Physical Media might not be dead, but Physical Media in Retail Stores are accelerating the death (2 Viewers)

[Josh Steinberg]

I read Bill Hunt's editorial in its entirety, and I think it makes some good points, but I think it also misses a vital one. The article sort of makes it sound like its some kind of studio driven conspiracy to get people to give up on physical media, and sort of acts like it's a big mystery why studios are producing fewer discs and manufacturers are producing fewer players.

I don't think it's a conspiracy or a mystery.

The general public is losing interest in needing to purchase a physical object in order to enjoy their entertainment choices.

It's that simple. We, those of us that participate on home theater internet forums, who subscribe to websites like the Digital Bits, etc., are a minority of the total entertainment consuming audiences. And while I think our hobby is valid and interesting and worthwhile, the fact is that the average consumer is mostly able to get their needs met without having to purchase a physical object.

M. Night Shyamalan has a new movie coming out next week called "Glass" - it's the sequel to two of his previous films, "Unbreakable" and "Split." Let's say you're like me and you remember the previous two films, have interest in the new film, but want to rewatch the older films before seeing the new one. Ten years ago, you'd have to either physically travel to an actual store to rent or purchase a disc, or order it by mail. If you chose the store route, you'd also have to hope that the store actually carried the title you wanted, and furthermore, that it was in stock. If you rented it, you'd then have to make a second trip to the store to return it. If you bought it, maybe you'd watch it a bunch of times, but just as likely, you'd watch it once and then it would collect dust. Options have changed in ten years. Now, if you want to rewatch the older films, you could still try to go to a store to get a copy, or you could still mail order through a retailer like Amazon. I just checked on Amazon and "Split" is out of stock and not expected to be available again until next week. Or, you could just as easily spend $3.99 and rent the movie digitally and watch it right now, with no returns or worries of it being out of stock or having to leave the house.

It's an evolution in the way that average customers consume media.

And I say all of this as a guy who loves physical media, but I don't know how it survives longterm when physical media is no longer the most convenient or cheapest way for the average consumer to view a title of their choice.

 

[Traveling Matt]

At least he mentioned Oppo. The end of physical media? Hardly. It's not when the discs are no longer made - it's when the players no longer are.

 

[BobO'Link]

I read that as "So far I only have 5.4k titles on my shelf." 5400 discs?! But no, it's five 4K titles. Need to spell out the number in cases like that.

That's not so bad... excluding TV seasons I currently have ~4500 titles on my shelf. I'd fully expect that to be low compared to some collections here.

 

[jcroy]

- it's when the players no longer are.

With most of the dvd patents expiring over the next several years (or already expired), in principle anybody will be able to manufacture a dvd disc player. The question is whether anybody will consider this to be viable and/or profitable.

For example in the case of computer dvd drives, there's only two manufacturers left who still manufacture new dvdr drives: LG and LiteOn. (In the case of computer bluray-r drives, only LG and Pioneer still manufacture new drives).

Just about everybody else has already exited the computer dvd/bluray drive business. (ie. Samsung, Sony, etc ...).

 

[Traveling Matt]

With most of the dvd patents expiring over the next several years (or already expired), in principle anybody will be able to manufacture a dvd disc player. The question is whether anybody will consider this to be viable and/or profitable.

I imagine enough people realizing a massive amount of content they like is only on discs they already own, and who need a replacement for their brand player, could someday drive a third-party company into business.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

I’m not worried about finding a player in the future, that’s what eBay is for.

Most of everything I want on dvd/Blu has already been released.

 

[Bryan^H]

And there are about a billion PS4's, and Xbox One consoles that all play BD. Personally, "future proof" is where I am with this hobby. I'll buy couple dedicated UHD players before the end of physical media.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I have 14 UHD discs with about 6 titles to buy. Don't expect many of my favourites to be released as sales wouldn't justify cost.

 

[John*Wells]

And there are about a billion PS4's, and Xbox One consoles that all play BD. Personally, "future proof" is where I am with this hobby. I'll buy couple dedicated UHD players before the end of physical media.

I own a ps 4 but at this point I haven’t used it to watch media. If I am reading this right, I should purchase 5 or 6 more players so I can replace them when needed

 

[Traveling Matt]

Disc players age, used or not used, so stockpiling them won't help. Lasers burn out from use, or can't read due to moisture or other environmental conditions, and other pieces age or dry out. They're not as easy to maintain as a VCR, where you can open it up and oil the parts. They have to continue to be manufactured.

