Where do we go from here? Life after disk media... (1 Viewer)

[Worth]

I'm paraphrasing (or, more accurately, stealing) a quote from Neil Young but he recently said how vinyl is just a fashion statement. Even as someone who buys records, I agree with him because once hipster kids move on to something even hipper, LPs will return to the grave. I'll enjoy it while it lasts though.

I think they might appeal to enough of a niche to stick around. They're more likely to appeal to a collector mentality, especially as digital downloads begin to equal the sound quality of CDs.

 

[Dave>h]

I think the analogy between LP's and CD's is interesting but unlike CD's, blu rays and dvd's do not exactly have an analog alternative. Obviously, there is the original film but not many would have a proper projection system in their home for playback.


The argument for LP's is that they produce a warmer more lifelike recreation of the original recording and you sacrifice some of that warmth for the convenience of digital. While the same is true for Blu ray, there isn't a mass produced analog alternative.


So while Lps may outlast Cds, if we lose Blu rays, there isn't another alternative at the moment.


Personally, I think blu ray hasn't really done themselves any favors by dropping all the features that actually made Blu ray cool IMHO. The picture in picture commentaries, the blue screen comparisons and some other features that were innovative about blu ray seem to have all but disappeared in favor of what? At this point blu ray simply offers better picture and better sound and I believe that most consumers don't particularly care. Which is an interesting argument for the continuation of DVD...


Kip

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

 

[RJ992]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

While I generally agree, NF does have plenty of foreign films, such as (off the top of my head) ON MY WAY, LE WEEKEND, and COPENHAGEN. Not to mention the director's cut versions of NYMPHOMANIAC

 

[Robert Crawford]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

Obviously, you haven't viewed Warner Archive Instant or VUDU. If you did, then you need to visit them again as they're are plenty of back catalog films on both services.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I'm not sure how this will pan out, but when I searched for Amazon Video supported devices today I found, in the TIVO section, a new device called the Panasonic DMR-BCT750EG Blu-ray Recorder. What I hope this portends is that one will be able to "purchase" an HD movie from the Amazon service and burn it directly onto a BD-R disc. Well, an HD movie download from them usually runs somewhere in the vicinity of $15, so it seems fair that the customer could "store" his purchase on a BD-R and use, say, an upscaling Oppo to watch it as desired. SInce I LOVE disk media and don't necessarily want the internet near my upstairs Oppo and Samsung HD, this is the sweet solution to this quandary for me personally. Now, I could own Freaks, Story of Ruth, Around the World in 80 Days, A Place in the Sun, Suddenly Last Summer etc. on blu-ray and still embrace the "disc-less" culture we are unfortunately bound for. This will be "where I will go from here", if what I hope for turns out to be true. So, for the present the DMR-BCT750EG is only available in Germany but I have a feeling it is coming to America soon. Then, bring on the downloads and streaming.

 

[Worth]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

You also might want to check out Fandor.

 

[MatthewA]

Personally, I think blu ray hasn't really done themselves any favors by dropping all the features that actually made Blu ray cool IMHO. The picture in picture commentaries, the blue screen comparisons and some other features that were innovative about blu ray seem to have all but disappeared in favor of what? At this point blu ray simply offers better picture and better sound and I believe that most consumers don't particularly care. Which is an interesting argument for the continuation of DVD...


Kip

If consumers were really that apathetic about picture quality, we'd still be living in a VHS-dominated world.

 

[Dave>h]

If consumers were really that apathetic about picture quality, we'd still be living in a VHS-dominated world.

I don't want to get into a flame war here but VHS was not only low quality but it was inconvenient. DVD and disk media in general (this goes for CD's vs cassette tapes to) were and are a lot more consumer friendly and they also upped the quality. However, I think the lack of consumer penetration for Blu ray is somewhat telling of general consumer indifference for the increased picture and sound qualilty shown in Blu ray.


