I don't like this new era of streaming

[Raven73]

I see fewer and fewer DVDs in stores and I don't like it. Not only that- many programs (especially on Disney + which I'm not a subscriber of) are not even made available on DVD. I miss the days when everybody around the watercooler could talk about TV shows, because everybody could watch them free on their TVs - now, this person has Netflix, that person has FX, this other person has Apple TV, someone else has Amazon Prime, or Disney + etc., etc. Another thing I don't like about streaming is that at anytime a provider can drop a program. When I bought a DVD, that show was mine forever (or at least the life of the disc). And what happened to special features? Are we seeing the end of the audio commentary?

[pahaK]

It's sad how better technology and easier distribution hurt the actual product. I hope it's only a painful transition, but who knows? I bumped into this short video few days ago, and it seems to fit here:

https://youtu.be/gF6K2IxC9O8

[gbgoodies]

I see fewer and fewer DVDs in stores and I don't like it. Not only that- many programs (especially on Disney + which I'm not a subscriber of) are not even made available on DVD. I miss the days when everybody around the watercooler could talk about TV shows, because everybody could watch them free on their TVs - now, this person has Netflix, that person has FX, this other person has Apple TV, someone else has Amazon Prime, or Disney + etc., etc. Another thing I don't like about streaming is that at anytime a provider can drop a program. When I bought a DVD, that show was mine forever (or at least the life of the disc). And what happened to special features? Are we seeing the end of the audio commentary?


I also prefer having the movies and TV shows on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want to, and not have to depend on them being available to stream somewhere.

One thing that I like about streaming is that a lot of DVDs come with an option for a digital download, and I've found that many people buy the DVD, download the movie, and then sell the DVD cheap at garage sales.

[Siddon]

Yeah we're definitely getting screwed couple things that really bother me.


"New" content has year plus delays so if you like a show you have to be prepared to skip years between seasons.
Streaming sites have terrible interfaces so finding old movies or different genres is hard...except for Netflix but they don't have anything old.
Certain streaming sites refuse to do physical releases which is what I've given as gifts...now I have to buy booze.

[Citizen Rules]

I don't know if this is a common problem with streaming, but I was streaming with Paramout+ and on several episodes I couldn't fast forward or reverse a show I was watching.. if I did, the video stream got stuck but the audio kept playing. That's a major headache.

[Raven73]

Hopefully DVDs will make a comeback someday in the same way that vinyl records have made a comeback.

[Stirchley]

I see fewer and fewer DVDs in stores and I don't like it. Not only that- many programs (especially on Disney + which I'm not a subscriber of) are not even made available on DVD. I miss the days when everybody around the watercooler could talk about TV shows, because everybody could watch them free on their TVs - now, this person has Netflix, that person has FX, this other person has Apple TV, someone else has Amazon Prime, or Disney + etc., etc. Another thing I don't like about streaming is that at anytime a provider can drop a program. When I bought a DVD, that show was mine forever (or at least the life of the disc). And what happened to special features? Are we seeing the end of the audio commentary?

If you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library whether or not the provider drops it. I don’t need special features & rarely watch them.

I also prefer having the movies and TV shows on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want to, and not have to depend on them being available to stream somewhere.

One thing that I like about streaming is that a lot of DVDs come with an option for a digital download, and I've found that many people buy the DVD, download the movie, and then sell the DVD cheap at garage sales.

Again, if you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library.

Hopefully DVDs will make a comeback someday in the same way that vinyl records have made a comeback.

Vinyl records are very much a niche market. Plenty of people still buy DVDs, including me.

[gbgoodies]

If you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library whether or not the provider drops it. I don’t need special features & rarely watch them.


I don't own any Apple devices, but I've read articles about people losing music from their Apple music library. I wouldn't want to take that chance with my movie library.

With DVDs, I don't have to rely on the streaming service keeping my movies safe.

[Raven73]

If you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library whether or not the provider drops it. I don�t need special features & rarely watch them.



Again, if you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library.



Vinyl records are very much a niche market. Plenty of people still buy DVDs, including me.

Not all streaming shows are available for download.

[Stirchley]

I don't own any Apple devices, but I've read articles about people losing music from their Apple music library. I wouldn't want to take that chance with my movie library.

With DVDs, I don't have to rely on the streaming service keeping my movies safe.

I hear you. I would hate that, but I have never lost anything from my Amazon video library & I’ve been with them for many years now.

[gbgoodies]

I hear you. I would hate that, but I have never lost anything from my Amazon video library & I’ve been with them for many years now.


There's a first time for everything, and I don't want to take any chances.

[Nausicaä]

If you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library whether or not the provider drops it. I don’t need special features & rarely watch them

They could vanish from your library. I remember the first time I bought a film off Prime and something like this came up and I hesitated before buying:

If I read this correctly off Amazon:

i. Availability of Purchased Digital Content. Purchased Digital Content will generally continue to be available to you for download or streaming from the Service, as applicable, but may become unavailable due to potential content provider licensing restrictions or for other reasons, and Amazon will not be liable to you if Purchased Digital Content becomes unavailable for further download or streaming.

[Little Ash]

If you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library whether or not the provider drops it. I don’t need special features & rarely watch them.

Again, if you purchase the streaming video it will always be in your video library.

Not all streaming movies are available for purchase. Netflix has a number of them, some of wish I could buy from... somewhere.

I'm pretty sure there is no guarantee that video will always remain in your library. I recall I once had an e-book in my kindle library disappear for like 6 months. I still don't know what was up with that.

I have also seen movies and books become unavailable for purchase remain in my library. It's been more often the latter than the former, but I wouldn't to careless and take things for granted on that front.

[Stirchley]

They could vanish from your library. I remember the first time I bought a film off Prime and something like this came up and I hesitated before buying:

If I read this correctly off Amazon:

i. Availability of Purchased Digital Content. Purchased Digital Content will generally continue to be available to you for download or streaming from the Service, as applicable, but may become unavailable due to potential content provider licensing restrictions or for other reasons, and Amazon will not be liable to you if Purchased Digital Content becomes unavailable for further download or streaming.

Interesting. Well, if they disappear, which they never have done, I will live with it.

[chongjasmine]

I am one person who do not think that the current streaming service is bad, but I prefer they allow us to download movies on our hard-drive and save them. I prefer to purchase downloads of movies and save them to my external hard-drives rather than purchase dvds. Sadly, no one offers this service due to fear of someone distributing the files illegally. Rather than streaming or dvds, I will have prefer movies downloads.

