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Do you still buy physical media?
- Thread starter entropyfl
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I still buy Blu Rays, specifically UHD BDs whenever possible. Comparable quality via streaming isn't here yet.
Pretty rare, I admit, but if I can find a movie or TV show on disc for significantly less than iTunes offers, I'll buy it and rip it to my library.
Nice question!
No I stopped buying CD in 2002 and havn't bought DVD/BluRay since 2009 and even then i'd maybe buy 1 every 2 or 3 years. When I did buy a DVD, it either got lost with all of my travelling/moving home or i'd lend it out and never get it returned. I once travelled with a few in one case and ruined everyone as they scratched each others surfaces! CDs got replaced by MiniDisc as it was more durable in 1999 but we all know what happened to that format, along with DAT and VHS/Betamax/Video2000/Hi8/Video 8.
One interesting thing is that when living in the huge cities, ALL of fiends that I made streamed/downloaded their films way way way back in 2006 onwards. To them a disc was an alien product. I especially notice this was international friends from India, Pakistan - they were so much more ahead of times whereas when I had a client in a rural part of the north of England - in a place that was rather 'inward' with its culture, I found that the majority that I met watched film from DVD, bought CD and had Samsung phones. Out of interest, they had not had the user experience of owning Macs and Apple TV hence, they had a poor opinion of streaming etc etc and didn't connect to it in a humane way - had they gone the Apple route, I'm sure that their user experience would have made them favour streaming & downloading as opposed to traditional media. It was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of the international young millennials in the big cities that I chose to live in!
I've always had a connection to Mac since my graphic design art school days so I guess that it was only natural that i'd end up falling for iTunes where everything is in one place. I don't lose anything and it's quite funny rediscovering a track that I bought 15 years ago or so.
I guess for me, it was the iPhone that changed EVERYTHING for me. Here was this incredible device that travelled the world with me, played my music through its little built in speaker, was a great camera/HD camcorder and I could AirPlay my videos and everything from it to my Apple TV. From DAY ONE of my iPhone it revolutionised the way that I consumed media - it was all about multi platform for me - iPhone - MacBook - Apple TV. I immediately questioned why a disc player existed that was hidden in a corner of a room or why my Sky TV box didn't connect to my iTunes etc etc. The following day, SKY TV was cancelled and all discs / disc player was given to charity shops. It' lovely, stress free & better for the environment to have only ONE product - I don't need a watch, egg timer, sat nav, camera, camcorder, DVD player, CD player, radio, scanner, alarm clock anymore. Just that one thing is all that I need. That makes for a very simple, stress free, pleasurable non materialistic life and it allows time for me to get into nature.
I havn't looked back since and i'm having a whale of a time - I buy 45+ films/docu's a year now from iTunes & Vimeo and they travel the world with me on my MacBook and iPhone X and then back home on my Apple TV 4K connected to super fast fibre broadband. It's a very pleasure user experience.
***One thing that I will point out is that i'd much rather download material rather than stream. It would have been lovely if the ATV 4K allowed me to download a film from my library to watch rather than rely on a constant internet stream which is not always 100% reliable for the majority of the world population. (I have everything downloaded to my iPhone when travelling - I don't stream.)
No I stopped buying CD in 2002 and havn't bought DVD/BluRay since 2009 and even then i'd maybe buy 1 every 2 or 3 years. When I did buy a DVD, it either got lost with all of my travelling/moving home or i'd lend it out and never get it returned. I once travelled with a few in one case and ruined everyone as they scratched each others surfaces! CDs got replaced by MiniDisc as it was more durable in 1999 but we all know what happened to that format, along with DAT and VHS/Betamax/Video2000/Hi8/Video 8.
One interesting thing is that when living in the huge cities, ALL of fiends that I made streamed/downloaded their films way way way back in 2006 onwards. To them a disc was an alien product. I especially notice this was international friends from India, Pakistan - they were so much more ahead of times whereas when I had a client in a rural part of the north of England - in a place that was rather 'inward' with its culture, I found that the majority that I met watched film from DVD, bought CD and had Samsung phones. Out of interest, they had not had the user experience of owning Macs and Apple TV hence, they had a poor opinion of streaming etc etc and didn't connect to it in a humane way - had they gone the Apple route, I'm sure that their user experience would have made them favour streaming & downloading as opposed to traditional media. It was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of the international young millennials in the big cities that I chose to live in!