Certainly, no one on this forum is indifferent, we all love home theater or we wouldn't spend our time here.


So no, the consumer is not apathetic about quality but convenience also sell.


Kip

 

[Patrick Donahue]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

What about Hulu? You can stream the Criterion Collection for like $8 a month. Surely that's not worthless...

 

[Worth]

VHS was not only low quality but it was inconvenient. DVD and disk media in general (this goes for CD's vs cassette tapes to) were and are a lot more consumer friendly and they also upped the quality

DVD was kind of a perfect storm - increased auio/visual quality, greater convenience, more features, and prices comparable or lower than that of VHS. Not to mention that they were cheaper to manufacture for the distributors. That'll never happen again.

 

[Alf S]

Streaming is worthless to me since it doesn't have what I want to watch. I'm not going to subscribe to 30 different services to try find something to watch. I have Netflix and every now and then I'll look to see if they have anything watchable but it's just the same crap over and over. They have virtually no back catalogue and foreign films seem to be a concept they've never heard of. My son watches some stuff but I haven't even bothered with it for months.

This is what bugs me about "cutting the cord" talks. To cut the cord, and enjoy just a fraction of what I'm offered on Directv, I'd have to pull out my credit card and sign up for at least have a dozen "streaming channels" that want auto pay set up each month etc. And even if I did all that, I'd rarely be able to enjoy the "newest" episodes of many of the shows we watch, many of which are kids programming in our house. I don't want all that hassle and extra charges every month to keep up with.


I'm lucky in that my sister lets us use her Netflix but every time we login, we rarely find anything we want to watch. It's almost as bad as turning on HBO. It's all the same stale stuff listed..especially in the kids zone.

 

[Patrick Donahue]

This is what bugs me about "cutting the cord" talks. To cut the cord, and enjoy just a fraction of what I'm offered on Directv, I'd have to pull out my credit card and sign up for at least have a dozen "streaming channels" that want auto pay set up each month etc. And even if I did all that, I'd rarely be able to enjoy the "newest" episodes of many of the shows we watch

To be fair though, that's like saying you want to go on a diet but still eat all the foods you ate before.

People who "cut the cord" do so because they don't care about the "newest" episodes, they just want something to watch that they haven't seen before. TV just isn't something that's worth much money to them. It is to you and that's just fine.

One thing too, regarding the dozens of monthly services - as I always tell people, you don't have to stay subscribed to all of them at once. I subscribe to Netflix one month, Hulu the next, HBO the next, Showtime the next, etc. If you use Apple devices you subscribe right through iTunes, and can "manage" these services right from the app. I simply hit the subscribe button next to the one I want, then hit the auto renew off button. Takes me about 5 secs a month.

To each his own though, to be sure.

 

[Alf S]

To be fair though, that's like saying you want to go on a diet but still eat all the foods you ate before.

People who "cut the cord" do so because they don't care about the "newest" episodes, they just want something to watch that they haven't seen before. TV just isn't something that's worth much money to them. It is to you and that's just fine.

One thing too, regarding the dozens of monthly services - as I always tell people, you don't have to stay subscribed to all of them at once. I subscribe to Netflix one month, Hulu the next, HBO the next, Showtime the next, etc. If you use Apple devices you subscribe right through iTunes, and can "manage" these services right from the app. I simply hit the subscribe button next to the one I want, then hit the auto renew off button. Takes me about 5 secs a month.

To each his own though, to be sure.

I don't buy that completely. People are trying to cut cords to SAVE MONEY in many cases. I think many who attempt it care a lot more about "newest" episodes but in some cases become disillusioned but what they find available (or lack of) and become frustrated and might even go back to SAT/cable. Especially families with diverse viewing habits.


Sure there will be a nich who claims they just want "unique" programming choices so they cut the cord, but that group IMO is very very small. People are just trying to avoing paying high cable/sat bills.

