I think there is confusion from people who don't own physical media that anybody who collects physical media is a hoarder. I for one only collect movies games and other stuff that means something to me. Hence, my collection while extensive is not overwhelming. There is a difference between those who collect art that means something to them, and those who collect just to amass things. My game collection, going back to the early seventies is easily worth tens of thousands of dollars. But it's not because of the sheer volume, it's because there are quite a few rare objects in the collection just by happenstance. I'm praying that physical media never goes away, because I like having the choice of watching, playing, and listening to the things that I love when I want, not when somebody else dictates it's okay for me to do so. I absolutely adore your channel, keep up the good work.
I don't think these "confused" people actually think physical collector's are hoarders. I think it is sort of a way for them to try and make it seem like we have "issues" because they think of us as trying to resist the "inevitable future" of digital media. There are legit people out there that have bought into digital media hook, line, and sinker to the point it angers them that others choose to continue buying physical media. The idea that they get to have their media in the form they want it, but aren't satisfied until everyone is forced to consume media in the same way, is the most selfish behavior there is. It is like if I eat my burgers well done and think everyone should have to conform to eating them well done as well. Even though I can choose the option of having mine well done, I get upset that others get to have theirs made the way they prefer. It just sound ridiculous..
I dont know I think people who collect physical meadia are hoarders. I know I am. However I think the whole hoarder culture has been pumped for a purpose. If you look at Tv you'll see a program telling you how bad hoarding is. After the show theyll play one of how some dudes go around to peoples old garages and find something thats worth a ton of money. So they want you to get rid of your stuff so they can rumage through it make a ton of money and get drunk with it or something. Also If you own nothing then you have to depend on a provider that will CHARGE you for it. Hey dont own any tools you can buy em around the corner each time you need em. Hey dont own movies you can stream them and pay each time. The next step is like in jurassic park theyll genetically engineer us to lack a specific protein that they will PROVIDE for us to stay alive at a minimal cost of course:-). . Another angle pumping the get rid of your stuff movement is the price of "living space" is rising each time so forcing people to have less and less stuff. Now its true some people hoard hundreds of cats or pampers full of excrement. But to peer pressure and harangue someone because they love books or movies or toys or old watches snowglobes or whatever is just wrong. Now from a practical standpoint if you have enough crap make a museum thats how you can cover costs yo preserve this stuff. Maybe even a virtual online m,useum.
History preservation for sure. I’m 21 years old and thanks to boutique labels such as Shout Factory and Arrow Video, I’ve discovered so many epic movies from before my time. Most of them don’t even hold a candle to modern movies. Edit: Physical media forever!
Same, im 20 years old and love buying these older movies I haven't seen before, they are purchasable on amazon prime but I want to own the disc and see it in the best quality possible, also future generations might appreciate my physical media collection so it's great having that physical media watchable at anytime
I'm 21, and I collect mostly music and am getting into books/reading in the past 2 years as well. Its incredibly satisfying to own and have access to whatever you want, especially with censorship being more and more. I'm not really into movies, but I remember as a kid when netflix was a disc order service and it was SO COOL. Netflix just doesn't have the same charm anymore.
@Shep Proudfoot That's kind of why I put the "if you're able to." Nobody should go broke or not pay rent for physical media. If you're able to vote with your dollars, support physical media. If not, please feed your family and keep a roof over your head first.
I'm right there with you, Heath. The older you get, the less companies cater to you. Which means you're less likely to find the older media you want to watch on streaming services. A lot of those older titles they don't want to mess with are only available on physical media.
adorkability,a lot of that probably has to do with the fact an older movie or show made before streaming often have legal music rights issues. You need a person to either reedit old shows with stock score music that doesn't change the scene intent from the shows creator or you need to pay for song usage that was only for tv airring or dvd/blu. If a popular hit tv show of it's time like the wonders years could get caught up in limbo for years,imagine what happens to less popular content. A studio doesn't see the financial benefit,so often times old media is entirely reliant on someone like Shout Factory and Shout Factory can't possibly release everything.
Man, I’m a young bucks, turn 28 next week, but I was raised in the video store. Without that local rental store there would be no way for me to find those RAD HK cinema VHSs, and even now in 2021 with “EVERYTHING” on streaming... still can’t find John Woo or Jackie or Jet beyond one or two here and there.
As a silent film fan and my love of cinema into the forties, I am highly concerned about the disappearance of classic, golden age cinema. It's not on TV (much on the UK) and the streaming services just don't show enough.
I started collecting my favorite movies this year, and seeing those movies on my shelf and being able to watch them whenever I want just I'd so fun. It really brings me back to when I was a kid and had a what seemed to be a big vhs collection. I will keep buying my favorites because I'm tired of them not being available.
I must admit I see an increase in bootlegs and pirating of those 'Streaming only' series and films unless they service people who want physical copies. An example is the Mandalorian which is readily available ( both seasons). I'm not endorsing bootlegs but if the likes of Disney don't provide physical or even digital to own options I can see an increase
You lost me with the digital to own option. You argument is that there is an increase in pirating streaming only series because of the lack of physical discs but in conclusion insist it can be satiated by offering a digital ownership option, even though it readily available at a low price. This sound more like an argument that people would like to "own" at least a modicum of sense of control over a product versus anything physical. I think that other factors such as availability plays a much larger part than being driven by the NEED to feel like they have control over something. Not all services are available worldwide, and there are many different content lists that vary by country and licensing rights.
yeah I've ran into the same thing with rock and roll bands there's just so much out there that I like that is not available for anything but, The Good ship MP3, and some of it's not even on RUclips or any of these radio streaming oops I mean playlist streaming services to listen to
I have access to “high speed” internet and my streaming experience (the few times I stream) still sucks. I left the Disney club because they had no exclusives anymore. I refuse to sign up with Disney plus. I think one of the reason physical media is in trouble because how many times can you buy the same title over and over? Plus I think people who collect physical media have little to no interest in new movies. I am one of those, I was actually bored with the last 2 Avengers movies. I want the classics, especially the older (50s - 90s) Sci-Fi movies. I also stand by “physical media or nothing”. Streaming is an annoying experience for me... the censorship, the editing, the lower quality, etc. 8K is overkill period, I even think 4K is overkill in a lot of cases. As always Heath, I enjoy the content!!!
