An observation more than anything else, perhaps one that I’m a little late coming to:
DVDs -and by extension BluRays- are dying.
This morning and for the first time in a very long time I went over to the DVD Drive In website (you can too by clicking this link). I like the website because it examines cult films that are often waaaaay out of the mainstream. Below that link on my bookmarks were links to at least three other DVD/BluRay-centric websites. They feature your more standard upcoming movie fare and I haven’t checked those sites out in forever.
Seeing them made me take stock of the state of the DVD and BluRay and, while I’ve made the observation before (I think…when you post as much as I do you’re bound to repeat yourself now and again), its clear from my lack of interest in those websites that the era of the DVD/BluRay is rapidly coming to an end.
Like the Betamax tapes that were wiped out by VHS tapes which in turn were wiped out (sorta) by Laserdiscs which together were wiped out by DVDs/BluRays, the era of the movie on disc is coming to an end because, once again, technology offers us a better “mousetrap”.
There was a time not so long ago I was rabidly purchasing DVDs and, later, BluRays. The shelves I have filled with films will readily attest to that fact. I also probably mentioned it before, but the other day while in 7/11, I went through their rack of used DVDs/BluRays (In my area they have them, I don’t know if this is a standard thing in 7/11’s throughout the U.S.) and found a used and very reasonably priced copy of the last season of Matt Smith’s Doctor Who.
I bought it for both myself and, moreso, my daughter. She loves Matt Smith’s run of the character. She’s also a senior in High School and no spring chicken. Anyway, when I gave her the DVDs she looked at them, frowned, and said: “What do I do with these?”
Yikes.
Nowadays, if I’m looking to purchase a film (and its extras in many cases), I look them up on VUDU…
Of course, you can do the same through Amazon and iTunes, but I’ve grown to like the VUDU service particularly because they allow you to transfer many of your films from DVD/BluRay to digital with a minimal charge.
Sadly, not all films I’ve bought are available to be transferred and it appears at least some I’ll have to buy yet again if I want to have them on this convenient digital system. Regardless, those cluttered shelves of mine are beginning to get a lot less cluttered as I give movies away.
So add movies to the list of entertainment best available digitally. No more need to buy physical books, no more need to get music CDs (vinyl still lives to purists, of course!), no more need to buy physical copies of video games, and no more need to buy DVDs/BluRays.
Soon we can all live in very small houses…