[HN Gopher] This Is Why We Need to Return to Physical Media
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       This Is Why We Need to Return to Physical Media
        
       Author : indigodaddy
       Score  : 33 points
       Date   : 2022-10-02 16:29 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (nofilmschool.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (nofilmschool.com)
        
       | youssefabdelm wrote:
       | Or just use torrents cause none of these companies can get their
       | shit together...
       | https://images7.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED297/610d0083656...
        
       | mensetmanusman wrote:
       | Use the library dvd rental system.
        
       | ftyhbhyjnjk wrote:
       | And then they complain people pirate movies... why the hell
       | people wouldn't?
       | 
       | Not to mention, one movie is available with Netflix, another with
       | Disney, yet another with Prime and so on and so forth... how does
       | all this even make any sense from a customer's point of view?
       | 
       | We need physical media back. But, a little tweaked to modern way
       | of consuming media.
       | 
       | It would cost exorbitant amount of money for a single person to
       | watch all of what that person watches these days. You can't
       | expect him to buy physical media for all of these. Rentals help,
       | but, as again, you don't own them.
       | 
       | So, you can't afford to own all what you want, and renting is not
       | owning at all. So, what's the solution?
       | 
       | Maybe, movie studios should start with "cheap-to-rent-but-costly-
       | to-own" model initially when a movie releases, and gradually as
       | the time passes, the movie now becomes same price to own as was
       | to rent initially...
       | 
       | Streaming have sucked the life out of the entertainment business.
       | It needs to do go away.
        
         | indigodaddy wrote:
         | " Maybe, movie studios should start with "cheap-to-rent-but-
         | costly-to-own" model initially when a movie releases, and
         | gradually as the time passes, the movie now becomes same price
         | to own as was to rent initially..."
         | 
         | Aren't we seeing this exact trend already? Or are you saying
         | new digital movies should cost even more than $20-30 initially?
        
         | goosedragons wrote:
         | We need DRM free digital movies and we need better digital
         | goods consumer rights. Why can't I lend my digital copy to a
         | friend? Why can they just literally steal my copy of a movie?
         | And before someone says "You're just buying a LiCeNSe", yeah
         | that's the same as DVD and VHS but they couldn't come into my
         | home and rip it off the shelf could they?
        
         | js2 wrote:
         | > Not to mention, one movie is available with Netflix, another
         | with Disney, yet another with Prime and so on and so forth...
         | how does all this even make any sense from a customer's point
         | of view?
         | 
         | I started to watch _Valley Girl_ (1983) on my Criterion
         | subscription on Sep 30. On Oct 1, I went to finish it. Gone.
         | Can 't finish the movie on Criterion. According to Just Watch,
         | I can finish it on Amazon Prime. Maybe? I have Criterion and I
         | have Prime, but who's got time for this crap? I downloaded it
         | from Usenet instead.
        
           | indigodaddy wrote:
           | Yeah I remember seeing it show up on Prime. Then disappeared
           | for a month or two. Then back on Prime. Weird how stuff
           | disappears, if only for a few days/weeks/months. Happens on
           | HBO Max frequently as well..
        
         | scarface74 wrote:
         | Most movies are still released on Blu-Ray.
         | 
         | But there are very few movies that I want to actually own in
         | physical form to rewatch. If I did, I would buy them.
        
         | maegul wrote:
         | We might be stuck with streaming as a "medium" for the time
         | being.
         | 
         | In line with your comment, I was wondering what the modern
         | video rental would be. Blockbuster weren't just sub-leasing
         | their movies, they owned the physical copies. And any given
         | video shop could have an excellent collection in one respect or
         | another.
         | 
         | The modern equivalent might be independent streaming services
         | that legally own their video assets.
         | 
         | Don't know how viable that would be. But I found it useful as a
         | contrast to the present where we are still in a compromise with
         | studios in the wake of piracy.
        
       | IshKebab wrote:
       | Meh I'll stick with digital media and piracy for when they screw
       | it up. I feel like that's a reasonable compromise until they sort
       | out the laws so this sort of thing can't happen.
       | 
       | Returning to physical media isn't especially appealing.
        
