Why Hard Drive-Based Movies Will Replace DVDs

[Philbert]

I vividly remember VHS tapes, the movie equivalent of 8 Tracks...big, magnetic tape easily deteriorated, and in the case of VHS) recordable at a lower quality level than commercial tapes.
We then moved on to discs for movies, DVDs. Yay.
Smaller and not bothered by sitting on top of a speaker or in a player for days or weeks...but don't touch the bottom or scratch it too much, no work any mo.
It's been a while since I have used my BluRay to play DVDs on my flatscreen...I have put my movies on 4 1/2 Terabytes of external HDDs and connected my laptop to my TV and Sound system.
I have around 600 or so loaded, and I just click on a file, do the thing, and watch a movie in fine resolution without moving off the couch. Bluray is my next project.
As I look at the shelves and piles of my hardcopy DVDs filling so much space, I can't see how the big studios can hold out much longer.
Several services are offering downloads by site subscription , like Vongo, and although they are tiny now, the writing is on the virtual wall.
Illegal downloads are crappy quality and illegal, so I don't go there...but DVD sales are tanking big time, so the Mega giants will need a new source of revenue to keep Hollywood elites in coke and cash.

Of course, I don't know that much about the industry, but it seems inevitable that with more effort to keep downloads uncopyable and cheap, the Mega corps can eliminate hard discs; millions and millions of people around the world will just download to various devices and carry Spiderman around with them.
As of now, few can just buy a DVD and put it on an IPod or Cell phone; the digital downloads included in some new DVDs are limited, unless things have changed.

http://voices.yahoo.com/why-hard-drive-based-movies-will-replace-dvds-163081.html?cat=15

 

[sean miguel]

Cloud.

 

[L3ggy]

^That.

 

[Philbert]

If you have no net you have no cloud...Like the your provider, any glitch and you have no contact.

I can put 600+ movies in a small shoebox, I use a small 500 GB external HDD to carry around 90 or so with me wherever I want to have flicks.
I use the Cloud, but not as my storage
I keep my laptop pretty clean of files, just the OS and a few others...all info on externals.

 

[sean miguel]

I have an external HDD which is near capacity (with porn)
Rather than buying another hard drive I'd rather store it online.
My entire music collection is stored on amazon's cloud drive.
Even though my wife is cool with it, I hate having to unplug and hide my external hard drive and create a guest windows profile whenever my parents or the in-laws come over.

 

[Philbert]

I use a BlackX docking station ($20) and an internal HDD 2TB ($99);With 2 docks connected by USB, and 3 internal HDDs, I can remove one and put in another as I need, putting the unused HDD in a wrapper and leaving it to the side.
1 TB internals run $60 and 2 (some 3) TB drives are around $99.
Just format like you would a new HDD and download away.
I use a simple 4 port hub and all is good. I have a 6' USB extension cord running from my hub to my laptop, sitting with my sound system and other audio/Bluray toys.
Really simple, and I can use the net on my flatscreen, do a Bluray , or just use my Laptop to open a HDD and click on a movie.
Lots of good software to put a hard DVD onto a HDD, it works both ways to make a backup DVD on a blank. Save the original.
With a wireless keyboard and mouse, I am mobile and love it!

 

[Will E Worm]

I's rather have DVDs.

 

[Philbert]

Better start stockpiling DVD blanks, since when they stop using DVD discs you can still do conversions and burn to a disc.
I just put some mp4 videos onto a DVD so my neighbor could watch.
Tedious.

 

[Captaingault]

People came to hate DVDs because of their many releases Collector's editions, Widescreen edition, extras not included in one release and just pop up on the next a few MONTH later with the label special or criterion
So people said fuck that, I just want to watch the movie, I don't care how it was filmed or who had a boner while filming it.

 

[HehehehehehehehehehahaHyena]

Will?

 

[Johan]

I think people will always want to have an object to put in their shelves rather than a file on their hard-drive

 

[Rey C.]

