Physical Medium Viability

[mynameisjamie]

What do you think of physical mediums? Haha. What I mean to say is....
Blu Ray is all the rage and there are a couple of threads about it. But is it worth putting all of this effort into the format when getting content online is getting easier and better by the day?

For example, I love my computer. I just built a new computer. It's super sweet and fast. All of my games were on my old computer though. Since I use Steam (Half Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead) every game I've purchased is attached to my steam account and I just re-downloaded them. Sure it takes more time than installing them from a disc but I couldn't tell you how many computer games the discs have gotten too scratched to use or I've lost the Serial Number. With Steam it's a non-issue (I got BioShock and I think there might be a limit to the number of times I can install the game)

When it comes to High Def programming it's easier to get it online every day. Netflix can stream HD directly to your television. Media Centers are getting cheaper and more plug and play every day. I see it only being a matter of time before there is a steam like program for movies or even movies and music. Basically, by keeping your entertainment "in the cloud" you will always have it.

To top it off, one of the big tech speaking points of the O' Bomb is to improve and grow the nations high speed internet infrastructure. Jesus, if we just just boost it by half it would make this an even quicker and easier transition.

I don't remember where I saw this but it was said, Blu Ray could just end up being the laser disc of today. A great technology but the next innovation is waiting in the cloud to jump out and squash BD into oblivion.

Thank you and good day sirs. (and ladies)

 

[memebag]

This is one reason I'm skipping the Blu-ray format. I've bought enough shiny discs for several lifetimes. I've still got hundreds of laserdiscs sitting around in boxes. The market is rapidly closing in on the right mix of price, content & simplicity to push all physical delivery methods into the vinyl bin. Folks will still make shiny discs, but they'll be a tiny slice of the market.

 

[mynameisjamie]

Folks will still make shiny discs, but they'll be a tiny slice of the market.

I agree. Not only is it cheaper to move content delivery to the internet which will free up money for more innovation for televisions (which would help bring down prices of televisions), more people using more bandwidth would force something to be done by the government (hopefully this is already in the works) and IP's, and allow more people to deliver more messages to the public which would provide media with a much needed shot of diversification.

 

[hexagram]

I don't remember where I saw this but it was said, Blu Ray could just end up being the laser disc of today.

That's because the right side lost.

Which is a shame, since HD DVD almost won. (Toshiba/MS [HD DVD] and Sony [Blu-ray]) were trying to outbid each other in offering cash to Warner (and it's affiliates) and Fox (and it's affiliates) for their exclusivity. Unfortunately, Sony outspent. Then shortly after, Warner and Fox announced their exclusivity to Blu-ray, and you saw the retail channels shifting to Blu-ray only. Game over for HD DVD.

I think physical medium will always be around. Some people like to have a physical copy of the film/game/song.

I'm looking forward to HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc). A capacity to theoretically hold 3.9 TB (TERABYTES).

 

[Vargas]

What do you think of physical mediums? Haha. What I mean to say is....
Blu Ray is all the rage and there are a couple of threads about it. But is it worth putting all of this effort into the format when getting content online is getting easier and better by the day?

For example, I love my computer. I just built a new computer. It's super sweet and fast. All of my games were on my old computer though. Since I use Steam (Half Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead) every game I've purchased is attached to my steam account and I just re-downloaded them. Sure it takes more time than installing them from a disc but I couldn't tell you how many computer games the discs have gotten too scratched to use or I've lost the Serial Number. With Steam it's a non-issue (I got BioShock and I think there might be a limit to the number of times I can install the game)

When it comes to High Def programming it's easier to get it online every day. Netflix can stream HD directly to your television. Media Centers are getting cheaper and more plug and play every day. I see it only being a matter of time before there is a steam like program for movies or even movies and music. Basically, by keeping your entertainment "in the cloud" you will always have it.

To top it off, one of the big tech speaking points of the O' Bomb is to improve and grow the nations high speed internet infrastructure. Jesus, if we just just boost it by half it would make this an even quicker and easier transition.