I only subscribe to Disney at Xmas for The Mandalorian. They never have any content over spring and summer. And they just increased their price by $2 a month. It's really becoming a joke.
This is a big reason for the constant decline in physical media sales. I already bought all my favorite movies on DVD. I upgraded my favorite ones to Blu-ray, but I'm not going to re-purchase stuff I don't really love (or won't benefit much from an HD transfer), so the number of movies I've bought has dropped significantly because I already have most of my favorites and the number of new releases I'll pay $15+ for is pretty few and far between -- especially since big spectacle films have ground to a halt.
Not sure if i gonna ever go streaming if dealing with buffering on youtube even if got cable but pandemic has caused for more traffic on youtube now i think then times past before pandemic. lucky can dl video or snag any to watch later to avoid buffering anytime. i know we in ways spoiled but otehr ways it gonna take more so not gotta deal with buffering or it just gonna happen cause the site or net service has so many try use service for almost anything now. so physical media is gold so to speak to avoid buffering anytime.
@@bubba842 Guessing it gonna go higher as they can not get it from traffic at parks so they gonna get from the stream as more traffic sign up and want more.
I love physical media. Actually today I bought a huge box of dvds and blurays for almost nothing from a local marketplace. Lots of titles I don't already have in the lot. You don't get to hold digital media or look at the artwork. Physical media ALL THE WAY!!
I've been collecting movies for as long as I can remember. Started with VHS when I was a kid, then moved on to DVD when I was a teenager, and now blu-ray in my thirties (with DVD still going strong, lol). As a collector, I just don't understand this supposed "convenience" people seem to associate to streaming. I don't really find it convenient at all, because I can't begin to tell you how many times I looked on streaming sites for a specific title, only to find it unavailable. And again, as you stated here, as soon as you don't have an internet connection, you're kinda screwed. Another downfall about streaming: you don't get the perks of physical media. You get to watch the movie, and that's it, while on a disc you get to go BEYOND the movie with special features, not to mention getting to enjoy that artwork. That's another thing: I like to be able to hold a copy of a movie in my hands, look at it, read the synopsis, etc. Guess I got that from growing up in the "video store age", and it's something I feel like I'll just never grow out of. I like the tangible aspect of collecting; I like being able look through the movies on my shelf, pick a title and pop it into the player... You made so many good points here Heath, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. And you're not kidding about how you better grab that show you loved as a kid. In the past, I've passed up on the season one box-set of "Silver Spoons", and it's since gone out-of-print, I never see it anywhere and the price has shot up online, so yeah: buy while you can. Also, there's never been a better time to buy physical media, especially movies (in my opinion), because pawn shops and thrift stores are selling DVDs for $1 - $2 a piece, and if you look often, you can luck out and find gold. It's happened to me on many occasions. Anyway, apologies for this novel; it'll soon be available in both hard-cover and paperback ;) Great stuff Heath, love your content. Cheers! -Jex
Also, if convenience is what you seek, then just rip your bought movies in a hard drive and stream it to your tv. There’s nothing illegal about ripping bought movies.
My first job was at a Blockbuster video just as DVD was starting to hit the shelves. To me physical media brings back the nostalgia of browsing the shelves for a rental. While I subscribe to a lot of streaming services, physical media will always be the best way to watch a movie.
You brought up an excellent point about not everyone having reliable high speed internet connections. Off the top of my head, I can name more than a handful of people I work with that live in rural areas that do not have a strong, reliable internet connection. So when people start talking about streaming being the future of entertainment, I roll my eyes because they're all just assuming that EVERYONE on planet Earth has high speed internet. For me, I live 20 minutes outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - that's a major city and my internet connection is spotty at best. There have been many times when I've tried streaming something and all I keep getting is buffering stoppages. So, nine times out of ten, I'm going to want to watch a physical disc rather than gamble on streaming a film and/or TV show.
I have high speed internet and I was struggling to watch Wandavision on Disney+ last weekend because it kept buffering and quality degrading for reasons I don't know. I ended up turning it off and watching a film on disc instead.
I love collecting DVDs/Blu-rays and CDs. I don't have any streaming services and I don't use digital codes. Although I take really good care of all my discs over the years a few of them will not load/play no matter what player I put them in and I have to find and buy another copy. To me that's the worst part is one day wanting to watch something and although the disc has been in the case it won't play (cleaning the player won't help). Once physical media is over and everything is digital I'll just watch what I have and not deal with new releases and avoid things being censored.
I am only 19, but I love older movies. I'd guess the vast majority of my TOP 10 had been released before I was born, or soon after (the Lord of the Rings) However, I don't know why you think interest in those movies is dying. Many people still love and watch them.
I'm still a huge supporter of physical media and due to media company censorship, I've gone out of my way to buy 'Gone With The Wind' on DVD and Blu-ray (not for the crazy prices as seen several months ago, but for more reasonable prices now), as well as a bootleg copy of Disney's 'Song of the South' on DVD which was never available, and I'll be buying 'Home Alone 2' too because cable companies want to remove the Donald Trump scene from that movie which is utterly petty and insane.
