Walmart story about DVDs going the way of 8 tracks (1 Viewer)

[Tony J Case]

Ah come on - Disco on an 8-Track? How can you define the 70's any further than THAT!

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

What do you mean Disco and 8-Tracks are indicative of the 70s? You have one or the other... but I am an old disco duck and disco never caught on with 8-Track as the medium was phasing out about that time. The 12" vinyl single and reel-to-reel was the thing for "true" disco aficionado during the mid to late 70s. 8-Track was used for portable music in the car and nothing more.

In any event, I had a 8-track recorder and my mother had one of those disco lights floor stereos that flashed different color lights and intensity depending on the audio frequency.

DVD going the way of the 8-track? I don't think so. Maybe in a decade or so but not now and like vinyl records, will continue to live on. Have no intension on replacing my collection with HD or Blu-Ray unless that title "only' came that way and then won't buy it unless players come down under $100.

Eric

 

[dpippel]

Has anyone ever heard of the "paperless office"? Hard media distribution of music and video isn't going away anytime soon, if ever.

 

[Nelson Au]

I wished I hadn't used the 8-track reference in the thread title.

 

[MarkHastings]

These methods aren't going to kill off DVD - eventually there will no longer be physical media, but that's not in the immediate future. Just as iTunes hasn't totalled wiped CD's off the face of the planet, neither will movie downloads kill off DVD.

As much as I love iTunes songs, I wouldn't want to see CD's disappear. As for downloading movies? I can see the appeal and it's future potential, but as of right now, this downloading is just the precursor to what's to come. Eventually there won't be much physical media...everything will be stored in some sort of "Media Account" and you can just access this account anytime you want - kind of like a "virtual library"...

But again, that's not going to happen for quite some time. Once they integrate computers and TV's, then get fiber high speed into everyones homes, then it will come to that.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

Nelson Au... don't, sometimes we have to add some diversity to a thread to get people thinking and to participate.

As for download movies... first, if Wal-Mart expects people to do so they need to look at demographics. Their usual clientele doesn't have the extra funds to upgrade computer equipment to 1) download big files - dialup and hard drive size issues with older computers and 2) can't afford DVD burning equipment. Then there is quality issues. How will they look on large screen TVs? Are these throw-away downloads? Preview downloads to get you to buy the actual disc?

Heck, when you download music at .99¢ per pop you don't get CD quality but at the most 160kbs. Even 320kbs isn't "true" CD quality but close so why settle for less unless you just don't care?

It sounds fine for those who have multi gig, high speed computers hooked to digital cable services and you want to look at a movie quick but for me I fall in the earlier group. I own a computer made in 1999, have dial up, a 20 Gig hard drive that is full, and a 300 MHz system. Do you believe I will be downloading anything soon? ... I think not.

Another Divx venture? Maybe. I live in Richmond - headquarters to Circuit City where it all began and to tell you the truth, Divx came and went around here with little fanfare.

Eric

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

MarkHastings...

Concerning Virtual Media Libraries... Yikes, I don't even want to think about it... or maybe I do? Just one more step towards Big Brother and/or the one monetary system that spell end times. Just think... a money-less system where in one swipe, one hacker, or one magnetic impulse and everything is wiped out and lost forever... same with your library!

Give me the disc that can't be erased!

Oh, and call me paranoid but I immediately remove those magnetic security sensors off of my disc cases including the snappers "just in case"...

Eric

 

[MarkHastings]

Well, with the "On Demand" (through cable) and the downloads and Satellite Radio, etc. that people are paying for - it is definitely going that way.

Sure there are security issues, but no more than any other form of delivery. Someone can get into your house and steal all of your DVD's - just like people break into cars and steal tons of CD's.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

True Mark but what is the risk of someone taking 1,000+ DVDs with them in a quick robbery as opposed to loosing everything in an instant?

On Demand isn't something you "own" but a service. The downloads you would own.

Yes, there is risk in everything but I am in no hurry to speed things up. Often I feel like finding a town stuck in time - a Mayberry of sorts, and moving there. People and things have gotten too commercialized, too impersonal, too fast paced for my taste.

Eric

 

[Brian D H]

Many people have mentioned that those of us on this forum would never prefer downloads due to the downgrade in quality, but that your average user may not care. Remember that those of us who want quality will move to HD-DVD (or BluRay) either now or in the next few years, and HD-DVD cannot be easily copied or pirated. I believe that this is the idea. The Powers-That-Be want downloads to replace DVDs, NOT HD-DVD.

This seems to me a better business model for a system that is concerned about pirating. You make downloads cheap enough that no one bothers to pirate, but the quality is so sub-par that anyone who cares can't watch it on a big-screen. At the same time you produce hi-def products on discs that would be too costly and time-consuming to pirate.

To sum up: Hi-Def DVD formats replace DVD. Legal Downloading replaces Bootlegs.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, I was using the On-Demand as an example of how things are slowly becoming 'virtual'...

I'm sure there will be some intermediate services that allow downloading (like iTunes) that you can backup to DVD yourself, but even with that ability, most people are just downloading iTunes and putting them on their iPods. I know I do that. Of course I have a backup on my computer, but I don't have anything else 'physical'.

Perhaps, in the 'in-between' stage, we will all have media servers in our homes where we download files to and can access them from TV's and computers....maybe after that, we will have online accounts that hold all of our information.

As far as that being a Big-Brother scenario, it's no more Big Brother than the cable company knowing what channels I tune into...etc.

 

[Richard_Gregory]

For me the service would need to -

Offer at a minimum the quality of existing DVD
Be available at all times
Have instant access
No charge for storage and unlimited storage capacity
No charge for subsequent useage - one off purchase means unlimited viewing

For me to be even interested.

I suspect the best approach would be to have everything in downloadable form which is then stored in a local server - either that or permitting people to download stuff and to make their own discs.

These would certainly cut out a lot of the "middle men" of all the physical manufacture, transport, storage, handling and re-shipping of the discs.

However, I think that as with paper books we have heard of the demise of the physical format before...

One advantage would be to do away with manufacture problems (no more DVD-18's crapping out) and the possibility of fixing authoring errors via a process similar to update patches for software.

 

[MarkHastings]

The one thing that would intrigue me about a "Media Server Library" is if it were able to be integrated into every TV in my home.

I would love to have access to every DVD in my collection from a remote control. I know this sounds lazy, but I would probably rewatch a lot more movies if I didn't have to get off the couch and replace DVD's out. Especially with TV episodes. It would be nice to bounce around from show to show, jumping from one disc to another.

Plus, the fact that I wouldn't have to hook up DVD players to every TV in my home. That would be an advantage. I could go from room to room and not have to worry about carrying a DVD with me....waiting for it to load up and go through all the FBI warnings, etc.

There is definitely an advantage to having physical media around.