I don't remember where I saw this but it was said, Blu Ray could just end up being the laser disc of today. A great technology but the next innovation is waiting in the cloud to jump out and squash BD into oblivion.

Thank you and good day sirs. (and ladies)

Yes, eventually the DVD or Blu-Ray will be done with, just as CD's are pretty much worthless now. But I think it will be a long time. The netflix streaming is nice and will surely catch on but I think it will be YEARS until this is common place. Plus, there is just something about OWNING your favorite movie. A song is only 3 minutes long and you can carry a small MP3 player with you. It is pretty hard to appreciate a brilliantly shot film in HD on a 3 in screen like the IPOD or Archos, or anything.

For now, I'm with Blu-ray and think it will eventually get almost as common as DVD. Ten years from now, sure, we'll all be streaming something but I bet we'll all still have some sort of disc player.

Just as DVD was supposed to kill the act of going to the movies, I don't think the internet will KILL DVD or Blu-ray. It will wound it but not kill it.

 

[HomieG]

I'm sticking with my reel-to-reel and 8-track media

 

[snakester]

Physical mediums will be around for a LONG time to come. The FCC ruined internet delivery when they decided the ISP's couldn't throttle certain types of traffic (read: people that leave their BitTorrent clients running all night seeding illegal TV shows), and brought in the Dark Age of Internet Caps. We've gone from most ISPs having no cap whatsoever and applying light throttling to BitTorrent traffic, to pretty much all of them having caps, some high, some REALLY low, like a small time cable ISP I remember reading about with a 20GB monthly cap. With pretty much everything being connected to the Internet nowadays, this is going to spell trouble sooner rather than later.

Games are getting bigger. High definition movies are HUGE. Unless bandwidth becomes free (fat chance) or the ISP's get to implement some sort of QoS system that's NOT protocol-agnostic (something that current FCC rules don't allow), I don't see physical storage going away at all.

Broadband speeds are another problem in this equation, but that's another argument for another day.

 

[memebag]

Physical mediums will be around for a LONG time to come. The FCC ruined internet delivery when they decided the ISP's couldn't throttle certain types of traffic (read: people that leave their BitTorrent clients running all night seeding illegal TV shows), and brought in the Dark Age of Internet Caps. We've gone from most ISPs having no cap whatsoever and applying light throttling to BitTorrent traffic, to pretty much all of them having caps, some high, some REALLY low, like a small time cable ISP I remember reading about with a 20GB monthly cap. With pretty much everything being connected to the Internet nowadays, this is going to spell trouble sooner rather than later.

Games are getting bigger. High definition movies are HUGE. Unless bandwidth becomes free (fat chance) or the ISP's get to implement some sort of QoS system that's NOT protocol-agnostic (something that current FCC rules don't allow), I don't see physical storage going away at all.

Broadband speeds are another problem in this equation, but that's another argument for another day.

Net neutrality just stops the ISPs from monopolizing video distribution. That allows competition, which can increase consumer demand, which will drive bandwidth up and (eventually) prices down.

This week I've been watching 30 Rock in 720p from Netflix on my Xbox. It works really well.

 

[TheScionicMan]

I'm still partial to physical media. I like having the CD, even if I only use it to rip digital tracks from. I don't think it is close to being dead. Heck, they are still making vinyl records.

I fear my son will miss a lot of the experience of an ALBUM of music. Most offerings are not a complete work as things seemed in the past, more of a few "hits" and some filler. Granted, lots of albums had that formula, but many were better than the "hits" played on the radio.

I can get Netflix turnaround on a disc in a day or 2. The quality is better than the online offering, if available. Many videos, it doesn't really matter but for big blockbusters and stuff, I like the disc better. I am interested in the Roku box they offer for TV connectivity. They have enough kids offerings that I could maybe drop DishTV and just go local channels. Of course, now I'd need a Digital converter box, well soon anyway...

 

[hexagram]

Heck, they are still making vinyl records.

Yep, I just bought a vinyl record and a DVD audio version (24-bit/96khz) of an album recently. I like to keep a physical copy (even though the end result will be streamed on the network or placed on a Zune).