 

[Bryan^H]

Disc players age, used or not used, so stockpiling them won't help. Lasers burn out from use, or can't read due to moisture or other environmental conditions, and other pieces age or dry out. They're not as easy to maintain as a VCR, where you can open it up and oil the parts. They have to continue to be manufactured.

That has not been my experience. Cheap players(I had a Daewoo go bad less that a year in) are prone to failure. I have a Toshiba DVD player from 1998, and a Samsung BD player from 2009 that both play flawlessly. And both are heavily used units.
My PS3(2008) was most heavily used for gaming(and Blu-Ray movies) and it also still plays just fine. Although the age and usage for all of this hardware may render them dead the next time I try to power them on, I am still impressed, and have certainly gotten my moneys worth out of them.

 

[Bryan^H]

I own a ps 4 but at this point I haven’t used it to watch media. If I am reading this right, I should purchase 5 or 6 more players so I can replace them when needed

5, or 6 is overkill. I was thinking 1....maybe 2. That should be more than sufficient.

 

[Traveling Matt]

That has not been my experience. Cheap players(I had a Daewoo go bad less that a year in) are prone to failure. I have a Toshiba DVD player from 1998, and a Samsung BD player from 2009 that both play flawlessly. And both are heavily used units.

Well there can certainly be exceptions. I have a Sony from about 2009 that also plays perfectly fine, but an RCA player from about 2002 died after less than ten years and only moderate use. Also if players do become rare, finding them on the secondary market could be challenging eventually (addressing an earlier comment).

Bottom line is not making new players is bad.

 

[Bryan^H]

Bottom line is not making new players is bad.

Yes it is. Crazy to me that high end CD players are still being made currently by Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo etc.

 

[Traveling Matt]

Totally. I have a Marantz CD6006 and love it. It's only a few years old too, but I feel like a dinosaur when I do my ritual.

 

[jcroy]

Even if they stop manufacturing standalone dvd-video disc players, in principle one could probably still watch dvd-video discs on the computer if computer dvdr drives are still being manufactured. (ie. Effectively there is no difficult drm on dvd-video and audio cd discs).

Bluray is a tougher nut to crack, in terms of playback on the computer. Currently it is still easier to just buy a $50 (or less) standalone bluray player to watch bluray discs, than getting bluray to play properly on the computer for every possible bluray disc.

 

[jcroy]

(This may sound paradoxical).

If I were to "future proof" in the event of optical discs becoming completely obsolete and/or due to scarce availability of players, I would buy a spare dvd copy of every bluray movie I have.

If standalone bluray players become too scarce, it would be really annoying to figure out how to watch them on the computer. Only really older bluray stuff from before 2011 or 2012 that doesn't have BD++ (ie. not released by 20th Century Fox), can be decrypted easily with off the shelf grey market software. Anything with BD++ and released after 2011 or so, one will be paying big bucks for decrypting software.

In contrast, the encryption on dvd-video discs can be easily cracked by off the shelf ripping software.

 

[JQuintana]

I sure wouldn't invest in multiple players and double or triple discs of the same movie to 'future proof".

By the time discs dry up, there will most likely be many more streaming sources for the movies people fear won't be available. So you can just evolve with the rest of the folks out there who are embracing streaming as the go to way to watch movies. Will it be perfect solution? Na, but discs are far from the perfect solution as well. In a few short years the landscape will be teeming with online viewing options while discs will dry up and become the next laserdisc of the media world. Won't be tomorrow, but it's on it's way to that.

 

[TJPC]

Lets all try to take it easy. There are still specialty shops dealing with parts for gramophones and diamond disc players.

 

[jcroy]

I sure wouldn't invest in multiple players and double or triple discs of the same movie to 'future proof".

A number of years ago I did pick up dvd copies of various bluray tv shows I already had, such as:

- Dollhouse
- Fringe
- the Nikita reboot
- LOST
- Person of Interest (Seasons 4 and 5. Seasons 1-3 were dvd/bluray combo sets).
- etc ...

Just about all of these ^ were impulse buys of dump bin stuff for $10 a pop or less.

I stopped doing this after I came to the realization that I was hardly watching any of these shows again. In effect, these shows (and many others) have very little to no rewatch value for me. It seemed pointless buying second/third copies for $5 a pop, when I was hardly watching anything.

One day in the future if I have an itch to watch Fringe, Person of Interest, etc ... again, most likely I'll probably end up watching either syndicated reruns or streaming. (ie. Due to laziness on my part).