Another great argument for physical media

Couldn't have said it better myself. Paying for five subscriptions a month in the future to access mostly newer titles doesn't seem appealing. It's just gonna keep getting worse as more of the big companies start their own streaming services.

If you like a movie/game/song, having a physical copy is definitely the best way to ensure your immediate, permanent access to it. No one knows what will happen to Google Play or Vudu in 20 years, for example. On the other hand, I have DVDs that are probably over 20 years old and they are in fine condition. I can still play them anytime I want on my PC/Blu-ray player/Xbox 360/mobile DVD player, no Internet connection required.

Yep. I agree 100%. I only buy my movies/tv series physically though. It's still the best quality available to date. Way too many subscription based services these days. I was considering getting Youtube Premium in order to watch Cobra Kai Season 2 but for $20 a month? Hell no. (Australian pricing.) I'll just end up getting the trial and cancelling after I watch it all. :P

I don't think physical media is going anywhere, I just think it is going to become niche...enthusiast. In ten years you might not be able to walk into a Best Buy and purchase any movie on Blu-ray, but you might be able to order special "physical editions" of movies online, or find them in specialty stores. Samsung might not be making Blu Ray players anymore, but I wager we will start seeing Kickstarter campaigns for "artisan optical disc players" or something like that :P

Streaming and online rentals are only going to improve in quality, so I think the fading physical media is just the natural evolution of the whole thing. Not everyone needs a superb experience, just a good one.

I dunno what backwards country you live in, but I'm from Australia and YT Premium is $2.63 AUD per month for me ;)

Physical media : Oil exploration, oil refining, petrochemicals, cutting down trees, higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

So no thanks physical media, you are the past.

Bring on streaming and digital - I’m done with the high cost of physical media.

We still have CDs somethi,g,that was supposed to be dead ages ago, physical isn't going anywhere. If you want the absolute best experience physical is where you'll find it.

HDD's are physical enough for me. If someone prefers optical discs I'm sure they'll be able to use them in the future, but it will be a more expensive option. Think of vinyls, they are still alive and kicking after like a century, although they're not exactly practical. I remember this DJ Gilles Peterson said when he didn't have any more room for his records he bought a new house!

You use plastic and rubber every day. You used them to make this post.

That video seems to be like the people who kept using a horse even though Cars was invented and a hundred times more usable.

Physical media will never die, there will always be those hardcore hipsters who will keep them alive like with vinyl even though digital is 100 times better and more usable

Nothing wrong with using a horse to commute in the early, expensive, unreliable days of motor vehicles. Streaming is kind of like that. An infant. There exist over 500,000 movies. Even having streaming access to a tiny fraction of that requires paying for like four subscriptions. Wait... I don't know why I'm typing this. You didn't counter anything he said, so why should I expect you to acknowledge this?

@ezekiel43: Precisely! So why add to the problem when there is a more environmentally friendly option!

Just to be clear here, I do not need to counter anything in the video since I am not debating him unless you are the guy in the video?

But with that said I would never watch a video like that and start a debate, if you have any points you would like to debate use your words and I will be glad to dismantle your love for physical media.

Then don't reply at all.

I used my own words in a previous thread, which covered much of what this guy said. You didn't dismantle them then. You didn't even dismantle what I just told you in post 12, which basically is one of the main arguments of the video. You've done exactly what I said you would do: Acknowledge nothing.

Also, WHY can't a debate be started with a video? Because you say so? Please leave.

This is a debate forum so of course, I will reply.

Also not sure which other thread you are talking about?

Also, you keep mentioning subscription, you do know right that you can also buy digital right? Amazon and Itunes sell movies.

Which can be even more expensive than Blu-rays and still don't cover most movies and TV shows.

Looks like the discount for the 2001 BD is over. Post is still relevant, though.

@ezekiel43: So now your argument for physical is there is no price difference? what makes you think that price is an argument for and not against physical media?

Also, the selection is not a good argument for digital media vs physical since you can get the more obscure movies and tv-shows where there is absolutely no idea in losing money on having it stored digitally and therefore it makes more sense that few random people are forced to buy it on a physical disc. But most movies/tv-shows are available digitally.

You'd know if you watched the video. But no, you're too good for that. A video can't initiate a debate simply because you say so. Your first reply makes it obvious you're not even interested in discussing the issue so much as you are in feeling superior. No single streaming service has all the movies and TV shows an enthusiast would like to watch. They will never be able to afford most of the media that's out there. You need two subscriptions to even have a decent selection. Add HBO if you want their original series. Disney is starting their own streaming service. They might remove titles from Netflix. What if the other big companies start doing the same thing? CBS tried it with Star Trek Discovery. It WILL keep getting worse. Most of the people who sub to these services are interested in newer TV shows and movies, so the older titles are more limited. If you want the many classics on the Criterion Collection, that's another subscription. In light of this, why is buying a disc, having the option to watch and own whatever you want, with higher bitrates, more audio options and extras, such a lame hipster thing to do, comparable to riding a horse in 2019? Fine, you've made your choice in going all digital. But don't pretend it doesn't have serious drawbacks.

