Why I still buy Blu-rays and DVDs
 

The future of television, as the industry would have us believe, is streaming. Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix. The future of DVD/Blu Rays is iTunes and similar services.

While I enjoy YouTube for free videos, I have definitively decided against going the iTunes route. I thought it would be easiest to purchase iTunes versions of my VHS and DVDs, but I discovered several things that have convinced me that buying physical media is the right way to go:

• Quality - at least as it stands, iTunes movies are all sub-par to their physical counterparts
• Ownership - you own a license to view the movie on your account. They can pull the movie when licensing expires without notification or permission
• Price - physical media on the whole is still generally cheaper. There is competition between vendors that drives prices down.
• What will happen in 10 years? Apple could disappear, as unlikely as it sounds.
• Availibility - as large as the offerings are on iTunes, there is a dvd for every video availible, but not vice-versa
• Ownership (cont.) - you can't sell or share a digital download, due to DRM or legal reasons. I can loan out a DVD or borrow a DVD to no consequence.

This may very well change as time passes, but there is something to be said about owning something in your hand than purchasing a non-guaranteed license. Some things, like games, only come out on services such as Steam, so choices are limited, but when it comes to movies, this is by far the right way to go.

The younger generation may like sharing their lives on Facebook, using only the web on their phone (notes, news, Youtube), and downloading everything (books, TV, etc) -- but I'll have no part in it. I'm gladly an old fuddy-duddy. I want dead trees, stacks of discs, and if you want to know more about me ask!

It's why downloading from Youtube/Hulu/etc is so popular. Those of us who have been online for 20+ years know that the web is ethereal -- things can and do disappear all the time. We want a copy of something that we can control.

If copyright owners had their way, they'd charge you every time to watched a movie or TV episode!

FYI: Apple disappearing isn't all that far-fetched. I've seen it happen before, where a large company is gone, and the new owner simply zaps the old content.

Try to talk your Aunt Matilda into an external video server or streaming. Half the stuff that streams from Netflix is garbage. I don't want the downstream copy of a movie I like to disappear after I watch it. I want it on a disc I can watch forever, whenever I want to, without waiting.