[BKB]

I see fewer and fewer DVDs in stores and I don't like it. Not only that- many programs (especially on Disney + which I'm not a subscriber of) are not even made available on DVD. I miss the days when everybody around the watercooler could talk about TV shows, because everybody could watch them free on their TVs - now, this person has Netflix, that person has FX, this other person has Apple TV, someone else has Amazon Prime, or Disney + etc., etc. Another thing I don't like about streaming is that at anytime a provider can drop a program. When I bought a DVD, that show was mine forever (or at least the life of the disc). And what happened to special features? Are we seeing the end of the audio commentary?

V-STOCK if you have one near you takes care of all the DVD/Blu Ray needs along with Books and Games too..

[BKB]

Not all streaming movies are available for purchase. Netflix has a number of them, some of wish I could buy from... somewhere.

I'm pretty sure there is no guarantee that video will always remain in your library. I recall I once had an e-book in my kindle library disappear for like 6 months. I still don't know what was up with that.

I have also seen movies and books become unavailable for purchase remain in my library. It's been more often the latter than the former, but I wouldn't to careless and take things for granted on that front.

I've purchased movies from AMAZON Prime and 3 months later, nowhere to be found.. Not sure what's up with that??

[matt72582]

Streaming sucks because connections freeze, etc., .and it's no way to watch a movie, that's supposed to be a fluid form of consciousness, a river of talent, hopefully. I also don't care for DVDs. One tiny scratch, and there goes so much of a movie. I like watching movies on TCM - no commercials, no freezing, and usually some cool documentary about the actor and/or director just featured, as well as some tidbits about the movie, although people who were involved are dying or already dead.
Lately, I have been watching (good) movies on YouTube, usually by finding the channel a great movie is on, and then giving the other movies a chance, just like I do here.

[Citizen Rules]

A good way to watch and find movies is to simply go to a search engine and type a year, then go to Video tab and Duration:Long...I find all sorts of movie that way AND I find all sorts of legal platforms to watch the movies...Search engines no longer include illegal streaming/download sites in their results, so if you see a site listed it's legit.

I just typed 1954 at DuckDuckGo, Video tab,Duration:Long...
I got these results:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1954&t=lm&iar=videos&iaf=videoDuration%3Along&iax=videos&ia=videos

Try it, it works on most all search engines not just DDG.

[Yoda]

Still torn. I agree that we lose something, maybe a lot of somethings, by moving so heavily to streaming. On the other hand, it's hilariously convenient and relatively cheap and 90% of the time, simply better for that reason alone. I expected to maintain a really strong connection to physical media, but I was wrong, I've moved to streaming to a greater degree than I had thought possible.

My only real concern is that the demand for the deluxe editions and all that stuff will shrink enough that they stop being made, or at least are made much more rarely. On the other hand, the stuff I really end up loving will, presumably, also usually be loved by enough other people to still justify that sort of thing. But it will be a shame for those marginal cases where it would have happened before and won't happen now.

My own behavior shows that I clearly think of this as, mostly, a good trade-off, though, whatever I might say while feeling idealistic.

[Jeff]

The pluses outweigh the minuses for me, but there is an effect on eyes and head i am finding, and am cutting down on my watching plans because of that physical discomfort.

[skizzerflake]

I can't imagine that the movie studios don't want to find a way to put the genie back in the bottle, like how horrifying it was to them when we all found out how easy it was to copy VHS tapes. In 1960, the only way to see a movie was in a theater, with a ticket. Now that movies "escaped" and we can find all sorts of legal and illegal ways to see them, part of the money is shut off. I don't think either us or they know just where this ends. The technology won't go away and short of some sort of authoritarian takeover of electronics, neither will "illegal" viewing and copying.

[Citizen Rules]

I can't imagine that the movie studios don't want to find a way to put the genie back in the bottle, like how horrifying it was to them when we all found out how easy it was to copy VHS tapes. In 1960, the only way to see a movie was in a theater, with a ticket. Now that movies "escaped" and we can find all sorts of legal and illegal ways to see them, part of the money is shut off. I don't think either us or they know just where this ends. The technology won't go away and short of some sort of authoritarian takeover of electronics, neither will "illegal" viewing and copying.Thank godness for screen recorders and uploaders:p I'd guess that the ease and low cost of streaming has made illegal downloading far less common and so not much of a problem like it was some years back.

[matt72582]

I think human behavior plays a role.. If one was at a theater, they wouldn't be able to minimize the YouTube video, pause, get a bite to eat, check the phone 80 times, etc.. As long as others aren't disruptive, I think I'd digest more of it.



Nowadays, I won't even watch a movie if I'm not well-rested. I'll even try to start the AC on early enough so it's cold by the time I start the movie, so I don't have to hear this.

[Stirchley]

Still torn. I agree that we lose something, maybe a lot of somethings, by moving so heavily to streaming. On the other hand, it's hilariously convenient and relatively cheap and 90% of the time, simply better for that reason alone. I expected to maintain a really strong connection to physical media, but I was wrong, I've moved to streaming to a greater degree than I had thought possible.


I probably feel the same way.

[Act III]

It's sad how better technology and easier distribution hurt the actual product. I hope it's only a painful transition, but who knows? I bumped into this short video few days ago, and it seems to fit here:

https://youtu.be/gF6K2IxC9O8

Well, its like, people without much skill or budget or people who dont take the craft seriously are now suddenly able to make their own movies. They dont have to buy film and the prices for HD cameras keep falling. Not much investment or training is required anymore. So, naturally, theres going to be a bubble like there was with the dotcom boom, that will eventually explode. The professionals must keep their own creations out of reach and seperate and really show what makes them successful. I believe it will be all sorted out within the next 10-20 years but in the meantime theres going to be some confusion and a lot of imposters fooling young starlets and young actors into their fold for good and bad.

[Act III]

A physical product is the one and only way to ensure lifetime availability of what you purchased into your library and also guarantee preservation of the film on some format. Diamonds are forever, digital files are not.

[Citizen Rules]

Do digital files degrade or wear out over time?

I don't think they do?...Any computer knowledgeable people out there to help answer?

[Yoda]

Technically all hard drives wear down, yeah. But they're relatively easy to backup and copy, so if you have a file on more than one drive and monitor their status you're usually pretty safe.

[Citizen Rules]

Technically all hard drives wear down, yeah. But they're relatively easy to backup and copy, so if you have a file on more than one drive and monitor their status you're usually pretty safe.Ah, always back up, good advice! Back in the day I had a hard drive die that took a whole bunch of vacation photos with it:(

[Act III]

Technically all hard drives wear down, yeah. But they're relatively easy to backup and copy, so if you have a file on more than one drive and monitor their status you're usually pretty safe.