I've always had a connection to Mac since my graphic design art school days so I guess that it was only natural that i'd end up falling for iTunes where everything is in one place. I don't lose anything and it's quite funny rediscovering a track that I bought 15 years ago or so.
I guess for me, it was the iPhone that changed EVERYTHING for me. Here was this incredible device that travelled the world with me, played my music through its little built in speaker, was a great camera/HD camcorder and I could AirPlay my videos and everything from it to my Apple TV. From DAY ONE of my iPhone it revolutionised the way that I consumed media - it was all about multi platform for me - iPhone - MacBook - Apple TV. I immediately questioned why a disc player existed that was hidden in a corner of a room or why my Sky TV box didn't connect to my iTunes etc etc. The following day, SKY TV was cancelled and all discs / disc player was given to charity shops. It' lovely, stress free & better for the environment to have only ONE product - I don't need a watch, egg timer, sat nav, camera, camcorder, DVD player, CD player, radio, scanner, alarm clock anymore. Just that one thing is all that I need. That makes for a very simple, stress free, pleasurable non materialistic life and it allows time for me to get into nature.
I havn't looked back since and i'm having a whale of a time - I buy 45+ films/docu's a year now from iTunes & Vimeo and they travel the world with me on my MacBook and iPhone X and then back home on my Apple TV 4K connected to super fast fibre broadband. It's a very pleasure user experience.
***One thing that I will point out is that i'd much rather download material rather than stream. It would have been lovely if the ATV 4K allowed me to download a film from my library to watch rather than rely on a constant internet stream which is not always 100% reliable for the majority of the world population. (I have everything downloaded to my iPhone when travelling - I don't stream.)
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I bought a new top of range panny oled and 4k player (55fz952b & dp-ub9000 with optimizer), a couple of weeks back I tried pitting 4k player vs itunes vs downloaded itunes hd running on new 15" apple macbook pro retina (500 nits brightness, Wide colour (P3)). The results were night and day for direct comparison to my eye although streaming is pretty good. I use apple for tv boxsets and throwaway films and buy discs for films I fancy. I used Avengers Infinity War as ref test
It's a shame the Panasonic TVs don't do Dolby Vision - that's what stopped me from buying one and buying the LG OLED instead. Had you connected an Apple TV 4K to the TV and played a 4K iTunes Dolby Vision film, i'm sure that the difference would not be huge. Although comparing a £900 disc player to a £180 Apple TV is slightly unfair.
I'm not convinced that we'll see disc in two years from now. In the UK it's nearly impossible to find plenty of 4K discs.
I rent unlimited Blurays by post for £10 a month. 
After buying my ATV I streamed 4k movies a few times but find the loss in sound quality too much of a compromise.
Do I miss the improved image quality? Not so much as some Blurays look amazing upscaled on the PS4 Pro.
When prices have fallen I will pick up a used UHD player or Xbox One X and change my subscription from Blurays to UHD discs.
After buying my ATV I streamed 4k movies a few times but find the loss in sound quality too much of a compromise.
Do I miss the improved image quality? Not so much as some Blurays look amazing upscaled on the PS4 Pro.
When prices have fallen I will pick up a used UHD player or Xbox One X and change my subscription from Blurays to UHD discs.
Thanks for the lengthy reply! I actually work in home entertainment in the Uk and was just curious on everyone’s opinion. It’s very difficult at the moment especially with all the retailers we’ve lost over the last few years.
I agree with all your points and the convenience of streaming and I think it’s amazing for consumers but not for all the film studios/retailers.
I hope for my sake that physical has a good few years left but I’m not optimistic.
Each to their own. But post would never work for me. I'm fly by the seat of my pants guy and decide within one second that I want to see something... now, over my evening late dinner.I rent unlimited Blurays by post for £10 a month.