       | iggldiggl wrote:
       | I've recently noticed that even digital purchases (in the sense
       | of a DRM-free download) aren't absolutely perfect in that regard
       | - the lack of a working second-hand market for digital downloads
       | means that a work being pulled from distribution is more or less
       | guaranteed to instantly become completely unavailable (at least
       | legally speaking - if you're lucky you can still find it under
       | the table through less reputable sources) from one moment to the
       | next.
       | 
       | With physical media on the other hand first of all stopping
       | distribution doesn't automatically mean recall of _all_ existing
       | stock from _all_ shops, and in any case there 's also the second
       | hand market to completely legally fall back to.
        
       | mikewarot wrote:
       | I loved Amelie, we saw it in the theater multiple times, I have
       | the MP3s of the soundtrack in my music folder, ripped from a long
       | lost CD.
       | 
       | It is _unacceptable_ that this great work of art is just _gone_
       | from the world.
        
         | indigodaddy wrote:
         | Bought Amelie a few years ago and it's still playable in my
         | Vudu library. Wonder if that was just a Canada thing.
        
         | basicoperation wrote:
         | Checking from the UK, it's available on Netflix, Disney+ and
         | Amazon Prime.
         | 
         | What region are you in?
        
         | scarface74 wrote:
         | It's available on DVD from Amazon.
        
           | mikewarot wrote:
           | Ok.. it's on it's way... perhaps in time for our
           | Anniversary.. thanks!
        
         | js2 wrote:
         | Sheesh, you're right. I own it on on DVD. And I'm positive I've
         | streamed it in HD in the past, but according to Just Watch it's
         | not currently available anywhere for streaming. Amazon.com has
         | the Blu-ray for $15.64 from the "Amazon Global Store UK" but
         | it's apparently the Region B locked version, so it wouldn't
         | play on my U.S. Bluray player.
         | 
         | Meanwhile, there's a remux of the Blu-ray on usenet that took
         | me 5 minutes to download. There, now I have it on my HTPC where
         | no one can take it away from me, and I didn't have to wait 2-3
         | weeks for it to ship from the U.K. and rip it myself just to
         | watch it.
         | 
         | Edit: I think I purchased _Amelie_ on iTunes a few years ago
         | but Apple makes it really inconvenient to search your purchase
         | history. You can 't do it on the web. You have to do it in this
         | horrible window in the TV App (macOS) or Settings app (iOS)
         | that makes use pick a year, then scroll through it, go back,
         | pick the next year, etc. No search. It's almost as if they
         | don't want you to know the movie went missing. Let's try a GDPR
         | data export. I should know in days... :(
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | imhoguy wrote:
       | and return to P2P sharing, as I struggle to find so many niche or
       | uncensored titles anywhere as they are not monetizable anymore.
        
       | lucidguppy wrote:
       | The last dvd I bought was Apollo 11 - just spectacular and I knew
       | it wouldn't be available elsewhere.
        
       | NoboruWataya wrote:
       | Totally agree about the many issues with streaming services, but
       | I don't see how physical media is the solution. It comes with its
       | own issues, principally waste. Surely a solution to this problem
       | would simply being able to purchase movies for download in a
       | common and lossless format?
        
         | rchaud wrote:
         | > Surely a solution to this problem would simply being able to
         | purchase movies for download in a common and lossless format?
         | 
         | This is not a solution because it reduces the price of the
         | media to $0. So distributors have no incentive to do this.
        
           | iggldiggl wrote:
           | On the one hand I understand that the circumstances of the
           | respective markets (movies vs. other media) aren't directly
           | comparable, but on the other hand
           | 
           | - eBooks are often (though not always) available without DRM
           | - to the extent that music is still sold instead of being
           | streamed, no-DRM is more or less universal
        
         | maegul wrote:
         | Surely waste is a problem with everything modern humanity does.
         | Surely there's an argument to be made that our waste budget
         | ought to have a dedicated portion for the arts?
         | 
         | Plus, what are the numbers on alternatives? How much "waste" or
         | pollution is a byproduct of streaming?
        
         | indigodaddy wrote:
         | But they would never allow that because they would say it
         | promotes ease of piracy even moreso?
        
           | iamdamian wrote:
           | What about a DRM standard that's legally required to be
           | portable across all devices and applications?
        
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       (page generated 2022-10-02 23:02 UTC)