Digital files naturally decompose on molecular levels, bits disorganize and the coding corrupts. This applies to all digitally stored data on hard drives, thumb drives, and solid state drives. I think that it was stated that digital data is good for up to 20 years. To keep a file from corrupting from inactivity simply open the file if it is read only or run the program if it is software, this refreshes the "charge" inside the ''cells'' that hold the data. You can set your PC to access all files each time you insert a thumb drive, this serves the same purpose.

I think of it like putting a poster in the sun. Over time the image fades until the paper is blank. Same thing happens with digital bits in your hard drive.

[Stirchley]

A physical product is the one and only way to ensure lifetime availability of what you purchased into your library and also guarantee preservation of the film on some format. Diamonds are forever, digital files are not.

DVDs are only as good as one’s dvd player. It’ll be too bad if dvd drives phase out totally as they’ve done with computers, which no longer have a drive. Which I find very annoying.

[Act III]

DVDs are only as good as one’s dvd player. It’ll be too bad if dvd drives phase out totally as they’ve done with computers, which no longer have a drive. Which I find very annoying.

DVDs arent forever either and have a relatively short life of 20-30 years max. There needs to be a high quality storage method that can keep a movie replayable for 100 years. Something tough and enduring.

[BKB]

DVDs arent forever either and have a relatively short life of 20-30 years max. There needs to be a high quality storage method that can keep a movie replayable for 100 years. Something tough and enduring.

Yeah, it's called keeping it in a DVD Case and you shouldn't have a problem going forward plus, it wouldn't hurt to clean the discs too along with the Blu Ray Players

[landofthelost]

I like the convenience of streaming any tv show at the touch of a button.

[Iroquois]

I like the convenience of streaming any tv show at the touch of a button.

I doubt you can just stream "any" show anymore - OP already mentioned how shows are now scattered across many different services and then there are the shows that simply aren't available anywhere.

[Yoda]

Every generation has to reinvent half the things the previous ones invented and relearn half the things the previous ones learned.

We have now more or less reinvented cable, albeit with a few modest convenience upgrades.

We sure got to burn through a lot of venture capital cash though for a few years watching all that stuff super cheap, though. Wheeee.

[Citizen Rules]

I like the convenience of streaming any tv show at the touch of a button.If it works for you great, you're lucky.

I only recently started streaming shows and it's been a bag of mixed results. Example, I wanted to watch all 5 seasons of the original The Odd Couple. It's not like it's an obscure show from the past and yes it's available to stream. I was able to stream it for free, with commercials, on Pluto. Only when I was done watching all 5 seasons I went back and compared the episodes count to what IMDB had listed and for some reason there were dozens of missing episodes on Pluto.

I searched and seen it was on pay-for-streaming on Paramount+ which I'd used in the past to stream all the episodes of the original The Love Boat and without commercials. So I re-signed up for Paramount+ only to find out that The Odd Couple was still missing a bunch of episodes and despite the fact that I was paying to stream I still had to endure a ton of commercials in each episode, ugh. After four days I cancelled my subscription to Paramount+.

Then I went old fashion, I borrowed the The Odd Couple from my library....Voilà now I have all the episodes from seasons 1,2,3 and 5 along with special features. Unfortunately somebody had lost season 4 of The Odd Couple and my library only had one copy of it. So now I'm scouring the depths of foreign websites looking for the missing episodes of this American classic show. Why do things have this damn hard.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Your Odd Couple story reminds of what I thought was a great mystery in that I could never find the fourth season of The Twilight Zone. Tried on different services until I found it on Freevee. Turns out all the S4 episodes were an hour long instead of the usual 30 minutes. I'll have to get around to watching it one of these days. If only for comparisons sake.

[Citizen Rules]

Your Odd Couple story reminds of what I thought was a great mystery in that I could never find the fourth season of The Twilight Zone. Tried on different services until I found it on Freevee. Turns out all the S4 episodes were an hour long instead of the usual 30 minutes. I'll have to get around to watching it one of these days. If only for comparisons sake.I'd used Freevee and liked it. For a free services the commercial breaks were small and quick. I didn't know they had the 4th season of The Twilight Zone. One of these days I'm going to revisit all of TZ episodes. I last watched TZ a couple of years ago, great show! One my favorites.

[seanc]

Every generation has to reinvent half the things the previous ones invented and relearn half the things the previous ones learned.

We have now more or less reinvented cable, albeit with a few modest convenience upgrades.

We sure got to burn through a lot of venture capital cash though for a few years watching all that stuff super cheap, though. Wheeee.

Your “congratulations you reinvented cable” quote from a few years back always pops in my head when these streaming conversations come up. Don’t know if you remember saying that before.

Streaming is far from perfect, but when I think about what’s available to me in the blink of an eye, compared to what was available to me when I was a kid. I mean, how in the world could I ever complain. I often talk about how I wish I had started digging into film at an earlier age because so many mofos are where I am now in their late teens early twenties. Realistically though, I didn’t have access to probably 2/3 of what I have watched in the last decade. Go back a generation to my parents and they had no home video.

There are always things to discuss about the state of media but to go backwards? I don’t see how anyone who loves movies could want that.

[Citizen Rules]

...There are always things to discuss about the state of media but to go backwards? I don’t see how anyone who loves movies could want that.Did someone suggest going backwards in regards to movies? I didn't see that said.

[seanc]

Did someone suggest going backwards in regards to movies? I didn't see that said.

To be honest I didn’t read back through the thread very far but “I hate this new era of streaming” definitely implied some things to me.

[Yoda]

Your “congratulations you reinvented cable” quote from a few years back always pops in my head when these streaming conversations come up. Don’t know if you remember saying that before.
I do, yeah, I actually went looking for that before I posted my reply but didn't find it quickly and gave up.

Streaming is far from perfect, but when I think about what’s available to me in the blink of an eye, compared to what was available to me when I was a kid. I mean, how in the world could I ever complain. I often talk about how I wish I had started digging into film at an earlier age because so many mofos are where I am now in their late teens early twenties. Realistically though, I didn’t have access to probably 2/3 of what I have watched in the last decade. Go back a generation to my parents and they had no home video.
Yeah, the wild west of streaming is still better, on net. And I'm confident it'll be better in the long run, for sure. It's just not the super cheap content utopia everyone weirdly thought it might be, which I think should've been pretty obvious even at the time. It's better in lots of ways, it's just gonna, ya' know, still cost plenty of money. And all the stuff people thought was so stupid or unreasonable (or, for the really intellectually lazy, just "greedy") about cable turns out to be a perfectly sensible and reasonable business model, which is a big part of the reason it came to be in the first place.