I did the same with Gone with the wind. It was always a title that i said "i can get that anytime". as soon as the censorship stuff came out I made sure i got myself a copy. I would love them to release song of the south properly. I've still got my VHS XD
They really need to knock it off with the Donald Trump BS that ship has sailed a few weeks ago let it be. This coming from a guy who wasn't his biggest fan to begin with. I'm talking about all the way back when thinking celebrity apprentice was not a great show.
@@BristolianDave Hold onto that VHS or even buy a DVD recorder to copy the tape (although it likely has copy protection like other Disney VHS tapes did). 'Song of the South' VHS tapes are worth a lot of money on eBay ranging from $50 to $100 and on a great day, probably even more with aggressive bidders. :)
Physical media can’t go away cause you never know when a streaming service might crash for weird reasons and which why I like owning older tv shows and movies in my own and my family’s collection of DVDs. I also wish studios would release older tv shows onto physical format... :/
I love collecting physical media. I'm also more interested mostly in movies pre-1990s especially cult, exploitation, horror films or old Hollywood movies which are almost never streaming, at least not good quality prints. I really enjoy what the boutique labels put out like Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Arrow, Severin, and Kino. They put a lot of love into films big studios wouldn't care about.
I continue to buy physical media but only of those films that I truly love. I collect certain actors, directors, genres, and movies. It’s a shame that most stores are getting rid of the physical media. I miss stores like FYE and Spec’s. I’ve noticed that Best Buy has made the physical media section smaller in the past year. At least we still have online which is where I do most of my shopping now.
Thank you for doing this. You said it perfectly. Collecting film and television is preserving art. It’s very discouraging how the Blu-Ray market has already run out of steam. The recent films I have purchased are all bare bones discs with no features whatsoever. Just ten years ago Blu-Ray was THE popular method of collecting. It actually makes me sad how steaming has eliminated the desire to collect. I used to make friends by discussing what I owned. Now those same people could care less what movie I just added to the vault. I appreciate you discussing the changes. It’s important.
I recently started back . I’m Starting a 4K collection. What you said is right about the age thing. I’m 42 and a lotta what I buy are movies I watched and loved my whole life .
I know streaming is the future but a lot of things about it I don't really like. Every month seems like a new subscription comes out you have to pay for. I just got an email my Netflix subscription is increasing in price yet again. Being a physical media collector it's just easier to go ahead and get it because it pays for itself instead of having to pay for so many subscription services.
@@knowthycell Yeah that adds up after awhile. New releases are even more than that. Makes me miss the video store my town had that recently went out of business.
@@knowthycell a lot of the subscriptions especially Netflix it seems like I already own, have watched or not interested in the content. I like their documentaries but not sure if it's worth it for just those.
I used to be a disc collector, would buy a bunch of stuff just bc it's like a popular title or has some reputation of being a must own movie. Realized I was collecting for a situation that I just don't run into ever (having a movie someone else wants to watch handy, even if it's not something I love). Now I just try to go for stuff I like and especially for niche stuff to support it like you said. 50s horror and scifi, anything from early hollywood, and especially the renaissance of indie american movies in the late 60s-70s. I'm really glad we do have some of the boutique labels we have, especially to be taste makers and turn me onto stuff I would absolutely never be aware of if they weren't putting it out.
I have always collected physical media and always will. Otherwise I don’t feel like I own it and I’m just renting whatever the work of art might be. This goes to movies, music and video games.
Physical media is very important. Everything isn't available digitally and if something is, it's probably not going to be around forever. It can easily be taken away if it's in digital format. If you have a disc or VHS tape, or even some form of physical media in video games you'll have it for much longer. I wish people in their 20s and under would understand this. As for Disney, I'm still waiting with wishful thinking to buy the cartoon movie of Jungle Book and hoping they're not ending their "Signature Collection". I also wish they would properly release TV shows like The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh in a full series disc set.
I'm never giving up my physical media collection & my collection is only gonna keep growing. I swear I'm gonna be like 80 or 90 years old & still watching my movies on dvd & blu-ray
It’s the same thing that happened to the music industry as well. I love CD’s & vinyl but I’m not the norm anymore. I remember when new releases at the record store were an event
It's not the disc for me but ultimately the control. I like knowing I have King Kong (1933) available to me whenever I want to watch it in the best possible quality. I do see the writing on the wall though and I'm way quicker these days to blind buy stuff or simply buy something in fear that it might be out of print. As we speak, I have Death Wish 2-4 in my cart. I've never seen them and it might take me years to get around to watching them but I'd rather have on the shelf ready to go than not be able to find them years later. Space is certainly my biggest concern going forward though.
Digital "owning" sucks ass. I love tangible items and being able to watch something whenever I want. Rotating licenses for movies and you losing access, even if you buy stuff, sucks. Good video Heath!
Here is my take on this ...kids do not normally buy DVDs ...but older adults like myself have grown up with VHS DVD and now Blu RAY ...and film companies are noticing this ...so many disc releases are of older classics from the 60s 50s 40s are available now aimed at people like me ...the future will be different ....but we have the money to indulge in our pastimes...
We might see a return of disc releases of new content tho, as studios (like Paramount Plus) realize that some shows have far higher demand than the streaming service itself, and they can make more money by selling shows and movies to people who would never spend money on the streaming service
Streaming services only carry films and shows for a limited time. Unless it's owned by the streaming service. Not everyone is going to subscribe to several streaming services.Streaming services don't have all of the special features that the discs contain. I think that more stores like Walmart , Target , Etc. need to start carrying discs from Scream Factory , Severin Films , Etc. A lot of people don't know about these companies.
