Each week Major Spoilers receives hundreds of press releases from companies announcing their latest movie on Blu-ray and/or DVD. For the last four years, the Major Spoilers HQ has weened away from physical discs for music and movies in favor of a massive networked drive that holds everything, and is readily available to all media players on the network. As i start to give away and sell old DVDs and Blu-ray discs I wonder how many of our Spoilerites still buy discs.
VOTE!
[poll id=”401″]
15 Comments
If the move is worth buying for me I will get it on physical medium. I normally get the combo back that has it all, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Download. I do not have a setup or devices that can store the size of all the movies I like (1 gig + each) in digital form, so it is easier for me just to dust off my DVD copy of Airplane and put it in the old PS4! Plus a lot of times there are extras like sound tracks and reward points that come with the physical copy too.
I buy physical copies of rare import movies which I have some emotional connection to or absolute classics of their genre. Very rarely would I pay for some throwaway summer blockbuster, those are plentiful and available from any direct feed service at any given time.
When watching movies at home it’s all digital. I don’t need the clutter of discs and cases. The only reason I own a DVD at this point is for long car trips with the kids, I will still get the occasional new DVD for the in-car DVD player.
Why buy a physical disc when, realistically, I will only watch the movie a couple times and then have it gathering dust forever after.
I buy movies. I cannot abide piracy. While I do have NetFlix, it’s mainly for TV shows.
Now I’ve got a new mouth to feed, meaning less monies on shiny silver discs. That said, I literally have thousands of discs, so I’ll probably survive.
Other thing is, there are less movies worth buying.
I switched over to digital about two years ago as Amazon and other streaming services have covered the gap. I occasionally will buy a physical disc if the movie is unavailable streamed or if it is an excellent deal, like the recent Blade Runner Blue Ray collection.
Give me my discs. People say it’s just clutter. What about when there is no internet? How do you stream without it? I just pop in a disc and go.
Netflix is good for binge watching shows. However, if I love a tv show or movie, I’ll buy it to show my support for that property. This goes double for films like Dredd, Kingsmen, Mad Max, etc. whose box office may not have been the best, but deserve more attention. Plus I cannot get a commentary off of Netflix. iTunes, I do not care for either, because in some cases it seems like buying the disc would have been just as expensive as renting it. Also I can loan my DVDs to my friends for them to see the awesome.
As much as I’d like to, I can’t really do physical media anymore. I just don’t have the space, and though I want to get a bigger place, I’m finding myself paying a lot more for the tiny apartment I have now, so I worry about even being able to upgrade within the next couple years. Plus… I find digital just too convenient. I’m already full digital in terms of passive media, and now I’m shifting that way in active media – all my handheld games are digital now, and I’m not sure I’ll buy another console game physical anymore.
I voted no. It has been many many years since I bought a DVD or Blue Ray of a Movie.
But the exception would be that I like to have TV series on a hard copy. Like a season of Doctor Who or the Wire for example.
Simply put. I am too set in my ways NOT to pick up a disk of the movie or TV show.
That said, We don’t get BBC America, so we buy Doctor Who on Itunes so we can watch it as soon as it comes out.
I’m quite surprised at the results so far (71% yes).
Not only do I not, I’m not even sure if I have a device capable of playing a physical disc. I have an old laptop with a DVD drive, but the new laptop and two computer don’t have optical drives in them. I’ve never owned a Blu-Ray drive or even bothered watching a Blu-Ray disc. I’ve been on the online media train for over a decade.
This actual conversation will explain why I still buy physical medium.
Friend: Are you done playing Dead Rising 3?
Me: Yes.
Friend: Can I borrow it?
Me: Sure. Are you done playing GTA 5?
Friend: Yes.
Me: Can I borrow it?
Friend: No. I bought a digital copy.
Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I much prefer owning physical copies over going completely digital. I do buy the occasional digital copy of a film or game, but if I could acquire a physical copy just as easily or the physical copy has special bonus features or a collectible item or something, I would prefer that instead.
Yes, a lot.
I’ve spent a lot of money on my home theater, and the sound on digital downloads is really far from the sound quality on Blu-ray. The sound is even worse on Netflix and other streaming services. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Netflix and use it a lot, but if I find a show or movie that I really like, I buy it on Blu-ray or DVD. I also spent a lot of money on a great Blu-ray player with upscaling, that makes my DVD movies look pretty good, even the semi crappy ones. And I may even get myself a UHD BD player next year.
Oh, and it’s often cheaper to get the Blu-ray, than to get a digital copy on iTunes, at least here in Denmark.
I voted no. Netflix recently launched here in Australia and I really can’t see the point of amassing a large DVD/Blu-Ray collection when I have so much on offer on streaming services. I make an exception for the handful of movies that I must have on hand or that I want to share with my son when he’s old enough, but everything else is in a process of downsizing.