[Citizen Rules]

To be honest I didn’t read back through the thread very far but “I hate this new era of streaming” definitely implied some things to me.Yeah, I can see the title as saying something like that.

I think most post are people just talking about their favorite methods of watching movies. Myself I could never go all DVD, my god that would cost a fortune, especially for this poor boy. I watch about 350 movies a year...the obscure war movie I watched last night, The Frogmen (1951) is $19.48 for the DVD at Amazon, times that by 350 and...ouch!

[Little Ash]

I do, yeah, I actually went looking for that before I posted my reply but didn't find it quickly and gave up.


Yeah, the wild west of streaming is still better, on net. And I'm confident it'll be better in the long run, for sure. It's just not the super cheap content utopia everyone weirdly thought it might be, which I think should've been pretty obvious even at the time. It's better in lots of ways, it's just gonna, ya' know, still cost plenty of money. And all the stuff people thought was so stupid or unreasonable (or, for the really intellectually lazy, just "greedy") about cable turns out to be a perfectly sensible and reasonable business model, which is a big part of the reason it came to be in the first place.


I do wonder how things are going to shake out over the next decade in terms of what survives, how much it costs, and their selection.


And what will be the state of ads on steaming in the future. Will they come to dominate Netflix?


I mostly care about this as spillover effects to the streaming services I do subscribe to and care about. (I suspect criterion would never go the ad route, but how much will the service cost in the future and will they still be overflowing with movies they've licensed from other distributers and such).

[Little Ash]

Ah, always back up, good advice! Back in the day I had a hard drive die that took a whole bunch of vacation photos with it:(


You could always look into setting up a RAID (or getting a dedicated multi-disk storage device that easily supports setting one up on installation).

[Citizen Rules]

You could always look into setting up a RAID (or getting a dedicated multi-disk storage device that easily supports setting one up on installation).I sorta have that, though not RAID. I have a 4tb hd in my computer strictly for storage and another 4tb hd for backup of the first one and a 5tb ssd portable for double back ups. I use a utility called Grsync to do all the back ups, it's really neat and configurable. Just did that yesterday actually.

[Yoda]

Update in the "we're just reinventing cable" saga:

Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus (https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/15/24131034/disney-plus-fast-channels-streaming)

The revamped Disney Plus app could soon feature always-on channels dedicated to Star Wars and Marvel shows, according to a report from The Information. The channels, which are reportedly similar to those on free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto or Tubi, could take away the choice when it comes to picking out what to watch next.

In addition to Star Wars and Marvel series, Disney’s lineup of channels could feature stations that continuously stream Disney’s classic animated films or movies from Pixar, The Information reports. Even though viewers would need a Disney Plus subscription to tune in to the channels, they will likely still contain ads — just like traditional television.

[ActionRocks]

I love DVDs. The hyping up in the menus, and the special features made getting them worthwhile.
But DVD has been outdated since like what 2012?

[Citizen Rules]

I love DVDs. The hyping up in the menus, and the special features made getting them worthwhile.
But DVD has been outdated since like what 2012?You can still buy and play DVDs. One day all movies will be sold digitally which would obsolete not only DVDs but BluRays too. However if you have a worker player and some DVDs one can keep watching them. The DVD/BluRays I have, I'm keeping!

[Stirchley]

You can still buy and play DVDs. One day all movies will be sold digitally which would obsolete not only DVDs but BluRays too. However if you have a worker player and some DVDs one can keep watching them. The DVD/BluRays I have, I'm keeping!

I’m surprised how many movies Amazon has which are available only on dvd.

[Citizen Rules]

I’m surprised how many movies Amazon has which are available only on dvd.Yup, not everything can be streamed, especially old and obscure movies.

[Stirchley]

Yup, not everything can be streamed, especially old and obscure movies.

I would say the majority are not that old.

[Citizen Rules]

I would say the majority are not that old.Interesting, it must have to do with the cost to Amazon of buying the rights to those movies to stream them.

[ActionRocks]

You can still buy and play DVDs. One day all movies will be sold digitally which would obsolete not only DVDs but BluRays too. However if you have a worker player and some DVDs one can keep watching them. The DVD/BluRays I have, I'm keeping!
NOT DIGITALLY I NEED MY SPECIAL FEATURES

[Citizen Rules]

NOT DIGITALLY I NEED MY SPECIAL FEATURESI hear ya! Loved those extra features on DVD/BluRay.

[Stirchley]

I hear ya! Loved those extra features on DVD/BluRay.

For some reason, I can live without the extras. Even watching Bullitt last week I skipped the extras.

[Yoda]

I used to love extras, but as life has gotten busier I care less and less. Haven't even exhausted the options on the films I own and really love, which would normally be examples of the "can't get enough" type of film where you devour the extra stuff.

[Yoda]

Also, part of this is that the quality of these things can vary wildly. So many of them are just fluffy nonsense, random interview scraps where actors talk about how great it was to work with such-and-such. Just a total waste of time. And you have to wade through a lot of it to get to the genuinely interesting behind the scenes stuff.

[FilmBuff]

A lot of digital releases still have bonus features, as do some streaming options.

[Citizen Rules]

For some reason, I can live without the extras. Even watching Bullitt last week I skipped the extras.I live without the extras too as I can't afford to be buying DVDs/BluRays. It was nice to see the extras back when I use to borrowed DVDs from the library or get them from Netflix.

Also, part of this is that the quality of these things can vary wildly. So many of them are just fluffy nonsense, random interview scraps where actors talk about how great it was to work with such-and-such. Just a total waste of time. And you have to wade through a lot of it to get to the genuinely interesting behind the scenes stuff.I don't care for extras on new movies it usually isn't anything I want to spend time on. But on old movie classics the extras are neat. I remember Gone With The Wind BluRay extras had screen test of other actresses for the role of Scarlett O'Hara.

[Stirchley]

I used to love extras, but as life has gotten busier I care less and less. Haven't even exhausted the options on the films I own and really love, which would normally be examples of the "can't get enough" type of film where you devour the extra stuff.

Same.

[Zotis]

It's interesting to see this topic come up so frequently. Whenever there's change this conversation happens again, just with a different object. The industry needs to adapt, or it will die. It's simple as that. I think most people pirate because they can't otherwise afford to consume the art, and if they make it more affordable they'll actually make more money in the long run. Movie studios need to put their movies on streaming services for reasonable prices if they don't want people to pirate them. I don't understand why artists even want to go the industry route in the first place. Rule number one for artists is don't sell out. They talk about working in the industry like it's the only way to make movies.