 

[Patrick Donahue]

I don't buy that completely. People are trying to cut cords to SAVE MONEY in many cases. I think many who attempt it care a lot more about "newest" episodes but in some cases become disillusioned but what they find available (or lack of) and become frustrated and might even go back to SAT/cable. Especially families with diverse viewing habits.

Sure there will be a nich who claims they just want "unique" programming choices so they cut the cord, but that group IMO is very very small. People are just trying to avoing paying high cable/sat bills.

I don't disagree, but I also think there are many different reasons people cut the cord, not just to save money.

I have friends, a married couple, who easily make 200k a year, in their 30's, and they cut the cord. They certainly can afford a high cable/sat bill, but with access to CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX for free and a $8 subscription to Hulu, they have access to pretty much everything that interests them and don't see a reason to spend more.

For me personally, I guess you can say I'm a cord neverer. I can easily afford cable, I'm just not interested in the linear TV experience.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I don't disagree, but I also think there are many different reasons people cut the cord.

I have friends, a married couple, who easily make 200k a year, in their 30's, and they cut the cord. They certainly can afford a high cable/sat bill, but with access to CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX for free and a $8 subscription to Hulu, they have access to pretty much all new shows and don't see a reason to spend more.

For me personally, I guess you can say I'm a cord neverer. I can easily afford cable, I'm just not interested in the linear TV experience.

I love vintage movies and TV, pre-1970. In my case, the only reason I subscribed to DirecTV for years was to get TCM, which I faithfully watched and recorded for twenty years. But with the advent of all the new digital sub-channels running everything from What's My Line to Make Room for Daddy to Perry Mason, I simply couldn't justify spending over $70 a month for the handful of TCM premiere offerings not previously shown. My money's better spent subscribing to Warner Streaming, but I haven't even found the need for that just yet. Too many great things to watch on DVD and BluRay and too little time!

 

[Dale MA]

This is a pretty enlightening discussion with one of Netflix's execs. Especially this bit, which I thought is quite relevant to what we're discussing here:

WHF: There have been a lot of development in video, but what of sound? Any plans for Dolby Atmos?

NH: I don’t see Atmos being a huge mover in the next year or two. Relatively few people bother with the home theatre set up. Some large percentage of people use the speakers in the television and that’s it. Delivering even 5.1 is an overkill. For those who don’t, it’s likely a bundled speaker bar that sits underneath the television pretending to be 5.1.

I’m not sure that justifies delivering Atmos too. For Atmos to be meaningful people have to invest in a receiver, a cluster of speakers in the walls and the ceiling, and some pretty sophisticated set up of the apparatus to make sure it works well – that seems to be relatively niche for the audience I’m pursuing. Doing Atmos is actually technically very straightforward – I’m just not sure it’s very compelling at this point.


Read more at http://www.whathifi.com/news/what-next-netflix-we-talk-4k-hdr-and-future-streaming#AyGCfwA6PRx5zP1I.99

 

[Dave>h]

Scarily, we are now one year forward from when I started this thread.

The landscape, as it does, has changed in my area. I live in western Canada, There is now only one HMV. There were 2 or 3 this time last year. Best buy (both) have relegated disk media to two aisles tucked away in a back corner near the musical instruments. Walmart has moved all their disk media to the back of their store and are down to two aisles as well. And that, as they say in show business, is that.

There are literally no other places to buy disk media (except used).

UHD hasn't moved the dial one bit in my part of the world. What is happening in yours???

Regards,

Kip

 

[MattHR]

The fact that it's been exactly one year since this thread's last posting (before Kip's earlier today) is proof of the dying enthusiasm for our hobby. The activity (or rather lack thereof) in this forum mirrors what's happening in the industry. It's almost become a ghost town. I'm guilty, as I no longer check the forum several times a day. Nowadays, if I check it more than twice a week that would be a lot.

 

[Carabimero]

I'm 52 and for me there is no life after disc-based media. I have never streamed. I don't have Netflix. You can pry my discs from my cold dead hands.