Connie wants to get a Blu-Ray player. I don’t. She fears a future where newly released movies won’t be available on DVD, but only on these new discs. I look forward to a future without discs of any kind.
What do you think? Is buying a Blu-Ray player worth it? My TV is only 720p, I don’t have cable and I rely entirely on internet-delivered television programs and movies (with the occasional DVD from the library).
On the one hand, if DVDs do become scarce, I’ll be able to play the new discs. Also I’m an Amazon Prime member. And since some Blu-Ray players feature access to Amazon’s streaming service, I’ll be able to augment my existing movie streams beyond what I already get on my Apple TV.
On the other hand, if I could will the entertainment industry into adopting streamed solutions quicker, I’d do so. Buying into the next-gen disc player seems like placing a bet on the team you hope loses. And of course once you have the player, you’ll acquire discs–and of course once you have a library of discs you’ll need to maintain a player for as long as you own them, even if streamed solutions really do take off like I hope they do.
I don’t want any more plastic spinning discs. They break, they scratch, you lose them. They aren’t available to all my playback devices. I’m willing to keep a DVD player for the purpose of accessing our existing library of those discs. But I don’t want to be saying the same about my Blu-Ray collection in ten years.
Absolutely switch to a better TV and a Blu-Ray player. Even the $100 ones can do Amazon Prime and Netflix. DVDs are cheap. You can always rip them if you don’t want to keep them around.
If I rip DVDs then I have to worry about where to store them and how to get them to the TV. And I’m not sure I’m in for a new TV this year. Plus, I worry about the UI for Amazon video in these players. I’m guessing they’re awful. Do you know?
The only reason to buy DVD’s any more is if you want to watch special features, outtakes, gag reels, director commentary, etc. And yes, you do now have to buy the DVD’s to get those features. Once Redbox started selling DVD rentals for $1 the movie studios stopped including special features with the rental versions of the discs; it was cutting too much into retail DVD sales. So the question you need to ask first is:
Do I really love/want/need special features an extras that come with a retail version of a DVD?
If so, then go ahead and get the upgrade. If not, then don’t bother. If you’re only interested in the base content (the “show” itself, but no extra features), then stick with online streaming.