If you have no net you have no cloud...Like the your provider, any glitch and you have no contact.

Well, if you have no internet, then how would a person get these movies you're talking about if they're not on a physical disc?

 

[Philbert]

Lots of ways, the point is that wherever you might be...home, at a friends, on a bus or wherever, your movies are not available if you need the net to access them and it's down, or not available...like camping, hanging in Botswana, etc.
One HDD can hold well over 200 full 5-7.5 GB movies, just connect to a PC or laptop, and watch. Hook the laptop to a flatscreen and a sound system and it's like using a player 'cept no disc or player involved.
I can carry around 70 or 8o flicks on my tiny external HDD and use the same laptop for watching them;
the software I use to load DVDs to my HDD makes VOB files, playable with Win Media Player or VLC media player.
There are pc virtual players that play Bluray on your PC same as Windows Media Player.

 

[Philbert]

I did a search, and read that if you put a Bluray burner on your laptop or PC to replace the DVD burner, Win Media Player will play the Bluray disc you put in it. I assume same with a Bluray file, but that requires more searching and I don't wanna right now.
Everything is possible.

 

[Rey C.]

Lots of ways, the point is that wherever you might be...home, at a friends, on a bus or wherever, your movies are not available if you need the net to access them and it's down, or not available...like camping, hanging in Botswana, etc.

Yes. But what I'm getting at is that in order to put movies on a hard drive, you have to get them from some place. And if you don't use a DVD (or VHS or whatever), about the only other "some place" I can think of is the net or recording them from cable or satellite and then converting them to whatever file format you prefer. Also, the studios seem to be more comfortable with various streaming options, rather than allowing people to download, if they're not buying/renting DVDs.

I also prefer to own and control my media files and I don't use the cloud for storage. Over Christmas last year, I burned a boatload of old VHS tapes to DVD and also saved the files to an external hard drive. But the only other place that I've been able to use to "grab" movies is on my satellite connected DVR and then sending them to my DVD burner and then my hard drive. But as digital rights management becomes more sophisticated, I'm guessing my future options will become more limited there.

The studios and cable/satellite operators don't care if we're happy about the situation or not. I think I should be able to subscribe to individual cable channels a la carte without having to pay for the other slop in a package. But we can't do that either. Just as Reed Hastings of Netflix predicted, I look for streaming to grow, but I don't expect DVDs or hard drive options to grow at all. By letting you control the file, they see a risk - so it appears that they're moving away from that model. The hard drives where these movies will be stored will be on huge server farms (the so-called "cloud"), not in our homes.

 

[Philbert]

Just like many things in life, there are options which serve a purpose, but are perfect for abuse.
Rolling papers, firearms, fast cars...things that serve a legal purpose that can be abused and misused for illegal purposes.
There is legal software available online that will copy (backup) a DVD or Bluray disc to your hard drive, or make a mpg file (only playable on a laptop/pc or other device like a cell, etc), which is really nice if all that advertising and moralizing on your disc you bought for the movie really annoys you. The mpg file has only the movie, no ads. Put it on a disc it won't play on a DVD player.
You can opt for movie only when backing it up to your hard drive...as long as you own the disc you can put the content where you want it. Unfortunately, this feature can be abused.
Although it takes 20 minutes or so to create a stand alone file, people still see a few dollars an hour gained from someone else's stuff as a great business model.
Do NOT sell copies, or otherwise steal from the companies. That is illegal. Downloads from ******* sites are illegal, no one gets paid on the maker side.
I am of course speaking for myself since laws are made for business reasons as well as moral ones (don't smoke marijuana, etc) and I ask no one to help me live my life, I choose my own path.
I do not steal content 'cause I don't want to...I do back up content if I pay a "lease fee".
I have never done a thing with any Adult content, I buy from downloads or use my FOs points.