 

[memebag]

I'm still partial to physical media. I like having the CD, even if I only use it to rip digital tracks from. I don't think it is close to being dead. Heck, they are still making vinyl records.

... and some people still ride horses. Downloads were 70% of the music market last year, according to Nielsen. CDs are disappearing rapidly. They don't have a niche market like vinyl to keep them in production.

 

[hexagram]

I think CDs will continue to exist in the near future (even if their sales are dropping rapidly). It certainly hasn't stopped Vinyl and certain people like to use CD's to archive their music collection to FLAC.

 

[JoeTan]

... and some people still ride horses. Downloads were 70% of the music market last year, according to Nielsen. CDs are disappearing rapidly. They don't have a niche market like vinyl to keep them in production.

It's all about paying for clarity. MP3 is fun for children and portable players like tape players but you can never beat the clarity of VINYL.

Can't be done. Not digitally at least.

 

[memebag]

It's all about paying for clarity. MP3 is fun for children and portable players like tape players but you can never beat the clarity of VINYL.

Can't be done. Not digitally at least.

MP3 is good enough for 99% of music listeners, and can be identical to CD given enough bandwidth. That's why CD will die. There's always going to be 1% who prefer vinyl, but the CD format doesn't have that kind of loyalty.

 

[JoeTan]

I hear that.

 

[TheScionicMan]

CD isn't the only physical media. They've got DVD-Audio, slotMusic and all kinds of flash drive type options. Check out this USB wristband:

Peace and Love, Peace and Love...

I don't want to buy a dload, have to back it up, worry about retrieving, etc.

 

[memebag]

I don't want to buy a dload, have to back it up, worry about retrieving, etc.

Most other folks seem to be OK with it. I've bought a lot of MP3s from Amazon. They're backed up on DVDs and served from my mirrored file server. I've got access to them on my iPod, all of my computers and my big stereo. I never have to look for the disc or futz with cases.

When I do buy CDs (for albums that aren't available on DRM-less MP3s), I rip them as soon as I get them and stick the CDs in storage, never to look at them again. They represent a lot of wasted molecules and ergs.

 

[TheScionicMan]

Most other folks seem to be OK with it. I've bought a lot of MP3s from Amazon. They're backed up on DVDs and served from my mirrored file server. I've got access to them on my iPod, all of my computers and my big stereo. I never have to look for the disc or futz with cases.

Based on my experiences in tech support, you are an exception rather than the rule. Most people can barely access their email and the internet. backups? hahahahaha :jj: That's a good one.

When I do buy CDs (for albums that aren't available on DRM-less MP3s), I rip them as soon as I get them and stick the CDs in storage, never to look at them again. They represent a lot of wasted molecules and ergs.

Kinda like those DVDs you're creating from your digital downloads? There's another good reason for physical media...

 

[memebag]

Based on my experiences in tech support, you are an exception rather than the rule. Most people can barely access their email and the internet. backups? hahahahaha :jj: That's a good one.

Then why are downloads so popular?

Kinda like those DVDs you're creating from your digital downloads? There's another good reason for physical media...

All except for two orders of magnitude. I put 1000 albums on 10 dvds.

 

[snakester]

Net neutrality just stops the ISPs from monopolizing video distribution. That allows competition, which can increase consumer demand, which will drive bandwidth up and (eventually) prices down.

This week I've been watching 30 Rock in 720p from Netflix on my Xbox. It works really well.

I hate the net neutrality debate with a passion. I understand that we need to keep the ISPs from going to a old school AT&T like system where they own everything and tell you what you can do with it, but at the same time some of the network neutrality supporters are way out in left field.

I remember reading an article about a week ago where apparently, because phone through the cable company runs on its own separate internal network, it gives the cable phone service an unfair advantage over services like Vonage. It's by design that it has to work like that, not by malicious intent.

The ISPs do have their problems, but call them out on the big stuff, not the small things. Small time BitTorrent throttling and phone service QoS are small things. Now, if a cable company tries saying that you have to pay them $10 bucks a month for the right to watch your instant movies on NetFlix, THAT'S a big thing.