This afternoon's technology trending question:

[leahbobet]

We have mp3 players, in which we carry our music in a software format and can download it as pay-per-track files.

We have ereaders and Kindles, in which we carry our books as a software format and can download them as pay-per-book files.

We have Steam and the PS3, which we can use to download our games as pay-per-game files.

...why in hell are we still buying physical DVDs?

(This, and the guy who first offers me the ability to select the 5 TV channels I actually want for $15 a month is gonna get rich. Just saying.)

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Because the quality of video on demand still sucks (comparatively)? I guess? At least, that was what we found when we watched VOD the other day--trying out Nurse Jackie. I was like "We can wait for the next episode and TiVo it, because I'm not sitting through this muddy VOD crap again." And the Netflix streaming movies are not QUITE there yet--slows down so much when my husband is playing WOW as to make it a bit painful, and I'd rather just wait until the disc gets here in the mail.

Give it 2-3 years, and we'll be there. 5 at the outside.

[ringwoodcomics.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's odd. I can play City of Heroes and run WI on the TV just fine. There are OCCASIONAL hiccups, but compared to dealing with commercials, they're nothing.

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

Because they're so afraid of piracy (not that they can possibly stop it) that they can't agree on common standards or means of distribution?

And I agree with you on TV, that's the main reason I don't have it. I'd have to pay the base fee plus one or two add-on packages just to get the five channels I'd actually watch.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a lot of why I cancelled too. I didn't want to pay $60+ a month just to get the two channels I actually wanted.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Because the DVDs have those nifty extras, and Hulu doesn't have all the shows I want to watch. (They have Chuck and Burn Notice, but not Criminal Minds.)

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Thing is, the pirate internets have all these things.

I wonder why nobody's tried to monetize this yet, unlike every other format. That's the actual question here.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I'm too dumb and lazy to venture out into the pirate internets, unless somebody I know already has the file and is willing to burn a DVD for me. (And really? You can get torrents of commentary tracks? I had no idea!)

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

The pirate internets are like Rule 34. They have everything.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Hurray!

And wait--doesn't the iTunes store have TV episodes for sale? ISTR pondering some B5 seasons some time back.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Oh, do they? I kinda don't hold with iTunes, so it's a gap in my knowledge.

[hominysnark.livejournal.com]

Because, unlike a Kindle, say, unless someone actually breaks into my house and steals my DVDs, they're mine until I break them or throw them out.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Well yes, and there are DRM-related issues around all those formats.

What I'm wondering is more why we've seen this move, for good or ill, in every other format, and yet not movies/TV.

[abidemi.livejournal.com]

"(This, and the guy who first offers me the ability to select the 5 TV channels I actually want for $15 a month is gonna get rich. Just saying.)"

Alas, cable companies will never do this unless they're forced to.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Then sadly, they will not get rich as pirates.

[mcurry.livejournal.com]

Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth....and also bandwidth. And with internet providers here in the states trending toward capping the amount of bandwidth a customer can use before getting charged extra, that one seems less likely to change.

Plus, of course, the 56" LCD television crowd isn't going to trade in their Blu-rays for tiny pictures and/or crappy quality.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Aha. Yeah, my provider went to a staggered bandwidth plan, and charge you more for more/faster, and then charge you more if you go over your plan...

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

This, and the guy who first offers me the ability to select the 5 TV channels I actually want for $15 a month is gonna get rich. Just saying.

-->HELLS YES. I desperately want an a la carte cable menu. I'd even take an "X dollars for basic, plus a la carte" arrangement. All I really want are Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and FoodTV!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's Food Network, Discovery, History, CBC, and one or two others over here. I don't use most of the rest.

[themachinestops.livejournal.com]

Because the quality of downloads sucks? (And yep, that goes for music too... and I've already made my feelings on ereaders/Kindle clear to all the internets.)

And some of us just like physical copies of things. I'm one of those old-timers (at 27?!) that still buys CDs and vinyl. The day they stop manufacturing CDs is the day I stop listening to new music.

I would really like if there were a la carte TV stations, though. But I've gotten so used to Netflix that when I watch "real" TV I get really angry at the commercials. And it's not like they don't now put out every single show two weeks after the season ends.

(Actually, Netflix does have downloadable content on some of their movies and TV shows. But you have to pay for them.)

[(Anonymous)]

People aren't, at least not like they used to. The reason Blu Ray is getting such a push is precisely because the "prestige" of movie ownership is dying, and they want to make it something exclusive again.

But the bottom's fallen out of the market, and there are countless new/used stores with endless piles of DVDs. Netflix Watch Instantly, On Demand, and Hulu are doing their part to kill the physical format as well.

The big hindrance before was a storage device to support streaming directly to your TV; now people can use their computer, their XBox, or one of Netflix's $100 boxes.

[ringwoodcomics.livejournal.com]

That was me, sorry.

There's also the broadband penetration question. We big city folks are used to having proper bandwidth wherever we live (and Netflix, Hulu, etc DOES support HD), but that's simply not the case outside major metropolitan areas.

As for a la carte programming -- it'll never happen, at least as anything but a death spiral maneuver. Because if cable companies can make you pay $50 instead of $15 to get what you want, why wouldn't they?

[ringwoodcomics.livejournal.com]

But also and, some distributors are less keen than others on going with digital distribution. Showtime is very smart; they put pilots for new programs up on Watch Instantly for ANYONE to see, sort of a "try before you buy".. and you can typically find most seasons of most of their shows on Watch Instantly.

HBO is MIA on any service outside of their own OnDemand real estate... partially, again, to reinforce the "prestige of ownership." HBO also charges like 80 friggin' dollars for season sets vs. Showtime's $35 or so. This may've worked back when they were the only real game in town, but I think it's going to bite them in the ass.