After years of living off the wasteland of free CRT TVs given to me by family members who wanted to unload them, I finally went a stretch of time where I ended up with 4 HD TVs & a blu-ray all within a few months of each other. My wife streams everything and my eyes have now adjusted to HD which makes it harder and harder to enjoy my old VHS & DVDs. So in recent weeks I've been spending like crazy on building up my blu-ray collection and am very alarmed at how many limited print releases there are and how many titles are already out of print!
My brother and father are farmers in rural, but not super rural America. They get 3Mbps, on which streaming looks like VHS, if it even works at all. There's basically no way for them to watch The Mandalorian or any other streaming shows that aren't also released on physical media. Millions of people in this country are in the same boat, and companies that are phasing out physical media are leaving everyone in areas with slow Internet without access to this new programming.
I try to order physical directly from publisher/studio when I can. Digital is good for backing up physical media. Companies want streaming because they get more control over the content and access to that content.
Interesting points I am a fan and collector of Physical Media from Hong Kong films to mainstream. I don't think they will stop physical media as this same topic came up when the Amazon Kindle came out and everyone said it would be the death of printed media and books. Which it wasn't as for the streaming service I do think it will burst its own bubble if every studio try's to have one. As like you said not everywhere has good internet connects nor could everyone be able to get them all. So I would think it would burst the bubble also especially if they can and some do re-edit films with people realising as buying the film on disk would be cheaper option and uncut. But i do agree we do need to show support with our monies as always a great video and topic.
I agree with you up till the Amazon Kindle comparison. Personally, at least from what I've seen, is that a lot of people are completely unwilling to switch to e-readers from physical books. I'd say that with movies, video games, and music, a lot folks are willing to go digital. I just think that books are a lot more difficult to recreate digitally and since they've been around in physical for so long that most people are not going to switch to a digital version. We'll see though, it'll be a damn shame when or if physical media actually dies off. Seeing a person's collection in their home, you get a bit of a sense of that person's personality and losing that will be a shame....Anywho, ✌
@@theheadytimetraveler3864 great comments. I’ve always felt the same way about streamed music bc the audio quality is so low when compared to CD or Vinyl
@@knowthycell I would almost agree if sites like Tidal didn't exist. There is definitely ways to stream high quality music. Plus with my own listening habits, I mainly listen to music off of RUclips, you can find damn near anything on here no matter how obscure, like Lifun by Trubrot, great progressive record from 1971. There is a version with the lyrics sung in their native Icelandic and there's a version sung in English. Last i checked you couldn't buy that record for less than $1200, especially the English version. I guess for me having listened to so many hours of audience recordings for Grateful Dead and Phish concerts, along with punk from the 70s and 80s, I'm just happy to experience the music in any way I can. Still, nothing beats a physical collection of that stuff, I would just need a whole house dedicated to just music to make it work lol
I really felt where you are coming from. Things aren’t geared for the older crowd that wants to be entertained, I truly believe in being lost In the movie marvel’s that’s been a part of my life. Personally, I have been so engrossed in rediscovering older movies and realized how much I have missed. I can really see the genuine love you have for it. Keep up the love.
This was an excellent video Heath and brought up a lot of great points. It's incredibly important to support physical media now more than ever and has given me some food for thought. I appreciate what you do Heath, thanks for sharing and being here.
completely agree about high speed internet and how a lot of people don't have it. I live on Dartmoor in the UK, where we have flaky Internet at best. It literally depends which way the wind blows as to our signal. To give you an idea of how bad it is, if I was to download a HD film it would take me two days! I have half a bar on my internet signal box and we've been told that no super optic fibre is coming our way in the foreseeable future. If I have things I need high speed internet I have to drive 10 miles across town to my mother in laws house to use her internet! So I make sure I collect physical media because that means I can enjoy a film without it pausing every few minutes.
I can totally get behind the idea that we all need to appreciate the contents of the disc more than appreciating the disc itself, especially if we are going to see a change in what is released.
I still buy physical media because I'd rather own my favorite stuff than have someone dictate to me what I should watch, listen to & read. My focus is on my favorite stuff from movies, tv, music & books. I shop at actual stores vs online stores for the love of discovering something that I might be interested in. I'll never do streaming because of the rampant censorship in the modern era. I'm still old school & will continue to be old school.
I have a collection of movies, games and cd's. To me, its art that I can appreciate a lot more by owning the physical copy rather than just streaming it.
Best Buy’s around me have condensed their movie/tv section from 3 aisles or more to just 1 double sided, it’s dark times and is just heart breaking. Best Buy to me used to be a safe haven for movies and it’s depressing to see it diminishing in real time right before our very eyes. I’ll always be a physical media guy til the end.
I have been searching for the recent Star Wars Movies on DVD and I cannot find them. Some other titles are hard to find. Yeah streaming is the future, but I feel much better about physically owning the movie (or like you said, you don't own the disc itself, you own it for convenience). I am lucky that there is a store about and hour away called FYE that is my true Video Store. Where is the unaltered versions of Star Wars? On VHS or DVD. THAT is something that Disney + will probably NEVER have. I do love your videos. You have a very good explanation about different stuff.
Physical Media is far from dead. People are starting to notice all the kinks in the digital media armor. I keep hearing a massive outcry for streaming service digital content on Blu Ray.
