Streaming Movies and TV Shows I think is the Future, and I Love It!

Streaming has been commonplace for years, so what's so futuristic about it other than the certainty of ever more price hikes from both streaming and internet service providers alike? You're welcome to it, but it will never be more than an occasional rental option for me.

There are vast numbers of titles in my collection that streaming and digital do not offer. 3D movies are just one example among many. Why would I ever deny myself so many great movies and shows across all regions and periods of cinematic history just for the mere convenience, lower quality, and limited selection offered by streaming and digital? I would never be so narrow minded, so arbitrary, and restrict myself to only those titles that the likes of Netflix and Vudu have to offer.

At my most generous, I can credit streaming with allowing me to sample content prior to making a purchase decision. Any content worth owning is worth buying as a real, tangible, higher quality physical release; a physical release that incurs a one-time cost and that usually includes the "convenient" digital copy, anyways.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Vilya

If you keep talking about healthcare, I might have to report you to a moderator.

Oh,...



I'll show myself out.

Very good.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Did your company pay a large percentage of your healthcare insurance? I understand this is common in many states?

I don't know if it was by State so much, but it was California and the Company was Pacific Bell all under AT&T now. In those days Health Care was a big benefit, not so much anymore. So yes, my Health Care is covered pretty good.

[The_Donster]

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

I don't know if it was by State so much, but it was California and the Company was Pacific Bell all under AT&T now. In those days Health Care was a big benefit, not so much anymore. So yes, my Health Care is covered pretty good.

It should be; you have been Medicare eligible for many years AND you have VA coverage, too.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Best Buy CinemaNow, Flixster, Paramount Store, Sony Pictures Store, Target Ticket and the studios (UltraViolet) thought the same thing. But, like you, they were wrong. So some are going back to a newer version of pay TV, as in direct SVOD. Disney has already said that they estimate to be profitable by 2024. AFAIK, Warner (at&t) and Universal has not made any predictions.

Things shake out and only the strong survive, but Streaming is Streaming. I know you like to break everything down, but now we have Amazon, FN, Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, and many more other Streaming Providers. So Streaming is only getting stronger!

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Things shake out and only the strong survive, but Streaming is Streaming. I know you like to break everything down, but now we have Amazon, FN, Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, and many more other Streaming Providers. So Streaming is only getting stronger!

More popular, maybe, but stronger? Streaming needs to be profitable for that to happen and it hasn't yet, especially with Netflix which is wading neck deep in red ink. All of those providers didn't go belly up because streaming was a sure bet; they failed because they lost money or missed expectations badly. You once praised Sony Ultra to the high heavens: where are they now? Gone, like so many others before them. Profit is the measure of success in business. While governments can operate in the red indefinitely, a business can not.

There will be more "shaking out" to come as the streaming market is about to get more crowded than ever before. Some are bound to fail as the supply will exceed the demand.