DVD and Blu-ray sales have got this bad! Universal and WB must team up to keep making them!

Universal, Warner Bros. to Form DVD Joint Venture as Disc Sales Keep Dwindling

 

Great news. And Universal owns The Keep right? Release that on Bluray.

 

The rub is, people who rely on streaming rely on plentiful bandwidth to always be there, and the content to be there. If you only Netflix your favorite and they pull it, you're hosed, while having a copy on "local media" means even if the power goes out in the middle of a blizzard you can dust off that old battery-powered portable DVD player.

Just like this Cloud Computing crap, you don't really "have" it unless you have physical control of it, otherwise it's "on loan" that can be terminated at any time with or without warning.

 

This is why i buy all my movies on bluray/dvd. Better to have it available and not use it, then to really want it and not have it.

 

I wish they reinvent the physical media somehow.

 

Unless they make some sort of thumb drive type physical media, not sure what they can do besides a disk.

What's wrong with disks? Small & compact & pretty much everyone has a player. Making a new format would pretty much need major adoption by the public and it would start the whole 'is it released yet' debate all over again. You want change just for change's sake?

I guess they could go to the thin cases to take up less room but those just aren't as sturdy as the current DVD cases. Blu-Ray cases are smaller so maybe make DVD's come in those from now on.

 

But how ?

 

Just make something small like a thumb drive read-only that has the movie/show/extras on it. Thumb drives now can hold more data then Blu-Rays can hold. Of course it will take a new player to plug it into.

 

Here's the problem with streaming: They don't get the Repeat Royalties from changing formats. If you were a Day One-er on the Beatles' White Album, you've had to buy...
>LP vinyl
>8-track
>audiocassette for the car
>CD when audio tape died
>MP3 for the iPod
>streaming

"This is a fascinating little gadget. It'll replace CDs soon. Guess I'll have to buy the 'White Album' again."
--Agent K, MIB

 

Only a miracle could save the physical media.

 

Don't forget the 8-tracks.  

 

Shoulda remembered that, with how K had an aftermarket 8-track back-fitted into his Crown Vic...

 

Gotta give WB and Universal credit for trying hard to save the DVD/Blu Ray format. That being said I don't think DVD/Blu-Rays will ever go away since like others said they still provide stuff you can't do on a streaming service. Like how despite kids playing video games and other electronics more often today,things like classic traditional toys won't really go away since they still provide stuff video games can't or like how plays and musicals are still a thing since they provide things and experiences movies and TV can't.

 

Simple player: just a netbook with a killer screen, a good sound card, good speakers and a ton of USB ports. Could probably use a smartphone motherboard as a base and have room for a full 2.1 with mini subwoofer...

 

I love streaming, but I still buy physical copies of films I know I'm going to want to rewatch. Especially since we've seen for years now that Netflix will allow deals to expire if something isn't getting enough traffic or the owners of said media will decide not to renew a deal with a streaming service for various reasons. No, I love the simplicity of streaming, but my physical collection won't be going anywhere.

 

When streaming sites provides bluray/DVD extras then we'll call it quits because unfortunately unless the studios do it on their official Youtube channels, no one provides behind the scenes stuff, no interviews, and no commentary tracks. Some people may not care about these stuff and they're fine with just having the movie, but for the fans and those who care about the making of these movies they're important to have.

 

or you could just buy the video digitally and keep it downloaded rather than relying purely on streaming (its what i do usually)

 

True, but most people are too Instant Gratification to think that far ahead, never mind putting anything on separate backup media. I've actually been so extreme as to, with client data for my business, to burn backup discs and ship them to a relative across the country so that no matter what happens here, one set or the other will survive and all I have to do is restore from the surviving set.

 

Lol, now I just want to know what movie is soooo important to someone that if/when they lose all power to their home because of a freezing blizzard, they'll still inexplicably dig out a battery powered DVD player to use to watch it. What an argument  

Haha, well yeah, because batteries never die... DVD players never malfunction... and discs never get scratched. Always perfectly steadfast & reliable.

I'm all FOR people continue to prefer tangible physical copies over cloud and/or streaming blah blah blah - I still collect hard copies of certain music & movie items too - but for christ's sake, don't use such hilariously ridiculous reasons like ^ that to try making your points.

I myself am in the middle. I understand the pros & cons for physical media as well as streaming, but my go-to preference for years has been multiple hard drives loaded with MKV, MP4, AVI, etc. files of my favorite movies that take up zero space. After lugging around over 6500 CD's and over 1500 DVD's for yeeeeears that I still have taking up room in my basement because I won't throw them away and no one buys this shit anymore, digital became essential and more reliable than anything. I own it like a DVD but stream it like a cloud, and it doesn't get scratched or removed without notice. I'm honestly shocked at how many people still DON'T do things this way.

 

amen to this