Yeah, streaming only is just a phase because eventually it disappoints you too many times. Having said that, certain titles are hard to find on blu ray. The movie isn't important enough to be released on blu ray or its out of print or something.
It's been my birthday recently and physical media are easy gifts for my family to buy me. So I got Blu Rays, a CD and even a LP (LPs overtook CD sales last year in the UK).... at 48 I don't want gifts that are any practical use!!!!
Great thoughts, dude. I think disks will be a specialty business that I'll be very happy to participate. I will never stop buying disks, specially for the movies and tv shows I love. Internet is not a given, specially if you like quality. I cannot stand to be watching something in 1080 that keeps oscillating to 720 or even 480p... Not gonna happen! And you are absolutely right! We need to keep buying!
My husband is a collector. He loves the movies. We don't just collect, we watch our movies -- all genres, foreign and domestic. We have a modest cinema room, and an outdoor inflatable screen and projection system. We watch films together, but we love to have company over of all ages, and do neighborhood family nights outdoors during the summer. We are physical media fans. Our Blu-rays outnumber both our DVDs and 4k's, but our 4K collection continues to grow. Some complain about the Blu-ray disc that accompanies the 4K, but because there is no outdoor 4K projection system, the Blu-rays work just fine. There is hardly a month go by that we don't purchase something on physical media, including CDs. The only thing we stream is Amazon Prime, but the movie titles seldom change. We'd go broke subscribing to all the streaming services, just to get all the titles we now own. We also own software that allows us to print out our entire collection in a bound spiral book, that we update and reprint every year. Love physical media.
I'm a huge fan of physical media. I do stream, but refuse to purchase digital movies. High speed Internet is unreliable in the best areas, and there's too much that I like out there that isn't available to stream.
I’d go further and say they should never be trusted. The people at studios running these kinds of things are not creatives. They are money men and we are just money meat bags to them.
Hey buddy, after watching your video you most definitely have a point. I stream as much as I watch a Blu-ray from my collection. I love the aspect of collecting and ‘ownership’ of a movie but equally love the convenience of just flicking through a streaming service and hitting play on my remote. Interestingly enough, I bought two new Blu-rays today from Warnerbros website (which I’ve never done before). I limit my buying but the prospect of receiving the movies in the post is already exciting me and I know many others feel the same way. Is streaming more popular than disc buying? I have no doubt. The general population who don’t care for disc space or quality will happily just stream. It’s the future but I do think there will always be physical media, at least in my lifetime and I’m 33 😀👍🏼
The other thing Walmart is not caring a lot DVD’s anymore and best buy that why I been getting most out printed DVD’s on eBay,you so right I think lot DVD’s will be hard to find in the next 1-2
Very well said! I think I'm doing more for digital media than I ever have before. I've bought 28 new titles already in the last few weeks. I absolutely love the boutique labels and am still finding new ones regularly! I also support streaming but I definitely step up more for collecting physical media.
Yes! The last few years, I've been collecting classic sit coms, original super hero shows and cartoons from my youth. And it always gets me when I see some of peoples collections on RUclips, they haven't even opened them and have little knowledge about the shows. I only get the stuff that I love, especially the shows that rarely airs on tv or hasn't aired in decades.
Right on! It's the difference between being a "collector" and being a fan of what's actually on the discs. Anybody can buy this stuff, but they have nothing to say about it if they aren't watching it. Physical media is not baseball cards, or comic books. I do not identify as a collector, though I have thousands of movies. I'm a pop culture nut! I LOVE film and TV history (music, too) and that's the basis for this entire channel!
I'd stop buying discs immediately, if every film that I liked were available on streaming. That day is far off, and if it's ever reached the increase in the number of competing streaming services will make it ever more expensive. I have a "streaming test" which everyone should do: Write the names of your 10 favourite films on a piece of paper. Then check how many of them are available on streaming. If you score at least 9, streaming can replace discs for you personally. (P.S. My score is 2).
Yes, if you find a Blu Ray you like (and can afford) buy it as it may not be available again! Wish I had discovered Twilight Time sooner. Missed out on classic films that may never be released again!
I mostly buy physical movies because I got sick of my favorite titles being unreliable to track down on streaming, lol. There one month, gone the next. Special features and commentaries are just the icing on the cake, really.
Hi Heath. Another great opinion video. I completely agree with your thoughts on the fate of physical media and the current collecting trajectory for 2021. Like you, I continue to collect physical media (films and TV) that I love and want to enjoy without the limitation of licensing agreements on streaming services. I do like the flexibility of streaming services also and support a few (Criterion Channel as an example) but, as a physical media collector, I appreciate and enjoy the flexibility of watching what I want whenever I like. Long live physical media!
Yes! One thing I should have added was that I am not anti-streaming. It certainly has its place, especially for discovery. But the idea that everything is on streaming or will be on streaming is, in my opinion, very unfounded. And even if everything does end up on streaming, then there's a wall (or four or five walls) between us and the content we want to watch. Buy it once, and you have access forever. Streaming comes with a monthly bill, per service, and things disappear on a whim. The most important point I can make is that streaming is not a permanent archive, but our collections are. Hopefully this video can promote some people to support these companies who are serving us so well!
I've been doing so since before Borders closed. Even more so since then. It was my favorite book store. Second was Hastings. We're stuck with barnes and noble, half priced books,and vintage stock now. And maybe a few family run gems here and there. I hate when good stores die.