I'm waiting to see how AI will revolutionize things.

[seanc]

I think most people pirate because they can't otherwise afford to consume the art, and if they make it more affordable they'll actually make more money in the long run. Movie studios need to put their movies on streaming services for reasonable prices if they don't want people to pirate them.

I am amazed that this is still an argument for pirating. I can rent a movie without leaving my home for the same price I was renting them when I worked at Blockbuster in 1994. Inflation hasn’t touched it.

[FilmBuff]

I can rent a movie without leaving my home for the same price I was renting them when I worked at Blockbuster in 1994. Inflation hasn’t touched it.

I would go further than that. For less than what you'd pay for ONE movie on VHS at retail in 1994, you can get all the content you can watch in a whole MONTH from practically any streamer.

[seanc]

I would go further than that. For less than what you'd pay for ONE movie on VHS at retail in 1994, you can get all the content you can watch in a whole MONTH from practically any streamer.

💯 as the kids say. Or maybe as 48 year old men say now.

[Citizen Rules]

The problem with streaming for film buffs is that lots of obscure older stuff isn't available to stream anywhere. New films sure there easy to found to stream.

[Zotis]

I am amazed that this is still an argument for pirating. I can rent a movie without leaving my home for the same price I was renting them when I worked at Blockbuster in 1994. Inflation hasn’t touched it.
I'm not really arguing for pirating. I'm just pointing out what the situation is. Personally I try to find a balance between what I can afford to support and how much I want to consume. I don't think morally I can justify pirating at all, except maybe in the case of obscure movies that aren't accessible otherwise. I probably should just be more selective and only consume what I can afford to properly pay for. I probably will get there, but it's hard not to when it's so easily accessible.

[FilmBuff]

I don't think morally I can justify pirating at all, except maybe in the case of obscure movies that aren't accessible otherwise.

Or.... maybe movies that are in the public domain?

[Zotis]

I figured public domain went without saying. *wink*

[seanc]

The problem with streaming for film buffs is that lots of obscure older stuff isn't available to stream anywhere. New films sure there easy to found to stream.

Don’t you think streaming has done more to solve that problem than make it worse? The landscape of what’s available to me now, I wouldn’t have dreamed of it 30 years ago.

[jal90]

I think that, like any other form of distribution, there's good and bad. The offer and prices are definitely an advantage and most of them allow you to replicate something similar to the cinema experience with the right equipment. I use some and it's definitely cheaper overall than going to the theater. However, there are a few issues I have, first one being that similar or close is not the same and the theatrical experience still beats it any time of the day.

On the other hand, it has absolutely screwed up the previous models of distribution. And I'm not saying that just because it is something notably new, but because it is affecting the domestic release market very badly and also because the cinema release is being pressured by it. They have a difficult time working together.

And finally, the issue with catalogues. They are huge, expansive. And also a hot mess. Netflix, to put an example, has tons of stuff buried in its catalogue because their recommendation algorithms based on trends are essentially creating two categories: the hot new release that is number 1 everywhere... and a shapeless and boundless mass of titles that will never get a chance to stand out to the potential viewer. And there are two visible consequences of that:

-Everything is ephemeral. The immediate success these platforms define doesn't matter as much in an extended period of time, and gems of the week are constantly forgotten. The concept of cult classic is losing its significance and I'm afraid this trend may wipe it out entirely, because there is simply not a chance that anything in the catalogue has permanence.

-Something quite a few people have pointed in a far more eloquent way than I could, but that oddly I don't see mentioned as often as it should: streaming, so far, has not been able to fulfill the one purpose digitizing large amounts of content could. The streaming platforms have proved absolutely incompetent at preservation. And this bugs me A LOT, because they do have the tools, however they treat their entire catalogue as background, dispensable noise in a way that is unacceptable in the 21st Century after having experienced such big cultural losses due to lack of proper preservation in the previous Century. Some authors had to resort to piracy to have access to their own works when the streaming platform they were in just made them disappear and erased all legal trace of them. I know a lot of those insanely big catalogues is probably low-quality filler, but still, they have a value that is not taken into account.

[Citizen Rules]

Don’t you think streaming has done more to solve that problem than make it worse? The landscape of what’s available to me now, I wouldn’t have dreamed of it 30 years ago.Of course streaming has made availability of old and classic movies much more accessible to the public, no doubt about it. But for me what has made finding old movies much easier than 30 years ago is the internet, movie sites and a VPN.

[hownos]

I see fewer and fewer DVDs in stores and I don't like it. Not only that- many programs (especially on Disney + which I'm not a subscriber of) are not even made available on DVD. I miss the days when everybody around the watercooler could talk about TV shows, because everybody could watch them free on their TVs - now, this person has Netflix, that person has FX, this other person has Apple TV, someone else has Amazon Prime, or Disney + etc., etc. Another thing I don't like about streaming is that at anytime a provider can drop a program. When I bought a DVD, that show was mine forever (or at least the life of the disc). And what happened to special features? Are we seeing the end of the audio commentary?

i have embraced it and own zero dvds

[iluv2viddyfilms]

i have embraced it and own zero dvds

In my thread from a couple of days ago regarding Apocalypse Now, Holden Pike made comment how important it is to own physical copies of films that are especially near and dear to us. I haven't seen the theatrical version of Apocalypse Now in 20 years or even more and it's sad because whenever it does come on streaming it's the Redux version and the copy I did buy on DVD is the Redux version and I made the mistake about five or six years ago in not picking up the blu-ray of the theatrical version.

The problem with being completely dependent on streaming is that a person is subject to the "whims and winds" of the direction society is going and sometimes certain films or even literature become unfashionable and as such might be one day out of print and then for reasons that are not due to licensing, availability, etc streaming services may suddenly decide that it is not in the public's interest to view certain films.

Now I've seen High School English classrooms en masse ban the whole class teaching of works by Shakespeare, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and others. And my point in showing that is to demonstrate how any crazy thing CAN and DOES happen. Censorship, hate it or love it, is a real thing.

So it's easy to see how a film like say... Breakfast at Tiffany's, one of my all time favorite films, could one day "go the way of the buffalo" if it becomes out of print and then streaming companies and distributers feel that because it's outdated and because of certain problematic issues with the film, that it would best not fit into the spirit, guidelines, and standards of the streaming service, so they may choose to "respectfully" remove it from their services. This type of thing is not only possible, but is highly probable especially as more time passes between some of the great, though dated, works of the Golden Age of Hollywood into these more modern and enlightened times.