After buying my ATV I streamed 4k movies a few times but find the loss in sound quality too much of a compromise.
Do I miss the improved image quality? Not so much as some Blurays look amazing upscaled on the PS4 Pro.
When prices have fallen I will pick up a used UHD player or Xbox One X and change my subscription from Blurays to UHD discs.
Last night, I saw the 'James Foley Story - Jim' Coming from a media background, I understand his life mission to me, the guy was an angel and my hero. It was a beautiful documentary. Tragic and sad and yet filled with love, passion and respect for all. I was moving.
Later this evening, we all watching 'Human Flow' which is a heart moving documentary on the world today and the 65 million people that have no home or country due to war, dictatorship or environmental disasters. Having travelled the world constantly, I have seen this for myself and I'll very much be able to relate to it.
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I just bought Red Dead Redemption II on disc because 1) it was exactly the same price 2) Amazon delivered it practially overnight and most importantly 3) when I'm done with it I can sell it or loan it out as I see fit because, unlike the "digital copy" that's locked away inside my Playstation's hard drive, I control it.
That's an important part of true ownership of something, being able to decide for yourself whether you want to transfer it to someone else. If you can't do that, do you really own it? If I bought a car and paid for it but with the stipulation that its title was forever tied to my driver's license, would it be worth as much as a car that I can freely sell or give away? I don't think so. And yet so many people just accept those terms with digital purchases because... the companies said so?
(Note I'm talking about purchases here, not rentals or subscriptions. I'm under no illusion that I own an iTunes rental or anything I stream from Netflix and that's fine).
That's an important part of true ownership of something, being able to decide for yourself whether you want to transfer it to someone else. If you can't do that, do you really own it? If I bought a car and paid for it but with the stipulation that its title was forever tied to my driver's license, would it be worth as much as a car that I can freely sell or give away? I don't think so. And yet so many people just accept those terms with digital purchases because... the companies said so?
(Note I'm talking about purchases here, not rentals or subscriptions. I'm under no illusion that I own an iTunes rental or anything I stream from Netflix and that's fine).
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I still buy PS4 games and I'm hoping they won't switch to streaming only any time soon because our internet is reasonable for a rural area but it's not really good for streaming 4K so I can't imagine games will be any better
Very cool. I'm from a media background originally - radio - a truly dead format - 20 songs on high repetition with 8 crap adverts every 15 mins for 4 minutes in a world where youngsters rely on YouTube and like me, complain when they have to sit through 5 SECONDS of an adverts before pressing 'skip'.
I'll certainly be glad to see the end of SKY TV and the evil of Murdoch and embrace Netflix, Amazon. Yes, even in the big cities it's a sad sight to pass HMV at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and see literally 2 people in it. But then again, theses stores havn't moved with the times and have remained in the last century. Compare those to say the Apple Store which is brimming with people.
But home entertainment can work - great OLED TVs, Apple TV 4K - it's just a very different market now. When you see how people rely on the iPhone for everything, it's easy to see why they'll then stream a film etc. It's part of their culture/language/way of life
YES! I download all my iTunes purchases for this reasons but I’m running into storage issues as my Library is approaching 8TB it would of been cheaper to stick to BR and buy bookshelves
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Very cool. I'm from a media background originally - radio - a truly dead format - 20 songs on high repetition with 8 crap adverts every 15 mins for 4 minutes in a world where youngsters rely on YouTube and like me, complain when they have to sit through 5 SECONDS of an adverts before pressing 'skip'.
I'll certainly be glad to see the end of SKY TV and the evil of Murdoch and embrace Netflix, Amazon. Yes, even in the big cities it's a sad sight to pass HMV at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and see literally 2 people in it. But then again, theses stores havn't moved with the times and have remained in the last century. Compare those to say the Apple Store which is brimming with people.
