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

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by bhampton

If you want the minimum possible quality.

Correct - and many are fine with this. Lots of folks are content with watching epic films on their phone or tablets with dodgy bandwidth and mono sound. I mean how *thrilling*.... watching Star Wars on your iPhone. Great.

[bhampton]

I used to have strong preference to Coke over Pepsi and PC over Mac. I still have a strong preference for physical over virtual media but most people probably have use for both. I have use for both. Live sports are a much more accessible via steaming.

My friend is such a Tesla guy that when he talks about the future it's easy to see he's drunk on it. He thinks he KNOWs the future.

My desk has both a PC and a Mac mini and I'm happy to say I have use for both. I can enjoy Coke and Dr Pepper. Likewise my Theater has a disc player and a streaming box and both are essential.

Physical media will be around as long as I am for at least three reasons. ...

1 - They don't go bad (except maybe Lionsgate discs)
2 - I've already have a lot and will buy more
3 - They are worth more than they would sell for

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by meremortal

I've been looking into this more as time goes on. It's just really tough since I've enjoyed collecting since childhood. But I can definitely see how fewer material possessions could be a lot less stressful in addition to the obvious of reducing clutter. I've thought of moving into a really small space to kind of force myself to better adapt to a more minimalist approach. Plus, I'd love to be in walking distance to everything. I actually lived in a place for way too long because I was overwhelmed with the anxiety of moving so much stuff and quite frankly it was fairly intimidating to the point where I had to pay for several months of public storage. Definitely envious of people who have few attachments and can pick up and move on a moment's notice without having to really plan for hauling a bunch of stuff.

I bet you it works the other way too, where there are those who live in a small place who wish they had more room for stuff. Same thing with people living “Downtown” who wish they lived where it was quiet. Me personally, I don’t mind driving to work from the suburbs where I don’t have to play fireworks or gun shot on 4th of July and New Years.

[bhampton]

I love the thought of everything in walking distance. I don't even mind if every thing is delivered. I'm glad for the one room lifestyle I used to have in California when I lived in SF because it was right at the time.

Everything is better now that I live in what some would call a less desirable zip code.

Minimalism and moreover simplicity will always have appeal. Living in a VW bus is not going to be something I do willingly now tho.

I could build a tiny home on my 3 acres. For guests or for escape. I like small, simple things but I have plenty of storage space in my house so I don't mind having things. One of my neighbors gave me his shed and for the moment it needs work but I think I'll go all out in making it a tiny house... it already has wifi.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I love the thought of everything in walking distance. I don't even mind if every thing is delivered. I'm glad for the one room lifestyle I used to have in California when I lived in SF because it was right at the time.

Everything is better now that I live in what some would call a less desirable zip code.

Minimalism and moreover simplicity will always have appeal. Living in a VW bus is not going to be something I do willingly now tho.

I could build a tiny home on my 3 acres. For guests or for escape. I like small, simple things but I have plenty of storage space in my house so I don't mind having things. One of my neighbors gave me his shed and for the moment it needs work but I think I'll go all out in making it a tiny house... it already has wifi.

I agree here - as me and the wifey get closer to 50 its starting make sense to scale back & be smarter with how we do things. Ill always have as decent of a TV/audio setup as I can and soon I'll be upgrading stuff. But overall? Our modest home on about 3/4 of an acre in a smaller village is perfectly fine for us. Living costs are low(lower taxes, village electric rates, etc) and theres a lack of commotion around here. Perfect.

Physical media will always be main way to consume my favorite content. No two ways about it. Streaming is fine for some things too. They can and should co-exist. But make no mistake: Physical media is the better presentation and the ONLY way to really "own" content.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by bhampton

If you want the minimum possible quality.

Which has nothing to do with being a minimalist.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Vilya

An Amazon Prime membership includes all of that stuff and more; you can't just pick and choose which features you get only those which you actually use. Amazon Prime is more like a buyer's club, or like a Costco membership, in that it includes so many different things.