Perhaps the highest profile case is with the film Gone With the Wind and anyone with a bit of sense in their head can easily come to the conclusion that one can appreciate, admire, and stand in awe of brilliant art without necessarily endorsing certain thematic elements or messaging or interpretational stances of said work of art. Several years ago HBO Max which had the streaming rights to Gone With the Wind, removed it from its services, but THANK GOD, that decision received a lot of backlash and *I think* Gone With the Wind can now be found on streaming services. However, they just as easily could have "gotten away with it... if not for you meddling cinephiles!"

Another film, much to my dismay, that made the news for a major streaming platform, in this case my beloved Criterion Channel, of all platforms, using censorship and tampering with it is The French Connection when the powers that be saw fit to remove certain language that might have been OK in Popeye Doyle's day, but today is a cardinal sin and will send a filmmaker to the seventh layer of Hell here in 2024 if it's used in a new movie (unless your last name is Tarantino and you get a free pass) and as such is total justified in removing all utterances of in older films such as The French Connection!

So yeah, to me, that's the biggest issue that we're going to see and have seen and I imagine as more films stop being produced on DVDs and Blu-rays and regulated to the confines of garage sales and thrift store bins, and as the calendar continues to move forward and we continue to progress deeper and deeper into a second age of enlightenment... we run the risk of seeing more of this thing. Especially now as HUGE retailers such as Target and Best Buy have announced that they are no longer selling physical copies of films on DVD and Blu-Ray. This is a problem kids, a BIG problem for us fans like myself who admire and love the true and pure art form of cinema. It's why I went and bought a copy of Gone With the Wind on blu-ray even though I already owned it on DVD and the same goes for another film that isn't always fashionable in enlightened times, that being My Fair Lady. And though I own Breakfast at Tiffany's on DVD, I really should probably jump on Amazon to see if I can't find a blu-ray copy to order now that it's on my mind.

But yes, I agree with Holden Pike's sentiments expressed in my Apocalypse Now thread. If you value a film and hold it dear and want to have access to it, a person really should own a hard copy of it, if they find it.

I'm going to post a couple of links too about the stories I've mentioned for reference:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-52990714

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/the-french-connection-disney-criterion-b2353180.html

https://www.tomsguide.com/tvs/target-stops-selling-blu-ray-movies-heres-where-you-can-still-get-them#:~:text=And%20the%20company%20isn't,of%20the%20world%2C%20including%20Australia.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Oh and yes, while I do stream probably 90 percent of what I watch these days... three days ago when Pennies From Heaven showed up on the musical countdown, I just had to watch it as I love that film so much, so I threw the DVD in my XBOX and it played flawlessly and it's a near 20 year old disc.

And then two days ago I got the hankerin' to watch My Fair Lady so I threw on that Blu-ray. So yeah there's still a place for it and I still do use physical media.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Yeah, I can see the title as saying something like that.

I think most post are people just talking about their favorite methods of watching movies. Myself I could never go all DVD, my god that would cost a fortune, especially for this poor boy. I watch about 350 movies a year...the obscure war movie I watched last night, The Frogmen (1951) is $19.48 for the DVD at Amazon, times that by 350 and...ouch!

I'm going back through this thread and "catching up on it" as it's a fascinating topic for me, but when you wrote The Frogmen, that caught my eye.

Is The Frogmen that film that starts out with the new Navy recruits being interviewed and vetted by the sergeant right at the time of enlistment... an old black and white film? I can't remember exactly what youtube video it was, but I think it was one of those "call in the expert and ask what films get such and such right" videos and it must've been a military person that was heaping praises on to that film as being historically accurate.

[Citizen Rules]

I'm going back through this thread and "catching up on it" as it's a fascinating topic for me, but when you wrote The Frogmen, that caught my eye.

Is The Frogmen that film that starts out with the new Navy recruits being interviewed and vetted by the sergeant right at the time of enlistment... an old black and white film? I can't remember exactly what youtube video it was, but I think it was one of those "call in the expert and ask what films get such and such right" videos and it must've been a military person that was heaping praises on to that film as being historically accurate.It's been so long since I posted about The Frogmen that when I seen you post I thought to myself, 'what the hell is The Frogmen?' I thought maybe it was a 1950s b sci-fi or something like that. But I just watched the beginning of it and it starts out at sea on a Navy vessel. There's a team of special ops 'frogmen' aboard and they rub the regular Navy sailors the wrong way. I've never been in the military so I don't know if it was accurate but it seemed serious in it's explanation of how this special team of underwater demotion experts worked. It was black and white.

[Citizen Rules]

In my thread from a couple of days ago regarding Apocalypse Now, Holden Pike made comment how important it is to own physical copies of films that are especially near and dear to us. ...Agreed...I'd add that having a .mp4 file is another way to keep a copy of one's favorite movie that might end up being pulled from streaming. I'm still not a big fan of streaming and only do it rarely if I want to binge watch something. Streaming makes one too reliant on third party suppliers (the company the controls the list of movies and shows on their stream). I prefer to watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it.

[AgrippinaX]

Agreed...I'd add that having a .mp4 file is another way to keep a copy of one's favorite movie that might end up being pulled from streaming. I'm still not a big fan of streaming and only do it rarely if I want to binge watch something. Streaming makes one too reliant on third party suppliers (the company the controls the list of movies and shows on their stream). I prefer to watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it.

Well said.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

prefer to watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it.

For me, it's not even about that aspect of it, though for availability "in the moment" purposes that does make sense if it's not available on streaming at any given point during the rotation.

To me, if we go completely the way of streaming and no longer have access to physical media - films, books, music, etc... then we are allowing ourselves to be subject to any potential bans, censorship, mass editing of, and/or all out prohibition of certain films. There are organizations out there, that would be perfectly happy if no human being ever saw Gone With the Wind or The Birth of a Nation, if they were completely banned from streaming, production of hard copies ceased, and all existing copies of the films be destroyed, allowed to rot away, or be thrown into a trash heap and broken.

Again, I know politics are off limits, but regardless on how one feels about it, what I think everyone can agree on is that cancel culture is a very real thing and whether justified or not we have seen art, statues, books, and other material destroyed for one reason or another. Films are certainly and have been also fair play to cancel culture too.

