How Long Until DVD Ceases Production?

I know how it is. I use an HP Elitebook. Their consumer laptops are trash, but the Elitebooks are rugged, and most importantly to me, repairable. I've taken mine apart to clean the fan, a procedure that takes a minute, where a consumer laptop it's a hour or more. Heat kills laptops, and nothing generates heat in a laptop like clogged fans, and nothing causes clogs like running a laptop on a blanket.

 

"Die" is kind of an all-or-nothing word. The reality is that a lot of pressing plants have shut down, workers have been laid off, and the RIAA continues to report slackening sales. It may never die completely, but if it's less than 10% of where it was 20 years ago, I'd say for practical purposes, it's dead as a mass-market format.



I don't like the numbers, either, but I think they reflect the reality of what I see in stores and read in the trade papers every day. The music industry is not healthy.

https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/

The picture is every bit as bad for DVD sales:

Why 2015 Home Entertainment Figures Should Worry Studios »
Blu-Ray Struggles in the Streaming Age »

All of this is part of the big picture: that audio & video software is going away, and we're being pushed into an all-streaming world, whether we like it or not.

 

I think that's true, and I very much hope it will be true. I'm 100% on the side of consumers here, and I think people should always be given the choice of buying the movie or album or whatever on a disc, or streaming it via the net.

 

Fortunately I've got 98% or more of what I want on DVD/Blu ray already, and with what I see of new releases there's not going to be much I'm going to want to buy anymore anyhow, so all I need is a few blu ray players stashed so I have something to play my discs on until I die.

It is sad though that folks are sort of being lead away from possessing a physical form of media, once/if that is gone then there will be no restraints on prices going south and the consumer then will be stuck paying excessively for something they can't even own and call their own. I can understand the convenience of non hard copies, but the long term issues when that is not available may have folks wishing for the day when the could go and buy a hard copy of a movie. I just hope I'm not here to see that.

 

They'll be paying for a service (or a few) like Netflix with a flat monthly fee. The service will provide everything in its library at any time and for any number of views. Sure, there may be something specific that you want to see that may not be available (though it may come into rotation at a future date), but most people will just say, okay then, lets browse and see what is available that would suit me just as well (or access another streaming provider).

I too want to be in control of content I care about, so I can watch it at any time I want and not worry internet access, but that's just not the way it will be - you pay for the service, rather than an individual video. Music already works this way for the most part.

 

Agree highly. I refuse to own anything but Business Class and Ruggedized machines. I can repair them, they are sturdy and maintainable. HP EliteBooks are very fine laptops.

 

Those are my feelings too, especially points A, B, & C... Well said!

 

My sentiments exactly.

 

anyone who has Netflix ,knows they simply don't have a lot of great stuff ,and is no place to find movies

 

You're right, and the surprising thing I've found is that for many consumers convenience has not only trumped quality but also content. Sure, Netflix has their originals, but on the movie side of things people settle for whatever crap is available and don't even perceive going to a physical rental store to be an option anymore (in many places it literally isn't, but here in the midwest Family Video is still alive and well where you can find them).
Of course a lot of more discerning young viewers are torrenting what they can't find streaming elsewhere, as it is awfully hard for the studios' current options (which is usually paying $4+ for a digital rental) to compete with free, fast, DRM-free, and convenient. If they simply made more content available through established streaming avenues (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO) rather than attempting to create their own like many are doing at the moment it would go a long way towards curbing piracy, just like how Spotify has more-or-less actually succeeded at squashing out music piracy among the average consumer.
I guess it makes more sense to look at Netflix as a rotating selection of movies, more like a premium cable channel than the vast library of Spotify, and the price is low enough that maybe it's still providing decent value for the money, but the dream of "what you want, when you want it" isn't a reality yet, and it may never be if the studios determine it makes more sense from a profitability standpoint to force you to buy a DRM-ridden digital download or stream that can be taken away at a moment's notice. But if that's the case then piracy will remain rampant.