Never looked into it but I believe you must have a Prime membership in order to access content in their digital locker. It would come as zero surprise if MA, Vudu, Fandango and other digital lockers instituted a monthly charge to continue access.

At one time Amazon had a separate Prime Video subscription, don't remember what one had access to other than Prime Video content.

Started my prime membership November 2006, ordered several Blu-ray titles while deciding on the purchase of a Panasonic DMP-BD10.

[Lee A Stewart]

Streaming Boom Reaches 2021 Crossroads: Can Big Media Really Catch Netflix?

https://deadline.com/2021/01/streami...ix-1234662348/

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

OK - Phineous spends $40/mo. for 4 new films on PM. Suzy spends $10 a month on her streaming service (Disney+). Disney+ currently has 500 movies available and more than 7,500 TV episodes along with original content. Each month Disney+ adds new content to the service.

In 3 months Phineous has spent $120 and got 12 new movies. Suzy spends $120 and gets an entire year of Disney+. The existing available library plus 12 new monthly additions.

Phineous is stuck rewatching content while Suzy enjoys watching new content all year . . . for the same price.

not sure what your point is. mdo7 said "Yeah, well guess what. That's going to change when the price of subscription is going to go up." My point was nothing would change if Suzy's service doubles in price to 20$ or she adds a second 15$ service (for more selection) it will still be a cheaper option. Maybe suzy wil say I can't afford the new 20$ price and I will switch to subscription service B for 12$ or she might decided service A @10$ does not have anything good so i will switch to service B @15$ but if Suzy cares about price most importantly (like your chart showed) then she is not going to drop subscription services to go to purchasing films.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I will buy the quality issue, up to a point, but the content issue - that is a totally subject issue based on personal tastes: One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Gold.

yes and no. Obviously personal taste plays a role as how it is perceived by the individual but objectively one can see it by how much the subscription service pays for the content licensing. They have a lot of cheap content so that they can show large number of titles. It is also why people constantly ask "what is good on ___________". Don't get me wrong, if I see a garbage bin (what I call the cheap titles all jumbled together in the store for a single price) I always rummage through it since there can be something I consider a bit of a gem or interesting that I can get on the cheap, but at the end of the day it is in the garbage bin for a reason.

Once you finally realize the fact that SVOD/AVOD is the replacement for Pay-TV (CBL/SAT/TELCOM) it will no longer be necessary for you or anyone else on this thread to compare them to physical media. They are as different as Oranges and Sushi.

The real "format war" is physical media versus Digital EST & VOD.

i was not talking about SVOD/AVOD I was talking about Digital EST

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I bet you it works the other way too, where there are those who live in a small place who wish they had more room for stuff. Same thing with people living “Downtown” who wish they lived where it was quiet. Me personally, I don’t mind driving to work from the suburbs where I don’t have to play fireworks or gun shot on 4th of July and New Years.

It's definitely interesting. We're in the burbs at the moment in a place with a lot of lot square feet, etc. But it's also like an hour drive into the city center if there's any traffic, which is kind of soul sucking at times. I'd prefer to be able to walk around everywhere or cycle. But it's also exponentially more expensive and during a tough time right now with the pandemic. Living in a dense area would also take away the anxiety of finding a parking space since packed areas are generally a nightmare to find a secure parking space. I've kind of wanted to scale down the collecting for a while. Actually had no idea just how many physical media items I had until I moved a few months ago and nearly filled an entire storage unit with them. I'd be okay with a nice, centrally located place with minimal furniture and decor and just a tv and even a decent soundbar setup. Don't really need the huge mancave basement style place a lot of people here crave. The problem would again be the movie storage since it just wouldn't be practical in a small condo or home.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

yes and no. Obviously personal taste plays a role as how it is perceived by the individual but objectively one can see it by how much the subscription service pays for the content licensing. They have a lot of cheap content so that they can show large number of titles. It is also why people constantly ask "what is good on ___________". Don't get me wrong, if I see a garbage bin (what I call the cheap titles all jumbled together in the store for a single price) I always rummage through it since there can be something I consider a bit of a gem or interesting that I can get on the cheap, but at the end of the day it is in the garbage bin for a reason.