[Citizen Rules]

...if we go completely the way of streaming and no longer have access to physical media - films, books, music, etc... then we are allowing ourselves to be subject to any potential bans, censorship, mass editing of, and/or all out prohibition of certain films...100% agree. It's a troubling scenario, as I do believe streaming, with all of the revenue it produces and ease of use will be the eventually end to physical media. That then puts in motion profit minded corporations as the one's who decide what will be streamed and what won't. I seem to recall that a well known streaming service removed some movies from their catalog to placate some who complained about certain film's contents.

[MovieFan1988]

You know what I don't like about this streaming era is movies being exclusively for that streaming service and there not released on DVD. I guess it's a marketing strategy but to me it's utter bull sh*t.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

You know what I don't like about this streaming era is movies being exclusively for that streaming service and there not released on DVD. I guess it's a marketing strategy but to me it's utter bull sh*t.

I didn't even think about that. The Netflix film Mank (2020, David Fincher) is my favorite film from that year and I don't even see it on blu-ray on Amazon or any place like that.

[LAMb EELYAK]

Two of my favorites from 2022 have this problem. Prime's Thirteen Lives and especially Netflix's The Wonder might never be released.

[MovieFan1988]

Two of my favorites from 2022 have this problem. Prime's Thirteen Lives and especially Netflix's The Wonder might never be released.

Same here, I got this problem with Totally Killer for Prime, there's physical copies out there on the net but they are bootleg versions from Amazon and Etsy which I wouldn't trust those.

[hownos]

Not to mention all the old tv shows that are available on streaming that would never be on cable.

[Citizen Rules]

Not to mention all the old tv shows that are available on streaming that would never be on cable.But you can't always buy then on DVD or BluRay. I wanted to buy the complete set of the original Love Boat series but only the first four seasons are available. They release one season a year but by the time they got to the fifth season they must have decided it was more profitable to sell the rights to the show to streaming services. Which does such because not all streaming services will show all episodes.

[MovieMeditation]

Admittedly, it’s been a long time since I bought a physical copy of a movie. However, I own many many Blu-rays and 4K discs and if you ask me if I prefer physical or digital I would always pick digital.

Physical is also just so much simpler. The digital world of streaming is a crazy place. So many services, so many movies coming and going and it’s difficult to make sense of it all. When I own a physical copy I own it. A digital service cannot beat that.

I wouldn’t mind having digital copies of my discs, it’s mostly the whole streaming service thing I have a dislike towards.

[Citizen Rules]

Admittedly, it’s been a long time since I bought a physical copy of a movie. However, I own many many Blu-rays and 4K discs and if you ask me if I prefer physical or digital I would always pick digital.

Physical is also just so much simpler. The digital world of streaming is a crazy place. So many services, so many movies coming and going and it’s difficult to make sense of it all. When I own a physical copy I own it. A digital service cannot beat that.

I wouldn’t mind having digital copies of my discs, it’s mostly the whole streaming service thing I have a dislike towards.They should be easy to rip to a .mp4 file if you have a computer with an optical drive. I recently got rid of a bunch of DVDs but ripped which ones I wanted to keep as a file.

[MovieFan1988]

But you can't always buy then on DVD or BluRay. I wanted to buy the complete set of the original Love Boat series but only the first four seasons are available. They release one season a year but by the time they got to the fifth season they must have decided it was more profitable to sell the rights to the show to streaming services. Which does such because not all streaming services will show all episodes.

The same for the Simpsons, once they stopped at Season 20, they decided to stop the DVDs, which is a shame because I would like Seasons 21 to future seasons to my DVD collection.

[Citizen Rules]

The same for the Simpsons, once they stopped at Season 20, they decided to stop the DVDs, which is a shame because I would like Seasons 21 to future seasons to my DVD collection.Not that I'm saying streaming sucks, because the only way I could watch all of The Love Boat tv series was with streaming. But yeah it's too bad you can't buy season 21 of the Simpsons.

[FilmBuff]

Not that I'm saying streaming sucks, because the only way I could watch all of The Love Boat tv series was with streaming. But yeah it's too bad you can't buy season 21 of the Simpsons.

You can't buy season 21 in a physical format, but you could buy it digitally and download it somewhere safe.

[Citizen Rules]

You can't buy season 21 in a physical format, but you could buy it digitally and download it somewhere safe.That's a good solution.

[Corax]

I don't condone piracy, but I understand it.

The greater disappointment of it all is that they have to keep cranking out more and more spectacles to keep us stunned in front of screens binging. All this content and we're still not content.

[hownos]

But you can't always buy then on DVD or BluRay. I wanted to buy the complete set of the original Love Boat series but only the first four seasons are available. They release one season a year but by the time they got to the fifth season they must have decided it was more profitable to sell the rights to the show to streaming services. Which does such because not all streaming services will show all episodes.

Three series I never heard of before finding them on free streaming services:

Thriller (1960-62)
The Outer Limits (1963-65)
One Step Beyond (1959-61)

[MovieGal]

Three series I never heard of before finding them on free streaming services:

Thriller (1960-62)
The Outer Limits (1963-65)
One Step Beyond (1959-61)

Wait, you are close to my age and I REMEMBER The Outer Limits from when I was a preteen. They played it here in the States.

[Citizen Rules]

Three series I never heard of before finding them on free streaming services:

Thriller (1960-62)
The Outer Limits (1963-65)
One Step Beyond (1959-61)You never heard of The Outer Limits (1963-65)? I have to admit I've not heard of the other two series myself.

[hownos]

Wait, you are close to my age and I REMEMBER The Outer Limits from when I was a preteen. They played it here in the States.

This is one of the differences between Canada and the US. These shows just didn't get played here in Canada. One of those things.

[Citizen Rules]

Wait, you are close to my age and I REMEMBER The Outer Limits from when I was a preteen. They played it here in the States.My mom told me The Outer Limits scared the crap out of me...I must have been in diapers:eek:

[MovieGal]

My mom told me The Outer Limits scared the crap out of me...I must have been in diapers:eek:

I didn't find it scary. Just interesting story telling.

[Citizen Rules]

I didn't find it scary. Just interesting story telling.As an adult I loved that series. I have it on DVD.

[hownos]

You never heard of The Outer Limits (1963-65)? I have to admit I've not heard of the other two series myself.

Not till the 90s when they did the remake.

[Citizen Rules]

Not till the 90s when they did the remake.I like those too. Now that is something I might stream because I don't want to buy them but I do want to see them.

[I_Wear_Pants]

Streaming seems nice until you think about it. Then it becomes a trepidatious mess. I don't pay for them because I know that, at any point in time, the movie or show I've enjoyed on the streaming platform can be taken down. Then I'll have to pay for it to watch it ever again, so why pay for something I don't get to keep?