But home entertainment can work - great OLED TVs, Apple TV 4K - it's just a very different market now. When you see how people rely on the iPhone for everything, it's easy to see why they'll then stream a film etc. It's part of their culture/language/way of life
I was thinking about radios future as well. When we go on holiday we like to listen to local radio but last time we just used our iPhones in the rental car to avoid the ads.
I’d put the blame at amazons feet with all their tax loopholes that HMV just couldn’t compete. Amazon have forced a lot of the retailers out of business and now they have No competition they don’t have to be competitive or decent to their suppliers!
I mostly buy movies through iTunes or through sites that are compatible with Movies Anywhere.
My reasons for going all digital is that I didn't want to store hard media. I wanted to save space and make it easier to manage after a HDD crashed and took my (at the time) DVD collection with it.
That said, I almost want to go back to blu-rays because of how fragmented the online market place is. If you want 4k HDR, well thats through provider A for some studios and provider B for others. At least if I owned the UHD blue ray, I can rip it and stream it as I like.
My reasons for going all digital is that I didn't want to store hard media. I wanted to save space and make it easier to manage after a HDD crashed and took my (at the time) DVD collection with it.
That said, I almost want to go back to blu-rays because of how fragmented the online market place is. If you want 4k HDR, well thats through provider A for some studios and provider B for others. At least if I owned the UHD blue ray, I can rip it and stream it as I like.
I do agree it is unfair, don't get me wrong the apple4k is pretty good, I use it a lot and you have to spend some cash to make a noticeable difference.
How are you ripping on a Mac? I did use handbrake but always found it difficult to get great results
Waaaay back in the day, I was using handbrake on a PC to digitize my DVD's.
Today, I would probably rip a blue ray I owned to an MKV file and stream to my 4k ATV through Plex or something.
I am the opposite and spend 30-60min every month on the laptop researching current and coming soon films I want to watch.
Once research is done. I add movies with an Imdb rating of at least 7 to my list and then enjoy having them sent to me two at a time.
Because movies that are coming soon on Blurays are available to add om cinemaparadiso spontaneity or surprise isn't a factor for me.
Usually I have a drama and an action/adventure movie giving me choice for the evening.
Yes, I still buy physical media. Mostly music and movies that I like.
Not all movies etc are available online so buy those, rip and add to iTunes.
Currently ripping some classic film noir movies that not seen on iTunes, Netflix etc.
Currently ripping some classic film noir movies that not seen on iTunes, Netflix etc.
Movies are dirt cheap to buy on ebay. I occasionally pick up brand new or mint condition Blurays for £2-3. Barely the price of an overpriced Starbucks coffee.
No, I don't buy physical media anymore. Honestly, even though there are a few pros for getting physical media, the convenience factor of digital outweighs it for me.
I'm a minimalist, so ANY thing that saves space if a plus for me. I also travel alot, so I like being able to access my content anywhere.
I also understand the notion of truly "owning" material......and I understand that, to a point, but technically, we don't know what format will be coming down the line years from now. When I was a kid we had a large VHS collection of Disney movies & CD's.....those are all gone now. Blu Rays may be the same 5-10 years down the road. So there's the strong possibility that any physical format may go the way of the VHS / CD.
I know the quality of digital may not compare to physical, but it works for me.
I'm a minimalist, so ANY thing that saves space if a plus for me. I also travel alot, so I like being able to access my content anywhere.
I also understand the notion of truly "owning" material......and I understand that, to a point, but technically, we don't know what format will be coming down the line years from now. When I was a kid we had a large VHS collection of Disney movies & CD's.....those are all gone now. Blu Rays may be the same 5-10 years down the road. So there's the strong possibility that any physical format may go the way of the VHS / CD.
I know the quality of digital may not compare to physical, but it works for me.
I do agree it is unfair, don't get me wrong the apple4k is pretty good, I use it a lot and you have to spend some cash to make a noticeable difference.