 

[Philbert]

Yes. But what I'm getting at is that in order to put movies on a hard drive, you have to get them from some place. And if you don't use a DVD (or VHS or whatever), about the only other "some place" I can think of is the net or recording them from cable or satellite and then converting them to whatever file format you prefer. Also, the studios seem to be more comfortable with various streaming options, rather than allowing people to download, if they're not buying/renting DVDs.

I also prefer to own and control my media files and I don't use the cloud for storage. Over Christmas last year, I burned a boatload of old VHS tapes to DVD and also saved the files to an external hard drive. But the only other place that I've been able to use to "grab" movies is on my satellite connected DVR and then sending them to my DVD burner and then my hard drive. But as digital rights management becomes more sophisticated, I'm guessing my future options will become more limited there.

The studios and cable/satellite operators don't care if we're happy about the situation or not. I think I should be able to subscribe to individual cable channels a la carte without having to pay for the other slop in a package. But we can't do that either. Just as Reed Hastings of Netflix predicted, I look for streaming to grow, but I don't expect DVDs or hard drive options to grow at all. By letting you control the file, they see a risk - so it appears that they're moving away from that model. The hard drives where these movies will be stored will be on huge server farms (the so-called "cloud"), not in our homes.

Remember...any technology someone has from their inhouse or contractor techs can be bypassed by other skilled humans, so a reasonable approach to profit is a good thing. Trying to control all sources of content to be the King of us all, always backfires.
Remember the hackers of Direct Tv and DishNet.
They spent billions to fix the situation, and now huge content can be obtained elsewhere without the hands of the major players in your pocket.
I have a fine antenna outside, a diplexer inside with an amp; I get over a hundred antenna channels in digital HD and digital that equal any HD that DTV or Dish give me...go Texans! And I have DirecTv.
So...DVDs will be around for years to come ( I threw away hundreds of VHS recently, too much trouble to store and never use) but they were playable and were still nice enough to watch if the DVD wasn't available. 20 odd years of sat and cable recording.
So...my theory is that no single source business model will long survive the public appetite for affordable entertainment without a lot of rules. I don't trust anyone keeping my personal stuff safe, or out of my reach if something happens.
Like a hurricane...

 

[D-rock]

I still like a physical hardcopy for things like that. Hard drives have a tendency to fail over time, and when that times comes you're not just losing a movie or two you could lose scores of them and it would be a pain in the ass to get them back. Even if we suppose people make backups then that means even more hard drives you need which mitigates the advantages of not needing a lot of physical material, and it means more cost to do so.

 

[Philbert]

And yet it takes a DVD player to play a disc...as advances are made in HDD capacity and technology moves on, dependability and longevity go way up and cost goes down' You could backup a couple of 2 TB HDDs on a newer 4TB storage drive in a few advancements in bit storage away,
Cost is way lower than owning $5-$15 dollar discs.
My collection has cost around $2 a movie, instead of $5-$6000, so I don't mind replacing older HDDs with newer ones.
Still more convenient and easier to store and transport.
It's getting harder to find cassette players for all those hundreds of cassettes I have, music harder to replace than top 40 stuff.
Same for VCRs, I have 2 from the before times, but still...try to find an 8 track player in a store or not from a collector. DVD players will go down the dinosaur path soon enough, and we will all have coasters for years to come.
DVDs deteriorate depending on quality of dye used, Verbatim at $1 a blank disc claims a long storage life...not many manufacturers can do that . So...no way to keep anything for a long time, I trust files more than plastic.
You can always put a file on a disc, but I hope technology comes up with something better than files on a disc of any kind.

 

[Patrick_S]

DVD players will go down the dinosaur path soon enough, and we will all have coasters for years to come.

[NOBABE]Standalone DVD players might disappear soon, but computers will still have dvd/blu-ray readers/writers for quite some time, and pretty much any not too ancient graphics card have a HDMI/DVI port that you can plug into your TV. Plus a blu-ray player can play dvd´s too, and those will be around for probably at least ten more years. People that are serious about collecting movies will always want to have a physical copy of the movie, so blu-ray (or something even better) will be around for quite some time.[/NOBABE]