Brian Kidd
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2000
- Messages
- 2,555
You can download full dvd's RIGHT NOW. Sure, they take a while to finish but with a broadband connection left on overnight it's not that big of a deal. When Internet2 comes into full usage it will be an even bigger problem. We're talking speeds that dwarf todays fastest connections! Also, dual-layer DVD+R discs are going to market as we speak with Blu-Ray discs just around the corner.
I am not about to take the high road here. Most of us have experimented with downloading something off of the 'Net. Would I be willing to pay for a full dvd that I could download and burn myself? Sure I would! It would be convenient as hell. It's more and more expensive to go to the theaters. As much as I love movies and seeing a film in a theater with a group of people, I just can't afford to pay a minimum of $20 for my wife and I to go to the movies. It's gotten to the point where we only see movies that we think would suffer greatly on a small screen like LOTR.
Here are some points I'd like to make.
Downloading isn't going anywhere. Any copy protection can and will be broken. What the studios have to do is realize that their current distrobution and marketing practices are outdated. They must adapt in order to survive. And the WILL survive. The Movies aren't going anywhere.
I am not about to take the high road here. Most of us have experimented with downloading something off of the 'Net. Would I be willing to pay for a full dvd that I could download and burn myself? Sure I would! It would be convenient as hell. It's more and more expensive to go to the theaters. As much as I love movies and seeing a film in a theater with a group of people, I just can't afford to pay a minimum of $20 for my wife and I to go to the movies. It's gotten to the point where we only see movies that we think would suffer greatly on a small screen like LOTR.
Here are some points I'd like to make.
- Films should be released worldwide at the same time. Don't release a film until all of the work that needs to be done for foreign markets is finished. Then region coding could go bye-bye.
- Make good quality digital versions available for download legally. Itunes is making a killing. The same could work for movies. Don't talk to me about the crappy services already in place. Those films look like shite.
- Get rid of the dots on the screen. They don't work and they're distracting.
- Get rid of the ads before the films. Trailers are fine but the rest have to go. I'm paying to be entertained, not to watch ads.
- A lot of what I've seen floating around the 'Net is copies of films and shows that are out of print and may never see the light of day for one reason or another. If this is the only way that I can see them, then so be it. If the studios choose to release the programs and films in a legitimate form, I'll be glad to pony up the cash. The studios should look at DVD-on-demand. Smaller distributors like Sinister Cinema are already making it so you can order films that are then burned to DVD-R and sent to you. It cuts their production costs down exponentially. Why can't the studios do that for their niche products?
- At least in the US, piracy isn't hurting the bottom line for the studios. That's a fallacy. The people willing to download crappy cam versions of films are the same ones who wouldn't pay to go to the theater anyway.
Downloading isn't going anywhere. Any copy protection can and will be broken. What the studios have to do is realize that their current distrobution and marketing practices are outdated. They must adapt in order to survive. And the WILL survive. The Movies aren't going anywhere.