Sometimes I just buy a disc because even to rent a new film for streaming it ends up being like 17 to 19 dollars. Sometimes it's lesser than that but if I am pretty sure I will like something, I just buy a copy.
it might be reduced to collector items but I do not think it will ever end because of the fact that the love of feeling of holding a physical object in your hand will never end, same as books and on top of that the special features that we get with physical media will always be an incentive for people to keep buying until all of that is transferred to streaming as well. I will say I was talking ti a friend of mine about this and he told me something very interesting, he told me about a future without disc and instead why not flash drives, they are long lasting, can hold more content, and much more smaller. and instead of buying a blu ray for each seperate films, why not buy a blank flash drive optimized for film storage and just go into a kiosk or something like that and just buy the digital media that way and download it into the drives and then once that drive is full you can buy another one, I think that would actually be pretty sweet, almost like a refillable movie card if you will
Without physical media, the price of subscription streaming and buying digital films individually will then increase so the "value" factor of streaming will be eliminated and we will be left with all the downsides of streaming and physical without there being physical anymore. Price of new release PC games on Steam years ago used to be significantly cheaper than buying them boxed off the shelf or the console version. Now there is no difference in price.
Most of my friends regrettably do not believe in physical media anymore! They like me to throw "the old stuff"" away and put faith in the streaming wonderland (also, because it is cheap). But, you know, wonderlands do not last forever! Something can take it all away. But the physical stuff will always remain under your direct control. A big difference!
Do not listen to them brother, people make fun of me for having DVDs and CDs to. Apple Music took away a Status Quo album off of their music streaming service! (Quid pro Quo) But lucky for me I have the album on CD 💿 So I popped it into my CD player and had a listen 😁
Great video Heath, it's always a topic I enjoy hearing about. I'm a physical media fan, but I do think with the big companies like Warner and Disney doing their own streaming services now, with big-budget new content going directly to them, I feel like more people will choose to adopt streaming over collecting physical media, especially younger generations.
Probably half of my DVD/Blu Ray collection does NOT have a legitimate streaming release in the U.S. Of course, I mostly collect Asian films, but the transition to streaming should be expanding access, not limiting it. Movies like "Green Tea" and "He Lives By Night" were good enough to be released on physical media, but apparently not good enough to be released on streaming. I have doubts that they will ever be available again.
Great video, and it's an important reminder of why it's essential to get a region free player so you aren't held hostage by what the studios are doing over here with their physical media.
Great video, I got into physical media for teh quality. Even today the quality of streaming is terrible, so I'm not worried that streaming will suddenly take over in my house. The biggest thing is the difference in quality of 4k, vs blu-ray and streaming. People want to see an obvious difference in quality, and sometimes it isn't there. Paramount Presents stuff as an example, though it has gotten better. I think bit-rates of all 4K's need to be higher, we need to use the full space available. These discs are still not perfect, from a videophile and quality perspective. I want more. I'd like to see more support for the HEVC codec, the codec that makes 4K UHD possible. For improvements that can be made there. Quality is a huge thing for me, and if 4K UHD, as a format, gets get better quality every year, that for me is how we will save it. By having incredibly restored movies at the absolute highest quality. I want to see more done to the important things that are not seen, codecs, and improvements to the technical side of it.
some people are so dumb.... its amazing how many things arent on streaming that isnt on dvd that never made it to vhs. So much media out there that isnt available any where. People are sooo gonna miss physical stuff if it ever goes away. Thats why my room and storage room looks like a rental store threw up in it.
I started collecting two years ago, people think I’m weird for having DVDs 📀 box sets and CDs 💿 (I work at a place that sells tech so that should explain a little) Little do they know the movies I have you can’t always find on these so called “streaming services”.
Great video! I think you’ve got it right. We saw the handwriting on the wall when Best Buy and other retailers shrunk their Blu-ray/DVD sections to a small fraction of what they once were. I prefer physical media, and I buy it (probably more than I should), but in some cases (especially films from South/Central America) it can be hard to find a Blu-ray, and even DVDs are expensive. So I do end up buying some HD titles from iTunes. I know streaming isn’t as good as physical, but streaming music isn’t as good as a CD, either, and I know very few people who buy CDs anymore.
CD's are an extremely poor comparison IMO because 99% of music I want to listen to is available on RUclips for free (with ads). None of the songs have been taken done either. What percent of movies I want to watch are available online for free... less than 1% for sure
@@10milliondogstorturedinchi92 Many people cannot tell the difference, just as many people don’t see a difference between streaming video and a physical disc. That does not mean that nobody hears or sees the difference.
@@pm45678 Sure.. I think the main reason people don't buy CDs anymore though is because of the availability of free music online, especially on RUclips. So it's just a terrible analogy for movies, which have very low availability online (even paying $ for it). Correct me if I'm wrong, but even paid digital content can be removed from VUDU or something and then you'd lose access to it, is that right? That is why personally I don't collect CDs, but I do collect DVDs and blu rays.
You are absolutely right. 2020 was the pinnacle of collecting physical media. Here is the thing. As long as third party companies continue to produce physical media, then physical media will continue to thrive. As long as there is a demand for physical media, then its popularity will always exist. It may taper off a bit, but it will never fade. You can watch a movie years down the road if you have it on a physical disc and as long as you take care of it. On the other hand, utilizing a streaming service just simply gives you access to the movies that are available, as long as you keep paying money every single month. You don't actually own the movies and TV shows. They have no value. You can't let a friend borrow them. You can't go to a movie store and sell them. If you have an Internet issue, then your access to those movies is non existent. You need a decent Internet connection in order to stream movies and TV shows. Of course, not everyone has Internet access, much less a fast Internet connection. Here is another thing. Let's say that you subscribe to a particular streaming service and there are certain movies or TV shows that you enjoy watching. Suddenly, they get removed from the subscription service and they are no longer available. You end up losing both, money and the content that you enjoy watching. Of course, they aren't going to be available forever anyway. Speaking of which, not every movie or TV show is available to stream. Sure, there is a lot of content out there, but no all of it is available to stream. Collecting physical media, be it movies, TV shows, music, video games, is more than just admiring a nice box art and a shiny disc. It's about having a physical and tangible ownership of something that you enjoy. It's about having a peace of mind. As long as you take care of the physical discs that you own, then you'll have access to them for a long time without any limitations or disruptions. Each and everyone one of us has one life to live. You might as well enjoy it to its fullest capacity. Part of that enjoyment means supporting physical media. Otherwise, thanks as always Heath for another enjoyable and informative video. I really appreciate the continued hard work. Keep it up!
