Discs Will Dominate Until At Least 2015, Says Study

[TheDickWard]

The lowering price point of rentals and lack of broadband across the country means physical media is sticking around for a while.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/red...wer-disc-23570

[Grimcicle]

Probably even longer. Physical media will certainly die out, but we're nowhere near that point yet.

[paaron46]

With more and more broadband carriers switching over to capped bandwidth I seriously never see physical media leaving. Bandwidth is a finite resource, and more and more carriers are realizing that they just can't let people download content all day everyday. Maybe it will go away, but I just don't see it happening anywhere close to 2015.

[Arkadin]

my main concern is retailers carrying the actual product, and also the selection.
the places to buy bds seem to be declining not increasing unfortunately.
of course there will be online etailers, but the brick and mortar situation is troublesome imo.

[twonunpackmule]

my main concern is retailers carrying the actual product, and also the selection.
the places to buy bds seem to be declining not increasing unfortunately.
of course there will be online etailers, but the brick and mortar situation is troublesome imo.

Yup. I couldn't get Tron in stores. I had to order it off Amazon. Mildly miffed because I had the free time to watch it that day.

[nmcmahan52]

i actually just went to sears to get the tron 5 disc since i had giftcard/coupons, they don't even have a bd section anymore......i mean it's sears but it used to be there and now it's not

[Ahab]

Yup. I couldn't get Tron in stores. I had to order it off Amazon. Mildly miffed because I had the free time to watch it that day.

To be expected since so many are looking to buy at the cheapest price. The brick and mortars simply can't compete with the online retailers. Same thing happening with books and music.

We gain in the savings but lose in the convenience.

[Ahab]

my main concern is retailers carrying the actual product, and also the selection.
the places to buy bds seem to be declining not increasing unfortunately.
of course there will be online etailers, but the brick and mortar situation is troublesome imo.

I'm troubled about it also, But then really have no one to blame but myself. I was too shortsighted to see what I was losing in order to gain a small increase in my purchasing power.

[Drag0nFly]

The real question regarding network-streamed content to me is this: even if the bandwidth was readily available and affordable do you want your filmwatching experience to be dependant on a network connection, and, perhaps more importantly, on content providers who at any time can restrict or change the terms of their service to you?

Only physical media will ever provide the level of control that I am comfortable with shelling out money for. The primary reason for content providers to offer consumers an on-demand network service is to limit the control they have under the guise of offering greater convenience.

[Krawk]

My dsl connection reports 17725Kbps Down speed and various speed tests show it ranges from 8Mbps to 18Mbps depending on the source. I would NEVER consider buying a virtual copy nor do I use netflix or other streaming services. The technology still isn't ready for a connection that is choke-free and the buffers aren't big enough to prevent a choke-free viewing experience. Besides, generally streaming services purposely compress the content more. The PQ on Directv is horrible, streaming services offer slightly better quality but not as good as a blu-ray disc!

[towergrove]

i actually just went to sears to get the tron 5 disc since i had giftcard/coupons, they don't even have a bd section anymore......i mean it's sears but it used to be there and now it's not

My local sears carried DVDs in the early days until the format took off. They sold them side by side with the players. Removed them when more locals carried them. Maybe that's the same issue with BD.

[Monty22001]

I say 2020 and beyond. By that time multi-terabyte holographic media with terabit data rates that can hold uncompressed 3D 4k stuff should be out.

Streaming is fine for older movies and TV shows for me, since I don't care so much about the quality. Also, notice you never get any extras on streaming either really. I'm sure streaming will become a bigger deal by 2015 and might be 1/3 of the market or more. Bandwidth costs though and the delivery companies have every motivation to give you the least possible amount of quality that most will find acceptable.

[Bouncy X]

i just got into netflix recently and its pretty awesome....for "rentals".

i prefer physical media when it comes to movies/show i do own or want to eventually own. i would never own some downloaded/streaming movie, there are just too many "what ifs". but netflix and the PS3 store (which is where i rent the new release stuff) are great to find movies you're not sure about or those you just have no interest in owning. if netflix didnt have such a big gap between new releases dates on dvd/blu and hitting their service, i'd just stick there.

but PS3 charges cheaper than my local video store so i definatelty dont mind downloading rentals. this weekend for example i will check out the new Tron movie. i usually just download the SD versions but this seems like a movie i should grab the HD version of instead. i'm in canada so i have a cap on my connection but thats just the second reason i never download HD. i'm just weird and figure if i find a movie i like and want to eventually buy, i'll get the blu-ray then it'll be a somewhat new experience when i see it again all pretty. :P

[MrAngles]

Once we see stores stop carrying CDs we'll have at least another 5 years with physical media dominating the video market.

[twonunpackmule]

To be expected since so many are looking to buy at the cheapest price. The brick and mortars simply can't compete with the online retailers. Same thing happening with books and music.

What are you talking about? It wasn't about a "deal." It was the fact BB didn't stock enough.