I have scored many "good" titles buying $1 DVDs or BDs at Dollar Tree. Half my WB animation collection came from them. IMO - they were overstock. That's why they wound up at Dollar Tree, not because they are garbage titles as you call them.

I was not talking about SVOD/AVOD I was talking about Digital EST

That wasn't apparent in your post. Thanks for clearing that up.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Which has nothing to do with being a minimalist.

I disagree.

with steaming the commitment is minimal and the resulting quality is also minimal.

The less you put into something the less you get out of it in general.

For those that don't care about the quality it's a good deal. They aren't investing in something they don't want.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

While one can have hundreds of TV channels, you still have to look harder to find good content.

I have never paid for cable or satellite but I do have OTA and FTAS and just on that I must disagree with you. Yes, if you watch things live what you say might be applicable (some hours are more interesting then others when it comes to programming). But except for the news while I am eating and the occasional hockey game everything else I record and watch it when I feel like it. This morning there was over 60h of recorded content on just one of my PVRs ( there are 4 OTA and 4 FTAS PVRs in my home I use one of each for content I am interest in - same for kids/SO/dad)

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

I have never paid for cable or satellite but I do have OTA and FTAS

That is a source of content many/most do not understand, not interested in or afraid it will be expensive. For < $200 one can have 24/7 HD content available. Been doing FTA since Twinhan came out with a DVB-S card in the early 2000's. Now have 3 DVB-S2 STB's and one professional TBS DVB-S2 tuner card. The more quality content the merrier!

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

If one were a minimalist or into minimalism, digital streaming could be one of the components in that way of living.

Originally Posted by bhampton

If you want the minimum possible quality.

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Which has nothing to do with being a minimalist.

but isn't that the point? the true meaning of minimalism is living with the least, Technically the bare minimum. There is nothing minimal about streaming (except quality like bhampton).

someone that has a few physical media at home has less content available to him then someone that has a streaming account.

the environmental impact of a disk is far less the environmental impact of streaming.

.....

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

I have scored many "good" titles buying $1 DVDs or BDs at Dollar Tree. Half my WB animation collection came from them. IMO - they were overstock. That's why they wound up at Dollar Tree, not because they are garbage titles as you call them.

If people were willing to spend full retail for the title it would not be "overstock" and in the 1$ bin. If people were willing to spend something between full retail and the price in the discount bin the stock would have sold and it would not have made it in the bin. If you or I would be willing to pay more for it because we love that film it is immaterial the rest of the world said no because they are not interested in buying it in higher quantity.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

OK - Phineous spends $40/mo. for 4 new films on PM. Suzy spends $10 a month on her streaming service (Disney+). Disney+ currently has 500 movies available and more than 7,500 TV episodes along with original content. Each month Disney+ adds new content to the service.

In 3 months Phineous has spent $120 and got 12 new movies. Suzy spends $120 and gets an entire year of Disney+. The existing available library plus 12 new monthly additions.

Phineous is stuck rewatching content while Suzy enjoys watching new content all year . . . for the same price.

Is it sexist making Suzy the dumb one in this example ?

Phineous has something to show for it after Suzy stops renting stuff.

I prefer to buy instead of rent esp Disney stuff which tends to be good.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Is it sexist making Suzy the dumb one in this example ?

That's Anthony P's scenario so you will have to ask him. I just copied it.

Phineous has something to show for it after Suzy stops renting stuff.

Who said Suzy will stop her subscriptions? She considers her monthly sub cost a "utility" just like her internet, electric and gas bills.

I prefer to buy instead of rent esp Disney stuff which tends to be good.

Yes we know you do. You have told us ad nauseum.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

If people were willing to spend full retail for the title it would not be "overstock" and in the 1$ bin. If people were willing to spend something between full retail and the price in the discount bin the stock would have sold and it would not have made it in the bin. If you or I would be willing to pay more for it because we love that film it is immaterial the rest of the world said no because they are not interested in buying it in higher quantity.

If . . . . . .