So true. I'd argue that your Panasonic is the ULTIMATE disc player on the market - even better than Opposite IMO. I worked in a Technics / Panasonic HiFi shop when I was at business school and the quality of the components on ALL of their gear is incredible. Some of the Technics CD players were bullet proof practically. Their quality was outstanding. Not unusual for the products to last 20+ years! I still have my Father's VHS video recorder from 1999 AND it still works as great as it did on day one
It's funny when you see a VHS tape and put an iPhone X next to it and realise all of the thousands of things that the iPhone can do - mine holds 35+ 1080p iTunes films along with all of my music, photos and surfing videos [doublepost=1541110924][/doublepost]
Same with me - I've lived through Betamax, VHS, Video 8, Hi8, DVD, BluRay and now iTunes. As a little 3 year old, I couldn't understand why my Peter Pan Betamax film would no longer play on Papa's new VHS machine. I think I cried for a full year :') One of my favourite films is Flashdance. I've had that on VHS, then I bought it on DVD when released at £20, then I bought the anniversary DVD, that got scratched so I had to buy it again 2 years later, then I bought a BluRay of it on Ebay which turned out to be a pirate version from Mexico as it was never released as a Region 2! After that, I said no more and went with iTunes - I bought the HD version 5 years ago AND... last year, they added iTunes Extras to it which was a lovely surprise
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After ripping my copy protected DVD collection (probably 250 titles) along with home movies of my children - I am just about tired of doing that...I did it so they would all be in one place AND I would not have to get up every time I wanted to watch another movie and put it in the bluray/DVD machine . I have about 20 blu-ray titles that I am not sure if the program I used to rip the DVD's and home movies will do. So for now they sit in limbo and are only played when I get up and turn on the Bluray
I have been "buying" movies on my Apple TV 4k (From Apple) for the past year now. (Basically after reading Paul's reasoning in his postings) I still get confused about the nomenclature surrounding those "purchases" I realize I do not have physical possession of those films - nor can I copy or back them up - they just appear in my library in iTunes and I can play them when I want. The terms "streaming" and "downloading" become confusing to this old addled brain.
I have not regretted it. So far none have been removed or lost due to changes in policy of the respective studios. I think that is the only legitimate critique of whatever in the hell you call how I have obtained my latest 40 movies or so!!!
My rips of my old DVD's and home movies went off without a hitch I am thankful to say. I have put them in iTunes on an old MacBook Pro that had the screen broken completely off it. (Headless it is now!! Ha!) I have that MBP attached to my Vizio P series TV. I use home sharing with my Apple TV 4K (all on a home network that is routed/hard wired/ethernet by an AirPort Extreme) so it is able to seamlessly access my home movies/ripped DVD's on the MBP while the newer movies I "purchased" sits on the Apple TV 4K
Now one of these days I am going to learn how to move the movies I am now "purchasing" from Apple into the same place my old ripped DVD's / home movies are...but for now I think I have negotiated this 21st century marvel ok...
I have been "buying" movies on my Apple TV 4k (From Apple) for the past year now. (Basically after reading Paul's reasoning in his postings) I still get confused about the nomenclature surrounding those "purchases" I realize I do not have physical possession of those films - nor can I copy or back them up - they just appear in my library in iTunes and I can play them when I want. The terms "streaming" and "downloading" become confusing to this old addled brain.
I have not regretted it. So far none have been removed or lost due to changes in policy of the respective studios. I think that is the only legitimate critique of whatever in the hell you call how I have obtained my latest 40 movies or so!!!
My rips of my old DVD's and home movies went off without a hitch I am thankful to say. I have put them in iTunes on an old MacBook Pro that had the screen broken completely off it. (Headless it is now!! Ha!) I have that MBP attached to my Vizio P series TV. I use home sharing with my Apple TV 4K (all on a home network that is routed/hard wired/ethernet by an AirPort Extreme) so it is able to seamlessly access my home movies/ripped DVD's on the MBP while the newer movies I "purchased" sits on the Apple TV 4K
Now one of these days I am going to learn how to move the movies I am now "purchasing" from Apple into the same place my old ripped DVD's / home movies are...but for now I think I have negotiated this 21st century marvel ok...
I do not unless the content is not available digitally. For ministry there is allot of content not available on apples sites. For entertainment some movies you can’t find in the iTunes Store.