Disney Takes Digital Copy To The Web (1 Viewer)

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Yep, the process of eliminating the physical disc marches on.

So I totally understand Richard's comment and ultimately the demise of disc based content in the future. I neither support or agree about making everything digital delivery only.

However, I have an iPad 3 which allows for HD viewing of digital content. In the "get your copy from a DVD" method I was stuck with standard def content, unless I wanted to buy it separately from iTunes. This way I am hoping that I will be able to get an HD version instead of a standard def version for viewing on my iPad.

Richard V said:

Yep, the process of eliminating the physical disc marches on.

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Except that in this case--and in this case alone--it was a physical disk we WANTED to see eliminated. So very, very badly.
The DC disk started out when iTunes and PlaysForSure were still using physical files, but the disk itself was little more than a CD-Rom containing the specific iTunes/Amazon URL-page interface for downloading the file off the web. And that was before most digital players, including the new iPod Touches and tablets, went to cloud-streaming their digital video.

It's no accident they're experimenting with disk-free DC at the same time as they were experimenting with whether to release only the 3D disk on Oz:tGaP--
The combo industry is starting to outgrow itself, and 5-disk combos for 3D Disney titles is doing more harm than good when Fox or Dreamworks can get the same title out on 3 disks and keep it to $24.95 or under. Something's got to go to free up more room in the case, and if they eliminated the DVD copy, more fans would howl that they "had nothing for their laptop".

Ejanss said:

Except that in this case--and in this case alone--it was a physical disk we WANTED to see eliminated. So very, very badly.
The DC disk started out when iTunes and PlaysForSure were still using physical files, but the disk itself was little more than a CD-Rom containing the specific iTunes/Amazon URL-page interface for downloading the file off the web. And that was before most digital players, including the new iPod Touches and tablets, went to cloud-streaming their digital video.

It's no accident they're experimenting with disk-free DC at the same time as they were experimenting with whether to release only the 3D disk on Oz:tGaP--
The combo industry is starting to outgrow itself, and 5-disk combos for 3D Disney titles is doing more harm than good when Fox or Dreamworks can get the same title out on 3 disks and keep it to $24.95 or under. Something's got to go to free up more room in the case, and if they eliminated the DVD copy, more fans would howl that they "had nothing for their laptop".

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I understand your argument, but I still feel like it's an indirect way of taking the choice for physical media away from us. Who knows, maybe pretty soon, they will remove the DVD from the Bluray combo pack and say that streaming DVD content is a "streamling" effort to "make it easier" for us to enjoy the movie without the "clutter" of another disc. I don't trust the entertainment industry at all. They continue to escalate movie ticket prices and insidiously push their streaming content business model at us.

I have far less of a problem with Disney including a disc for their digital copies than their knack for always including a standard definition file for their digital copy. While there are other studios that do this on occasion it is certainy not the norm anymore. If I'm buying a Blu-ray edition of a movie the digital copy should be HD as well.

Ejanss said:

Except that in this case--and in this case alone--it was a physical disk we WANTED to see eliminated. So very, very badly.
The DC disk started out when iTunes and PlaysForSure were still using physical files, but the disk itself was little more than a CD-Rom containing the specific iTunes/Amazon URL-page interface for downloading the file off the web. And that was before most digital players, including the new iPod Touches and tablets, went to cloud-streaming their digital video.

It's no accident they're experimenting with disk-free DC at the same time as they were experimenting with whether to release only the 3D disk on Oz:tGaP--
The combo industry is starting to outgrow itself, and 5-disk combos for 3D Disney titles is doing more harm than good when Fox or Dreamworks can get the same title out on 3 disks and keep it to $24.95 or under. Something's got to go to free up more room in the case, and if they eliminated the DVD copy, more fans would howl that they "had nothing for their laptop".

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The price has nothing to do number of discs in the case. Additional discs are pennies of additional cost. Disney ditched the 2D version in the 3D set and charged at least as much as they normally do with 3D/2D combos. If you want lower prices on movies then you need to vote with your wallet and get the majority of the consumers to do so also and not some backhanded notion that if you can convince them to reduce the number of discs in the case the price will per force be lowered.