Also, the selection is not a good argument for digital media vs physical since you can get the more obscure movies and tv-shows where there is absolutely no idea in losing money on having it stored digitally and therefore it makes more sense that few random people are forced to buy it on a physical disc. But most movies/tv-shows are available digitally.

Most NEWER movies and TV shows are available digitally, spread over different services.

Again unless you are the guy in the video I have no interest in his opinion if you share them use your own words and type them.

And again you are primarily arguing against streaming services, I am not interested in just looking at streaming because of course, they can´t have everything, besides the cost, there is also the consumer interest and rights to distribute to consider.

Digital is the future no matter how you look at it and if you want to spend cash on physical by all means do it, it´s not different than the minority who still buy vinyl.

Digital purchasing services have most of the same problems. Practically, it makes little sense to go fully "digital" (It's all digital, which is why I kept saying streaming, which you chose to fixate over for whatever reason.) right now if you really care about movies and series. I've wasted my time with you. If you had no interest in the video, you shouldn't have even commented on it or called us horse-riding hipsters. I explained it and still you ignored most of the points. As I predicted.

Wait... I don't know why I'm typing this. You didn't counter anything he said, so why should I expect you to acknowledge this?

You've done exactly what I said you would do: Acknowledge nothing.

I'm done with you.

I don't mind buying digital copies of their movies, I almost rather see physical die so that all the special features are on the digital copy. Then again, most will probably stop doing those cause have no reason to, cause they mostly seem to bother to help sell physical.

Considering Blockbuster died, I do see physical becoming dead.

@GTR12: Something’s going on then. Lol

It's not that expensive.

3 words, Learn To Shop.

@GTR12: Hey, I’ve managed to get some pretty good deals in the past.

https://qz.com/1267709/every-google-search-results-in-co2-emissions-this-real-time-dataviz-shows-how-much/

Nice virtue signaling

this guy gets it.

physical media is entirely redundant at this point. pointless resource consumption, from making physical media, and shipping it to retailers and people's houses. more bullshit for the landfill.

and you don't need to subscribe to any of these monthly services to buy digital media.

Pshhh. No time for discs.

And sub services will not displace the perma-buy. You telling me companies are just going to stop taking extra money just because they have a sub service?

Disc-based media is slow, loud, space-inefficient, and a waste of resources. Not to mention it's one of the major reasons big publishers are still relevant, which is bad for the industry. It's a relic of a bygone era. Those are the facts.

However, you are welcome to keep buying it because it's not going anywhere for a while.

I'd love it if more people offered sub services. I buy a lot of games and I have no intention of dealing with discs for them all.

@nattydaddy604: Yep I am fully aware that servers use electricity! But far less than damaging when compared to oil exploration, production, refining, shipping and etc! Bloody obvious!

How can it be redundant when it still offers the best quality and widest selection? UHD discs have an average bitrate of around 82 mbps. They can store up to 100 GB. That's one tenth of the monthly bandwidth customers have on Comcast. Netflix recommends a measly 25 mbps for 4K content. 25 mbps is what I would expect for Full HD content, not resolutions four times that, with HDR. Now, for HD content, Netflix recommends a pathetic 5 mbps. The difference is easy to perceive when watching the movie. Digital movies that you buy have similarly poor quality. Makes buying an expensive TV with great picture quality rather pointless.

A few titles are already being released exclusively on streaming. Fargo season 3 never had a Blu-ray release, while the previous seasons did. Was hoping to rent the BD from Netflix.

Disc-based media is slow, loud, space-inefficient, and a waste of resources.

I don't hear my player when I'm watching movies. Of course, it's behind some glass. But it's still quieter than a modern console.

a waste of resources.

I bet you have a bigger carbon footprint than me.

Not to mention it's one of the major reasons big publishers are still relevant, which is bad for the industry.

?????????

I bet you have a bigger carbon footprint than me.

I think CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays will make a comeback like we're now seeing with vinyl records. Not so much because of superior quality, but because of the exact opposite reason - cheap cost and cheap production.

If record enthusiasts are willing to turn around and buy highly-impractical turntables, I doubt the optical drive will become a complete relic of the past.

The issue with the physical space it takes up alone kills any argument for physical media. I'm not dealing with that clutter hell ever again. It's fine for hipsters, more power to them, but it's just not worth the physical space it takes up when an HDD the size of a smartphone can carry several large shelves worth of media.

