What Americans think of streaming amid Apple TV+ launch (1 Viewer)

[Martin Dew]

Martin Dew submitted a new blog post

What Americans think of streaming amid Apple TV+ launch

Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Sam Posten]

Uh huh, that's how Apple works. Everyone says 'no interest' when stuff is announced, then people try it and it gets rolling.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Has pricing and content been announced yet? If not, I cannot see how anyone could legitimately answer this poll.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Has pricing and content been announced yet? If not, I cannot see how anyone could legitimately answer this poll.

Premature for sure.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think it's going to be an uphill battle for any new streaming service to make inroads with the big guns of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime already well entrenched. They would need some major, popular exclusive titles in order to make much of a ripple in the streaming world.

 

[DaveF]

Meanwhile...
“DVD and Blu-ray sales nearly halved over five years, MPAA report says | Ars Technica”

And it looks like digital revenues are 3x physical revenues in the US as streaming rises and discs decline.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...arly-halved-over-five-years-mpaa-report-says/

 

[Robert Crawford]

Meanwhile...
“DVD and Blu-ray sales nearly halved over five years, MPAA report says | Ars Technica”

And it looks like digital revenues are 3x physical revenues in the use as streaming rises and discs decline.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...arly-halved-over-five-years-mpaa-report-says/

My current discretionary spending has reflected that trend and will continue to do so as I'm running out of room with thousands of discs in my film library.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ve probably purged 250+ discs over the last year. I no longer see the value in holding on to DVDs I purchased more than 15 years ago that haven’t been watched in 15 years if ever and still have no desire to watch.

For years, I collected Disney “vault” titles that world frequently go out of print not because I felt an urgent need to watch them in that moment, but because I feared losing access to them if I one day did want to watch them. I have Disney movies I haven’t watched since the VHS era that I bought on DVD and didn’t watch, and then bought on BD and still didn’t watch.

I’m ready to be off that treadmill.

I am happy to keep the discs of Disney films that I have revisited more frequently, and those which are in a format (3D) that Disney+ doesn’t support. But maybe I don’t need to have copies of Disney movies I don’t really like that I’ve been successfully marketed to believe are essential to having access to at all times.

I’m happy to pay a low fee and let Disney be responsible for keeping everything in whatever the modern format and resolution is and just clicking on it when I want to see it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My current discretionary spending has reflected that trend and will continue to do so as I'm running out of room with thousands of discs in my film library.

I have been buying more digital content than discs lately, too. The prices are usually much better, and as you say it helps with storage issues - - plus it gives us more content to view when away from home.

I was planning on upgrading my Sony X800 UHD disc player to something with Dolby Vision support, but with how few UHD titles I have been purchasing I'm not sure it's a wise thing to do right now. This reminds me of when I transitioned from vinyl to CD's many years ago. I was getting ready to invest in a new, high end turntable just before I bought my first CD player. I never did get that turntable.

 

[DaveF]

The Disney+ announcement works into my ongoing assessment of my relationship with media. I’m starting to consider whether the rational behavior for me would be to stop buying completely and go to streaming services for all movie content.

 

[Cranston37+]

The Disney+ announcement works into my ongoing assessment of my relationship with media. I’m starting to consider whether the rational behavior for me would be to stop buying completely and go to streaming services for all movie content.

I did that about 2 years ago. I own no physical media anymore. Believe me my only problem is choosing what to watch...

 

[Robert Crawford]

I did that about 2 years ago. I own no physical media anymore. Believe me my only problem is choosing what to watch...

There are far too many movies I loved that are either not available to stream in HD or are of lesser quality in which the digital stream is derived from an older transfer. Furthermore, I love bonus material as such, that type of material isn't available to stream when it comes from boutique companies like Kino, Twilight Time or Shout! Factory.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Case in point, I received the following Blu-rays from Kino today and each has bonus material that I will watch when I view the disc.

Kotch
The Midnight Man
For a Few Dollars More
Road to Morrocco
Road to Singapore
Road to Utopia
Road to Zanzibar
The Tarnished Angels

 

[Cranston37+]

There are far too many movies I loved that are either not available to stream in HD or are of lesser quality in which the digital stream is derived from an older transfer. Furthermore, I love bonus material as such, that type of material isn't available to stream when it comes from boutique companies like Kino, Twilight Time or Shout! Factory.

The funny thing is, I feel the same way, but it just wasn't enough for me personally to stay down the buying everything road.

Believe me, there are titles I miss. But what I have now is plenty to scratch my "I want to watch a movie itch." On top of that I have 18 books on my "to read" pile, sports teams I follow, workouts to do, etc etc.

Streaming is enough for this movie lover...

 

[Robert Crawford]

The funny thing is, I feel the same way, but it just wasn't enough for me personally to stay down the buying everything road.

Believe me, there are titles I miss. But what I have now is plenty to scratch my "I want to watch a movie itch." On top of that I have 18 books on my "to read" pile, sports teams I follow, workouts to do, etc etc.

Streaming is enough for this movie lover...