Absolutely agree with voting with your dollars (insofar as budgets permit). This is also why, as of this year, I decided to (as much as possible) purchase my physical media either directly from the distributor OR from an indie physical media shop (brick and mortar or online). The big shops don’t need the extra money like the indie ones do, and many of the indie sites and stores put a lot of effort into curating the best selections of physical media as well as importing foreign content, making it much easier to get a copy. I never make New Years resolutions, but I guess I did this year. It’s more important than ever to support the little guys that have put a lot of effort into getting wonderful art into our hands!
You made me want to look and see what I have in VHS. I have more than I realized. I have Ferris Buelher's day off, Field of Dreams, Lock stock, and two smoking Barrels and a few more.
I learned so much about the future of film in these 14 mins! Well said and presented. A true Cinephile like myself. So appreciate my physical film library more after watching this!
100% agree Heath. I still buy CDs, BD's 4K because I hate streaming. Buffering issues, lag times, limited choices, Nope, Never! I have a small collection of movies (about 100) and upgrading to 4K. When armageddon happens and no internet, WE will have our movies in our bunkers, haha.
I think there is confusion from people who don't own physical media that anybody who collects physical media is a hoarder. I for one only collect movies games and other stuff that means something to me. Hence, my collection while extensive is not overwhelming. There is a difference between those who collect art that means something to them, and those who collect just to amass things.
My game collection, going back to the early seventies is easily worth tens of thousands of dollars. But it's not because of the sheer volume, it's because there are quite a few rare objects in the collection just by happenstance.
I'm praying that physical media never goes away, because I like having the choice of watching, playing, and listening to the things that I love when I want, not when somebody else dictates it's okay for me to do so.
I absolutely adore your channel, keep up the good work.
I don't think these "confused" people actually think physical collector's are hoarders. I think it is sort of a way for them to try and make it seem like we have "issues" because they think of us as trying to resist the "inevitable future" of digital media. There are legit people out there that have bought into digital media hook, line, and sinker to the point it angers them that others choose to continue buying physical media. The idea that they get to have their media in the form they want it, but aren't satisfied until everyone is forced to consume media in the same way, is the most selfish behavior there is. It is like if I eat my burgers well done and think everyone should have to conform to eating them well done as well. Even though I can choose the option of having mine well done, I get upset that others get to have theirs made the way they prefer. It just sound ridiculous..
@@skeletankmcgraw7343 yes, there are those types as well. They are fools.
I dont know I think people who collect physical meadia are hoarders. I know I am. However I think the whole hoarder culture has been pumped for a purpose. If you look at Tv you'll see a program telling you how bad hoarding is. After the show theyll play one of how some dudes go around to peoples old garages and find something thats worth a ton of money. So they want you to get rid of your stuff so they can rumage through it make a ton of money and get drunk with it or something. Also If you own nothing then you have to depend on a provider that will CHARGE you for it. Hey dont own any tools you can buy em around the corner each time you need em. Hey dont own movies you can stream them and pay each time. The next step is like in jurassic park theyll genetically engineer us to lack a specific protein that they will PROVIDE for us to stay alive at a minimal cost of course:-). . Another angle pumping the get rid of your stuff movement is the price of "living space" is rising each time so forcing people to have less and less stuff. Now its true some people hoard hundreds of cats or pampers full of excrement. But to peer pressure and harangue someone because they love books or movies or toys or old watches snowglobes or whatever
is just wrong. Now from a practical standpoint if you have enough crap make a museum thats how you can cover costs yo preserve this stuff. Maybe even a virtual online m,useum.
@@skeletankmcgraw7343 ⬅⬅⬅Guess who nailed it?!?
A collection can become overwhelming if you have high passion and very little space. Space can fill up fast!
I love physical media, started getting 4K Discs. I’ll always buy physical over digital.
Great vid BTW.
Physical media forever!
@Shep Proudfoot keep an organized box system
I have a physical media addiction and refuse to get rehab.
Me too👍
Me too..
Same😂
History preservation for sure. I’m 21 years old and thanks to boutique labels such as Shout Factory and Arrow Video, I’ve discovered so many epic movies from before my time. Most of them don’t even hold a candle to modern movies.
Edit: Physical media forever!
Same, im 20 years old and love buying these older movies I haven't seen before, they are purchasable on amazon prime but I want to own the disc and see it in the best quality possible, also future generations might appreciate my physical media collection so it's great having that physical media watchable at anytime
I'm 21, and I collect mostly music and am getting into books/reading in the past 2 years as well. Its incredibly satisfying to own and have access to whatever you want, especially with censorship being more and more. I'm not really into movies, but I remember as a kid when netflix was a disc order service and it was SO COOL. Netflix just doesn't have the same charm anymore.
Warner bros cutting off discs is scary to me. They have some of the highest quality discs, especially Warner Archive.