I use Freevee and Tubi, and yes they have adverts, and I'm okay with those because I don't mind spending 90 seconds every fifteen minutes on ads when I do that with TV anyway and then I don't pay anything and I can watch what I want. It works perfectly for me and I can spend money on things I get to keep. I have a consistent, albeit tiny, stream of money, so I decided that streaming services won't get any of it. Well... at the moment.

[MovieGal]

My only issue is I pay for 6 but have 9 streaming service ( my daughter pays for 3), and I feel every week should be a new movie, recently released. They can go for weeks without anything new.

[FilmBuff]

This is one of the differences between Canada and the US. These shows just didn't get played here in Canada. One of those things.

https://usagif.com/wp-content/uploads/gify/blame-canada-usagif-animation-4.gif

;) :p

[hownos]

https://usagif.com/wp-content/uploads/gify/blame-canada-usagif-animation-4.gif

;) :p

exactly :)

[iluv2viddyfilms]

This coming Wednesday I'm moving to Canada in order to blame them in person!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip5OWcoE6GE

[Siddon]

Three series I never heard of before finding them on free streaming services:

Thriller (1960-62)
The Outer Limits (1963-65)
One Step Beyond (1959-61)

Get yourself a region free DVD player and go on EBAY because at some point they are going to be gone

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

Night Gallery (1969)
Circle of Fear (1972)
Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
Hammer (1980)
Tales from the Dark Side (1983)
Tales From the Crypt (1989)
Are You Afraid of the Dark (1990)
Eerie Indiana (1991)
American Gothic (1995)

[MovieFan1988]

You know another thing that annoys me about streaming is when you have a movie series scattered on all different streaming services. For example, the Halloween series,

Halloween 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 - AMC Plus

Halloween 6 - Paramount Plus - When it was free last month I think this was on AMC plus also.

Halloween Remake 1 and 2 - Peacock

Halloween 2018 - Netflix

Halloween Kills - Peacock

Halloween Ends - Starz

Why can't this be like the Friday the 13th series where most of them are on Paramount Plus.

I guess it's all about streaming rights, even when you watch a movie (not all do this) on AMC Plus, there's this message that pops up saying something like "This film contains limited adds due to streaming rights"

[LeBoyWondeur]

Streaming seems nice until you think about it. Then it becomes a trepidatious mess. I don't pay for them because I know that, at any point in time, the movie or show I've enjoyed on the streaming platform can be taken down. Then I'll have to pay for it to watch it ever again, so why pay for something I don't get to keep?
You also can't keep what you've watched on television unless you record it (commercial breaks included, of course).

I only buy DVDs of films and series that have significant re-watch value, I don't need to have a physical or digital copy of everything I've watched.
As long as streaming doesn't interfere with the availability of hard copies of films that I want to have then it's all fine with me. Besides, I often watch a film on internet (streaming or youtube) before I decide to buy the DVD.

Right now I'm more concerned about the trend of "bluray only" adapted by various home media distribution companies.

[FilmBuff]

Right now I'm more concerned about the trend of "bluray only" adapted by various home media distribution companies.

I think it's only natural, as almost everyone who still uses physical media has at least a blu-ray player.

For me, it's blu-ray and 4k players, and the blu-ray has support for 3D discs.

[hownos]

Get yourself a region free DVD player and go on EBAY because at some point they are going to be gone

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

Night Gallery (1969)
Circle of Fear (1972)
Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
Hammer (1980)
Tales from the Dark Side (1983)
Tales From the Crypt (1989)
Are You Afraid of the Dark (1990)
Eerie Indiana (1991)
American Gothic (1995)

these free streaming services are adding more product than ever.

[FilmBuff]

these free streaming services are adding more product than ever.

That is true, but there is also a lot of stuff that's not streaming anywhere.

And even when it is, it can be pulled at any time, you never know!

[LeBoyWondeur]

almost everyone who still uses physical media has at least a blu-ray player.
You're right about the "almost" part: I don't have one.
Even if I'd replace my computer DVD player with a bluray player then it still takes a lot of tech-savvy hassle to watch the film. Things shouldn't be that difficult in this day and age.
I also hate the bluray packaging, especially when the case only uses two thirds for the artwork.
They're ugly little things that look horrible on a shelf.

Actually I do own one film on bluray because it's the only version in good picture quality, so I guess that bluray player is going to happen anyway. But I'm not in a hurry.

[Citizen Rules]

Any fans of mp4 here? It takes very little room:D

[LeBoyWondeur]

You don't miss the feeling of holding that precious film in your hands?
I think it's an object of art, just like a painting or sculpture. OK it's not exactly the same, but you know what I mean.

[I_Wear_Pants]

You also can't keep what you've watched on television unless you record it (commercial breaks included, of course).

I only buy DVDs of films and series that have significant re-watch value, I don't need to have a physical or digital copy of everything I've watched.
As long as streaming doesn't interfere with the availability of hard copies of films that I want to have then it's all fine with me. Besides, I often watch a film on internet (streaming or youtube) before I decide to buy the DVD.

Right now I'm more concerned about the trend of "bluray only" adapted by various home media distribution companies.

That's true too. It would depend, I would say, on the intended rewatch desire of a movie or show. I am much more likely to rewatch a movie than a show, especially if the show is long or heavily involved. I get what you mean though. I also rarely watch much broadcast TV other than baseball or football, which lead me to not think about that. That makes sense though. Truth be told, a lot of the shows I watch I get through the library. Ah but that means I haven't paid for them; the library lets me borrow them for free, within a certain time frame of course, and then I needn't use dollars for them.

[hownos]

That is true, but there is also a lot of stuff that's not streaming anywhere.

And even when it is, it can be pulled at any time, you never know!

In my experience, I see more older shows showing up on streaming sites. I can't speak for new shows.

[I_Wear_Pants]

In my experience, I see more older shows showing up on streaming sites. I can't speak for new shows.

I've seen them come and go quite a bit. I've also lost access to the streaming services that let me access the shows, whereas I've never lost access to my Norwegian Blu-ray of Flying Circus.

Eh there are positives and negatives to everything, including streaming services. Admittedly I love the ease of use where I can just load up an Internet browser, which I do anyway, and then log onto a site, click a few links, and watch a show, whereas loading a disc can be a pain in the butt sometimes. I also purchase downloads for that reason; I just have to open my computer, click a few things, and watch my movie or show without the hassle of a disc. Is one better than the other? It depends on what your goal is.