 

I personally find the online experience just as inconvenient in many ways. There are still hoops to jump through. Services like Netflix and Hulu have loading screens and splash screens I have to sit through. I might have to navigate through a few layers of menus to find the specific thing I want to watch. Sometimes the internet connection is flaky or the firmware needs updating. And others have mentioned, sometimes you can't even access content that you thought should be there.

 

Yeah...and let's just ignore marcel's points !

 

I can because they do not apply to me.

Simple.

 

Every single time I think of a movie I'd like to watch, I check Netflix and Hulu and not once has that specific movie been available!

Streaming will never replace having a good disc library.

 

I really just cant face filling my home with what I now class as junk. I haven't bought a 'video disk' for about 8 years now. I stream, go to the movies or rent a disk from the local library down the road for £2.

My DVD collection went to Oxfam years ago. You just need to realise that you don't need all that crap in your life. You think you do, but you don't. More to life than having stuff.

 

Ok...for whatever reasons that are good for you. Maybe you don't watch movies, maybe you have a VCR....maybe you even have actual film and projectors....or maybe having a disc and a player ARE simpler than the problems that can come about with streaming.

If you do stream...how can that be simpler overall ? If you don't stream...how is your 'application' of playing music or movies simpler ?

 

Chap, I watch a lot of movies. I just don't need disks. My 50Mbps ADSL and Fire TV box does what I need. It's great.

I'm not looking for issues, I'm just getting on and enjoying it.

 

Ok....so...you DO stream...and you 'go to the movies'...you can see anything at any time there ? Or you may 'rent' at your local library. They may not have what you'd like to see...ON DEMAND....like you can pick from your own collection as desired. You have to 'go to the library'...use petrol or take the time..or maybe you can have it sent to you thru the mail....I dunno. More hassle, more time, less choice...each of those 3 options you mention don't come near the convenience or choices you'd have with your own media. I see zero advantages.

 

Nor will..."going to the movies"...nor "acquiring from the library." Their choices may not match your 'own' library.

No...there's nothing like being able to pull out your own media and putting it in the player and watching....

 

Again I don't really mind what you think. I don't know where I said I didn't stream.

I dont see whats difficult about picking up a remote, flicking through some titles and picking one to watch. Going to the movies is a treat and a night out with my other half. It's not so much the movie its the night out. Going to the Library isn't a struggle as its just down the road as I live in the middle of a city. I go for other things. I just see what they have and pick a film if it tickles my fancy. It's getting out of the house and interacting.

That works for me so I don't see what your issue is. If you want to collect stuff, go ahead. Just don't ask to store it at my place. You seem really upset that someone exists that doesn't need to have 'stuff'.

 

Like daglej, I stream and go to the movies (two films last night, and four Saturday) but I often want to see a specific film, and streaming has failed miserably for that. I'm not kidding, every single time I get an itch to see a specific film, I visit a site like canistream.it and check the streaming status of the title, I find that it's not available, or only available for "rental" (at a price double to triple what the corner video store used to charge) or I can get it via Netflix's no-longer-hip mailed disc service.

Until I can see literally every film I can think of, streaming will not be enough.

 

I'm angry about "The Simpsons". So they stopped making DVD's in favour of streaming. There's just two problems with that: (1) It leaves me with an incomplete DVD collection and (2) Surprise surprise I can't easily stream the ****ing show in Australia because **** Australia, that's why! And I know my swears will be censored but I don't care because I am pissed off about it!

 

All I can figure is that for some inexplicable reason they want to force you into Bittorrent. Fox may not want to give you want you want, but the pirates are eager to.

 

As far as hard drives, I wonder when SSD drives will be more affordable in like 2-3 TB sizes? They're supposed to be much more reliable that magnetic drives, right?

 

Fox still puts out "Modern Family" on DVD but not "The Simpsons" - how is this logical?