Well this movie lover utilizes both home video formats and I'm happier now than I ever been with this home theater hobby of mine.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The Disney+ announcement works into my ongoing assessment of my relationship with media. I’m starting to consider whether the rational behavior for me would be to stop buying completely and go to streaming services for all movie content.

That’s an interesting proposition.

For me, for the time being, I’m going to continue to buy things that wouldn’t be easily available on streaming, if at all. So, Marvel and Lucasfilm 3D imports will still be purchases for me.

I’d also feel comfortable purchasing titles if the physical versions contained content of value to me that wasn’t part of a streaming package. So if Disney puts out one version of, say, Fantasia on streaming and a different version on disc, I’m still down with buying that. (I love Fantasia.)

On the other hand... let’s take a title with more marginal appeal to me. I never really cared all that much for Lady and the Tramp (don’t hate me!) and don’t own it in HD yet. I always figured I’d buy the Blu-ray when I felt like watching it again, and I hadn’t had the desire since the Blu-ray came out, and then it got vaulted and I missed it when I finally felt like I could be in the mood to watch it. That’s often how I’d end up buying stuff I didn’t really love but occasionally wander to see. That’s exactly the type of purchase I’d stop making.

 

[John*Wells]

Over the years I have done streaming. I have purchased digital content (iTunes) Content when it was OOP on disc but still prefer Physical discs. Reason being I don't trust the studios and that includes Disney that they will say all content available on Streaming and stuff wont be there or will disappear

 

[David Deeb]

Over the years I have done streaming. I have purchased digital content (iTunes) Content when it was OOP on disc but still prefer Physical discs. Reason being I don't trust the studios and that includes Disney that they will say all content available on Streaming and stuff wont be there or will disappear

Many of us "don't trust" too, but it's getting to the point where it's almost a non-issue. Yes, there are those all time personal favorites we all own on disc. But honestly, if there's a random movie I haven't watched in 10 years, at least with streaming I have 50,000 other things I could watch. Or if I absolutely had to revisit some random 1998 movie, I could probably rent it or subscribe to a channel which hosted it for a month, and watch it.

I have my absolute favorites on disc I'll never let go of (Freaks and Geeks, Superman: the Movie, the entire 3 Stooges shorts collection, Gilligan's Island, Donnie Darko, Star Wars, Godfather and some others) but half of my collection doesn't really warrant that fear of it not being there anymore. More than likely I could spend $4 and watch it again anyway!

 

[DaveF]

That’s an interesting proposition.

For me, for the time being, I’m going to continue to buy things that wouldn’t be easily available on streaming, if at all. So, Marvel and Lucasfilm 3D imports will still be purchases for me.

I’d also feel comfortable purchasing titles if the physical versions contained content of value to me that wasn’t part of a streaming package. So if Disney puts out one version of, say, Fantasia on streaming and a different version on disc, I’m still down with buying that. (I love Fantasia.)

On the other hand... let’s take a title with more marginal appeal to me. I never really cared all that much for Lady and the Tramp (don’t hate me!) and don’t own it in HD yet. I always figured I’d buy the Blu-ray when I felt like watching it again, and I hadn’t had the desire since the Blu-ray came out, and then it got vaulted and I missed it when I finally felt like I could be in the mood to watch it. That’s often how I’d end up buying stuff I didn’t really love but occasionally wander to see. That’s exactly the type of purchase I’d stop making.

I’m not watching content only available on discs. I’ve given up on 3D, so that’s not a streaming drawback.

There’s the thread “Why I own all the discs” (to paraphrase). I’ve been mulling on this lately, but I would title my thread, “Why do own all these discs?!?!”

I am shaped by growing up with VHS. Owning movies was a luxury, a novelty, something to envy in others ‘ homes and to aspire to. It was like having a great set of full bookshelves or an incredible music library.

I don’t buy books or CDs anymore.

But 25+ years later, I still crave owning physical media for TV and movies (with seasonality based on new formats and recent hardware upgrades).

And again, I’m asking, why? I’ve got 100 movies unwatched. It’s irrational (a fancy word for “dumb”) to have spent $1000+ that’s sitting unused. And I won’t reiterate my HTPC insanity, except to say I spent more time managing media thank watching media. There’s also a nerdy hobbyist aspect to it that scratches an itch. But...not wholly rational. But until now and HTPC was the only way to solve the problems with disc ownership (discs suck, TiVo ruined me, HTPC is the best of both worlds).

But now finally, there are services emerging that solve the problems. Pay monthly money. Watch whatever I want whenever I want. They’re in 4K and Atmos is becoming more common. And the libraries with Disney+ start to look vast enough to consider streaming over MoviesAnywhere type buying.

And the WAF for streaming services is *very* high.

I don’t know yet. This is an ongoing internal dialogue. But I’m talking out loud about it with my wife too.

It’s an interesting time for home theater stuff.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yep, that is my conclusion. Right now it's an AND not an OR. Subscription AND Disks AND purchased codes for streams. There's stuff I gotta have on disk. But there's a LOT of content where these streaming services will do just fine. Anyone who refuses to do both is going to be very disappointed in the near term. Anyone who refuses to stream is going to be very disappointed in the long term.