How to make the Blu-ray relevant again

Interesting article on the state of physical media (movie wise). Nothing ground breaking, but still an enjoyable read...

https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/974-how-to-make-the-blu-ray-relevant-again/

 

Good article and one I agree with. I don't buy as much physical media but I do like to buy my favorites I'll watch again and again. I do like the criterion treatment. Unique art, a nice written essay, extras, and a great looking film. And I also agree a digital download is a nice bonus,cthough is HATE ultraviolet. I miss the days when an iTunes code was the download of choice in a bluray. Now I think only Disney includes iTunes. But I travel enough that it's nice to have the digital copy on my iPad.

 

Blu Ray is not relevant?

 

Explaining why there are so many new releases already in the pipeline through September.

 

How is Blu Ray not relevant? Until I can get a download that is the same video and audio quality as Blu Ray, I'll keep buying Blu Ray discs. I don't mind iTunes 1080p HD movies but the price isn't really fair imo for the quality you're getting.

 

Same here. I thought Ultraviolet was a huge annoyance. I tried to punch in the code for a movie I bought in the past and I got to a part where it wanted me to pay for the service to watch the movie I had already paid for. So annoying. Just give me the iTunes code so I can put it on my iPod Touch and hook it up to my TV. Another thing that irks me is when you buy Blu Ray and the iTunes code they give you is for the SD version. If I wanted the SD version I would have bought the DVD.

 

Since when is Blu-ray irrelevant? Streaming and digital downloads will always be limited in terms of content availability, and most people are still limited by their bandwidth.

 

More and more older movies being released in blu ray, yet it's a dying format?
Nope.

Until something better comes along for physical media it is video king. Granted a good deal of folks have gotten away from physical media, it's not the big seller it was, but blu ray is still a very viable, high quality format, and I'm thrilled to have quite a few in my video library.

 

Sales are collapsing, and fewer and fewer stores sell them. It's a vanishing format.

I saw 8-tracks die, I saw Betamax die, I saw VHS die, I saw cassettes die, I saw LPs die, I saw Laserdiscs die, I saw film die, and I'd say DVD is right on the edge and Blu-ray is headed down that same path. We are perilously close to a time of no physical media for anything... and that goes for photographs, magazines, newspapers, TV, film, music, everything. Whether we want it or not.

 

they don't do that anymore. newer movies we've bought from disney with an iTunes code, where it's blu + digital download, has been HD. Big Hero 6, Frozen, Planes, etc have all come HD.

 

true, but the guy's point is like cps, people are moving away from feeling like they have to own every single dvd they kinda like to have huge shelves of stuff. people are more selective about the physical copies they buy, and therefore put some effort into what's on the physical copies.

 

I hope you're wrong

 

It's in the studios better interest (if not ours) to do away with physical media because they can cut costs and get you to keep paying for streaming subscriptions or DRM hobbled digital downloads, so yes, physical media is on the way out (though not there yet, obviously).

 

One thing which will keep discs alive. Ever thought about the fact that reliable, unmetered, available Internet pipes of reasonable speed are in many places NOT AVAILABLE or one provider at best and expensive. Some areas, cellular data or HughesNet, WildBlue, or their ilk is all that can be had. Streaming full movies is not viable on the above. Assuming it can be done at all. Just quoting reality here for some. If you live just far enough away from a city. Or a neighborhood with few inhabitants, that is what you get.

 

Isolated pockets of internet inaccessibility won't matter one bit to the studios, but also the internet landscape will change over time (witness the expanding footprint of Google fiber). No one is saying that physical media will be dead in a year or two or even five, but it will become a relic in the next ten to fifteen years or so.

 

Wasn't there an article a few years back stating that record companies would stop producing cds by the end of 2012? Yet they're still being made.

 

So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end
But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction

I definitely see your point but respectfully disagree. Yes, many of the physical formats you mentioned died. They were mostly flawed and replaced by (imho) superior formats. If you were around in the early 90s (I know you were) you also saw the death of vinyl records. Or did you? There are many threads here, some as old as 10 to 12 years talking about the demise of CDs, not to mention SACDs. They're still making them and probably making SACDs in larger numbers than EVER before. Yes, physical formats have shrunken (grammar?) and will never sell like they once did. But it's my opinion that the market (for music, movies, books, etc.) has fragmented and will remain so for quite a while. Yes, digital is king for most things and downloading will continue to grow. But, unlike the flawed physical formats mentioned above, I think there will always be a segment of the market that appreciates physical media, thereby generating a market for these things. Digital products have their own, unique, set of flaws btw. I believe that once the companies producing these items realize exactly what their market is (witness Audio Fidelity and MFSL for example after the demise of DCC) we will keep seeing physical products and many will thrive. All imho.

 

Blu-ray isn't "irrelevant" but my understanding is that it's not doing particularly well, certainly not flying off the shelves the way DVD's used to or even VHS tapes back in the day. Regardless of one's judgment about the future prospects for Blu-ray, the suggestions the article offers all seem good.

 

In 2014 it was revealed that over 2 million people are still using AOL dial-up internet.

http://qz.com/245585/aol-still-has-2-3-million-dialup-subscribers-and-theyre-very-profitable/

 

Sounds like a lot when you throw that number out there, but think about it: that's less than 1% of the US population.

Anyways, I agree this was an interesting article (the one about blu-ray). People questioning the idea of blu-ray being irrelevant need look outside their bubbles (this forum being one of them) every once in a while. Most people my age (20s/30s) have very little interest in buying movies on any format, for example.

 

That's right! Blu Ray is not, but Blu-ray is!

 

That's just the AOL dial-up users though. If you check the US Census data from 2014 it states 78.1% of US households have high speed internet, but that still leaves a sizable chunk (primarily in rural areas) where streaming movies isn't an option.

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-202.html

 

Blu-ray is more relevant right now than any home video format in history. Consumers have more options than ever before, so sales figures won't tell the whole tale. I buy quite a few titles per year, but most blu-ray viewing are rentals from Netflix. I don't do streaming. I want the best hi-def picture and sound quality. I enjoyed Interstellar from Netflix just last night. Wow! No way will this one be come across so well without great picture and sound.

 

But how many of that remaining percentage regularly purchase Blu-rays?

While I love Blu-rays and have a decent collection, I know very few people who have Blu-ray players... and none have a desire to own them. Anecdotal of course but I find it telling.

 

That's my experience as well.

People need to realize that this is a message board full of audio-/video-philes and collectors. We are not the average consumer. The average consumer is fine with streaming Interstellar or watching it on DVD.