“The powers that be” aren’t doing some kind of nefarious thing here. Physical media is only worth producing if they’re doing it at incredibly high volumes. The smaller the run, the more expensive it is for each individual unit. Fewer and fewer people are buying, and there are fewer and fewer physical devices out there capable of playing the media.
For them, it’s a simple calculation of the cost of producing physical media, getting it from the factory to stores, paying the stores to shelve it, etc. vs. simply having a website with media files on it.
While there are some people who still prefer physical media, for the most part consumers also prefer just going to a website and clicking a button vs. driving to a store, parking, searching the shelves in the hope they have what they’re looking for, and so-on. In addition, as fewer companies put out physical media, it’s harder to find the physical media you want in the stores, so more people prefer to go online, which leads to less demand for physical media, fewer choices on the shelves, and more demand for streaming.
I’m sure the bonus of consumers rarely having a way to view a movie or listen to a song an unlimited number of times without paying is something the media companies also enjoy. But, the main reason physical media is disappearing isn’t some kind of conspiracy by the mysterious “powers that be”, it’s a simple profit calculation by accountants at Sony and Disney.
Or save them redundantly to several archive-quality hdds. Why have 20 blu-ray dvds for one copy of a collection when you could have 3 complete copies on 3 hdd. Both are life limited media, both will eventually require re-archiving. One has potential for mechanical failure, the other more likely to physically degrade. Pick your poison, or do one of each.
Yeah, but that’s not some massive conspiracy to remove them. They just don’t sell, like CDs before them. Blu-ray never really won its format war. It just staved off the execution of discs for a few years.
£25 for one movie is a hard sell when it will come to Disney+ in a month. Even more so when it can get you a VPN for 6 months and you can have it now.
Burn your “acquired media” to physical media now folks. The powers that be are purposely limiting physical media so the have an excuse to phase it out
“The powers that be” aren’t doing some kind of nefarious thing here. Physical media is only worth producing if they’re doing it at incredibly high volumes. The smaller the run, the more expensive it is for each individual unit. Fewer and fewer people are buying, and there are fewer and fewer physical devices out there capable of playing the media.
For them, it’s a simple calculation of the cost of producing physical media, getting it from the factory to stores, paying the stores to shelve it, etc. vs. simply having a website with media files on it.
While there are some people who still prefer physical media, for the most part consumers also prefer just going to a website and clicking a button vs. driving to a store, parking, searching the shelves in the hope they have what they’re looking for, and so-on. In addition, as fewer companies put out physical media, it’s harder to find the physical media you want in the stores, so more people prefer to go online, which leads to less demand for physical media, fewer choices on the shelves, and more demand for streaming.
I’m sure the bonus of consumers rarely having a way to view a movie or listen to a song an unlimited number of times without paying is something the media companies also enjoy. But, the main reason physical media is disappearing isn’t some kind of conspiracy by the mysterious “powers that be”, it’s a simple profit calculation by accountants at Sony and Disney.
instructions unclear, set fire to my entire DVD collection
Or save them redundantly to several archive-quality hdds. Why have 20 blu-ray dvds for one copy of a collection when you could have 3 complete copies on 3 hdd. Both are life limited media, both will eventually require re-archiving. One has potential for mechanical failure, the other more likely to physically degrade. Pick your poison, or do one of each.
Just the other day I learned about m-discs, so burn to that for archiving using your BR burner.
Never heard of them, had to look it up. Seems kinda a spotty record depending on the manufacturer.
No they’re not, hard drives are for sale everywhere and not being phased out any time soon.
I was talking about blu-rays
Why not talk about floppy discs?
Just because Blu-Rays are going away, does not mean physical media is going away. We have better physical media options, use them.
While we do have floppy disks, the storage capacity limitations do not make them practical in today’s era
I wouldn’t consider floppies superior to Blu-ray.
Genuinely curious how are publishers limiting physical media? I haven’t bought a blu-ray in a long while.
Exactly!
Not the publishers fault, for the vast majority it’s by choice and not necessity that they don’t buy physical media anymore.
Almost all big box stores are significantly limiting or completely removing physical media from their stores
Yeah, but that’s not some massive conspiracy to remove them. They just don’t sell, like CDs before them. Blu-ray never really won its format war. It just staved off the execution of discs for a few years.
£25 for one movie is a hard sell when it will come to Disney+ in a month. Even more so when it can get you a VPN for 6 months and you can have it now.
You should go to the flea market. No recent things but lots of choice for maximum 3€ the DVD.