As someone who LOVES not having to transfer my own copies when other studios have allowed this I totally approve. This is great news.

I can honestly say I didn't even notice if Disney releases had included a physical disc with their digital copies or not, so obviously I won't miss it!

Richard V said:

I understand your argument, but I still feel like it's an indirect way of taking the choice for physical media away from us. Who knows, maybe pretty soon, they will remove the DVD from the Bluray combo pack and say that streaming DVD content is a "streamling" effort to "make it easier" for us to enjoy the movie without the "clutter" of another disc

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Ahem...THAT WOULD BE NICE, too.
The DVD Combo was only invented as a crutch for early Blu-ray sales, back when few people bought them solo, whatever few people wanted players couldn't afford them for the next three years, and Disney, who was fueling the early Blu industry (with help from Steve Jobs), was trying to convince stubborn '08 DVD owners to "future-proof and buy ahead". What, you thought it was "for your laptop and kids' room"?...Well, guess what, you're wrong.

Nowadays, even Disney is spreading the "Bonus copy" myth, and every studio believes it now...But how many devices even use DVD's anymore? Wireless laptops (some now without disk drives)? How many people own a car player, or a portable player? I'm not in defense of streaming, but just how "necessary" is the DVD copy becoming, either?
We're getting a solo 3D-disk Oz in response to the many Blu 3D fans who felt "shook down" by having to buy 5 disks of Brave or Wreck-It Ralph instead of the one they were likely to use for the next few years. All the fuss that the solo Oz raised was A) why did it have to have $40 5-disk prices (okay, note to ourselves), and B), seems a majority preferred a 2-disk combo of the 2D + 3D Blu's (okay, second note to ourselves). A distinct minority seems to be in favor of the already available 2D + DVD combo, and those are the ones whining about why they can't get the 3D with it.

Chuck Anstey said:

The price has nothing to do number of discs in the case. Additional discs are pennies of additional cost. Disney ditched the 2D version in the 3D set and charged at least as much as they normally do with 3D/2D combos. If you want lower prices on movies then you need to vote with your wallet and get the majority of the consumers to do so also and not some backhanded notion that if you can convince them to reduce the number of discs in the case the price will per force be lowered.

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I'm aware that the extra $5 for the Digital Copy combo isa symbolic charge for the "upgrade" of unlocking the digital file on DisneyMoviesOnline (and later Amazon/Vudu), and that the plastic disk was little more than a representative token that we'd bought the "bigger" version. But seriously, guys?: I HAVE MY OWN ITUNES. Trust me, don't knock yourselves out, I have a really nice Mac with the program included. All I need is a code, and last I heard, letters and numbers were something you wrote down on paper.
(Originally, DMO files were unlocked from the Disney Movie Rewards code, and as I'd never bought Digital Copy combos, I discovered that the only "free" streaming files I had available were from the "Ultimate" 5-disk 3D editions of Tangled, Toy Story 3, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc., where I had never been given any choice in the matter. You want "choice", where was mine?)

Yes, please get rid of the DVDs as well. With the recent wave of releases, I'd much rather they included the already released special features discs from previous sets, than two stacked DVDs with inferior copies of movies already included on the Blu-ray.

AaronMK said:

Yes, please get rid of the DVDs as well. With the recent wave of releases, I'd much rather they included the already released special features discs from previous sets, than two stacked DVDs with inferior copies of movies already included on the Blu-ray.

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In fact that may be one of the reasons we've lost bonus Disk 2's over the last few years, forcing them to experiment with more and more inferior off-disk extras like the Virtual Vault and Second Screen--
When a major release now automatically has a minimum three-disk combo committed before it has extras at all, they have to confine all extras to what can fit on the feature disk, and let any bonus features that can't fit fend for themselves. A little more room in the case and a bit lower price point on included disks might talk them into giving more extras their own breathing room again.