Anyone who wishes or is alright with a streaming future is an imbecile.

That's expensive as ****. I could back up all my Blu-rays and DVDs, but it would cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I'll do it in the distant future. Also, hard drive the size of a smartphone storing several shelves worth of media is exaggerating quite a bit. Only if the files are horribly compressed and look and sound like poop. I can tell you barely have any experience in this.

@ezekiel43: I mean its 2019, there are 8TB 2.5" HDD available and I'm sure there are even bigger drives than that. Every single game I own and have ever owned could all fit in there and still only take up at best 2.5TB. Add in my music collection and the size swells up to a whopping 2.6TB. I don't have a movie collection cause I don't care enough to buy any thanks to Netflix so that adds an earth shattering 0Bytes. ?

You gotta understand not everyone is a sweaty tryhard pixel whore; 320kbps mp3s and 1080p is enough for me. ??‍♂️ Definitely not the worth the priceless limited physical space they take up.

@MirkoS77: Please by all means continue to be upset as your precious physical media becomes rarer and more expensive to enjoy. ?

You're welcome to join us in the 21st century whenever you decide to step out of that shithole cave you live in.

I use digital for indies I always buy physical. It seems next gen is the generation where it all starts to turn digital.

Any game I own with Single player content as well as movies that I really enjoy I buy a physical copy of.

@Rockman999: who says my statement has anything to do with physical media?

Enjoy living in that shithole cave you exist in in the 21st century while being too dumb to recognize that, say, such a thing as modding games will become obsolete with an all streaming future.

I swear, do you people who support this even take a second to actually consider the consequences of what you advocate? Or are you actually stupid enough to simply accept without question? It is little wonder we lose rights as consumers with such willing complacency.

It's actually all of Option C: I don't care about none of that shit. ??‍♂️

Like I already said in another thread on a similar topic, don't blame consumers for picking convenience over practicality, blame Republicans and Conservatives for fostering an environment where corporations have the same constitutional rights as an individual and fighting tooth and nail against any attempt to curtail or limit corporate power. ??‍♂️??‍♂️

Now if you'd be willing to bank roll my media expenses then I'd totally flip flop onto your side of the argument. If not then oh well too bad, so sad.

@Rockman999 said:

@MirkoS77 said:

@Rockman999: who says my statement has anything to do with physical media?

Enjoy living in that shithole cave you exist in in the 21st century while being too dumb to recognize that, say, such a thing as modding games will become obsolete with an all streaming future.

I swear, do you people who support this even take a second to actually consider the consequences of what you advocate? Or are you actually stupid enough to simply accept without question? It is little wonder we lose rights as consumers with such willing complacency.

It's actually all of Option C: I don't care about none of that shit. ??‍♂️

Like I already said in another thread on a similar topic, don't blame consumers for picking convenience over practicality, blame Republicans and Conservatives for fostering an environment where corporations have the same constitutional rights as an individual and fighting tooth and nail against any attempt to curtail or limit corporate power. ??‍♂️??‍♂️

Now if you'd be willing to bank roll my media expenses then I'd totally flip flop onto your side of the argument. If not then oh well too bad, so sad.

With a car like that, I think you'll be alright.

but wut if ur huouze asplode?

then u 0

I'm totally with you on streaming. I'd just stop gaming altogether I think.

Digital downloads, though? There's really not that much of a difference when it comes down to it. Not for me anyway. Plus, nobody's going to stop selling physical as long as there are customers who don't have great internet connections. What digital sales do allow is for devs without huge publisher backing to get mainstream distribution. It's not all bad.

I don't have trouble with DD, I use Steam predominantly to game on PC as there's really no other alternative. The main concern I have with DD at this point is the melding of a game's EULA with the ToU of the service that provides it. I think that's something to be concerned over that not many seem to give much thought to.

But as long as we can have games on our system where we can do such things as mod them (the main reason I prefer PC gaming), I'm alright with it. It's practical, convenient, and they've made it a worthwhile concession to physical with services that compliment it. I just don't want the necessary utilization of that service to put all my software at risk. Streaming? I'm with you. The day gaming goes all streaming will be the day I no longer game.

Saying 1080p is enough tells me that you know nothing about compression. I wasn't talking about resolution. It doesn't matter that it's 1080p. 1080p is fine. But if the bitrate is low, it will still look bad.

Where are you finding these 2.5 inch 8 TB hard drives? By the way, storing movies on a hard drive is like physical media. It doesn't have the drawbacks of streaming. But why are you bringing it up in the first place, unless you're ripping the movies yourself? Online piracy has its own drawbacks.