Once they can go straight to streaming and not to disc then,they have total control over what you can and can't watch
@@thedvdblurayreviewguy5161 I mean you can make digital copies of your physical discs
@@pongchannel. Oh I know I have a DVD ripper and bluray ripper just need a big tb hard drive filled up a 4 tb so thinking maybe a 10 tb will do better
Guess we better get Titles when we see them in the Warner Archive collection or the next time we look for them they may be gone.
Completely agree. Gotta vote with your dollars if you’re able to. Don’t go broke though.
That so truth
@Shep Proudfoot That's kind of why I put the "if you're able to." Nobody should go broke or not pay rent for physical media. If you're able to vote with your dollars, support physical media. If not, please feed your family and keep a roof over your head first.
I'm right there with you, Heath. The older you get, the less companies cater to you. Which means you're less likely to find the older media you want to watch on streaming services. A lot of those older titles they don't want to mess with are only available on physical media.
adorkability,a lot of that probably has to do with the fact an older movie or show made before streaming often have legal music rights issues. You need a person to either reedit old shows with stock score music that doesn't change the scene intent from the shows creator or you need to pay for song usage that was only for tv airring or dvd/blu. If a popular hit tv show of it's time like the wonders years could get caught up in limbo for years,imagine what happens to less popular content. A studio doesn't see the financial benefit,so often times old media is entirely reliant on someone like Shout Factory and Shout Factory can't possibly release everything.
Man, I’m a young bucks, turn 28 next week, but I was raised in the video store. Without that local rental store there would be no way for me to find those RAD HK cinema VHSs, and even now in 2021 with “EVERYTHING” on streaming... still can’t find John Woo or Jackie or Jet beyond one or two here and there.
As a silent film fan and my love of cinema into the forties, I am highly concerned about the disappearance of classic, golden age cinema. It's not on TV (much on the UK) and the streaming services just don't show enough.
Agree 100 percent!
You and your wife buying "It's a Wonderful Life" to make a point is a good short hand for why I like your channel. That is something I would do.
I started collecting my favorite movies this year, and seeing those movies on my shelf and being able to watch them whenever I want just I'd so fun. It really brings me back to when I was a kid and had a what seemed to be a big vhs collection. I will keep buying my favorites because I'm tired of them not being available.
I must admit I see an increase in bootlegs and pirating of those 'Streaming only' series and films unless they service people who want physical copies. An example is the Mandalorian which is readily available ( both seasons). I'm not endorsing bootlegs but if the likes of Disney don't provide physical or even digital to own options I can see an increase
You lost me with the digital to own option. You argument is that there is an increase in pirating streaming only series because of the lack of physical discs but in conclusion insist it can be satiated by offering a digital ownership option, even though it readily available at a low price. This sound more like an argument that people would like to "own" at least a modicum of sense of control over a product versus anything physical.
I think that other factors such as availability plays a much larger part than being driven by the NEED to feel like they have control over something. Not all services are available worldwide, and there are many different content lists that vary by country and licensing rights.
yeah I've ran into the same thing with rock and roll bands there's just so much out there that I like that is not available for anything but, The Good ship MP3, and some of it's not even on RUclips or any of these radio streaming oops I mean playlist streaming services to listen to
I have access to “high speed” internet and my streaming experience (the few times I stream) still sucks. I left the Disney club because they had no exclusives anymore. I refuse to sign up with Disney plus. I think one of the reason physical media is in trouble because how many times can you buy the same title over and over? Plus I think people who collect physical media have little to no interest in new movies. I am one of those, I was actually bored with the last 2 Avengers movies. I want the classics, especially the older (50s - 90s) Sci-Fi movies. I also stand by “physical media or nothing”. Streaming is an annoying experience for me... the censorship, the editing, the lower quality, etc. 8K is overkill period, I even think 4K is overkill in a lot of cases. As always Heath, I enjoy the content!!!
I only subscribe to Disney at Xmas for The Mandalorian. They never have any content over spring and summer. And they just increased their price by $2 a month. It's really becoming a joke.
This is a big reason for the constant decline in physical media sales. I already bought all my favorite movies on DVD. I upgraded my favorite ones to Blu-ray, but I'm not going to re-purchase stuff I don't really love (or won't benefit much from an HD transfer), so the number of movies I've bought has dropped significantly because I already have most of my favorites and the number of new releases I'll pay $15+ for is pretty few and far between -- especially since big spectacle films have ground to a halt.
After a certain point, mostly everything's already been done. Those classics may remain as some of the finest works of cinema history. Truly timeless
Not sure if i gonna ever go streaming if dealing with buffering on youtube even if got cable but pandemic has caused for more traffic on youtube now i think then times past before pandemic. lucky can dl video or snag any to watch later to avoid buffering anytime. i know we in ways spoiled but otehr ways it gonna take more so not gotta deal with buffering or it just gonna happen cause the site or net service has so many try use service for almost anything now. so physical media is gold so to speak to avoid buffering anytime.
@@bubba842 Guessing it gonna go higher as they can not get it from traffic at parks so they gonna get from the stream as more traffic sign up and want more.
Ì have been collecting physical media since the 70s and still collecting to this very day
Nice whats your piece count?
@@DriveupLife22 I’ve been collecting since October 2020 and I have around 330 Blu-ray/4K and another 25 trilogy+ collections.
That's awesome!!
That's awesome I'll keep collecting physical media till the day I die I love physical media it's such a huge part of my life
I have never streamed and never ever will, physical media all the way.
I love physical media. Actually today I bought a huge box of dvds and blurays for almost nothing from a local marketplace. Lots of titles I don't already have in the lot. You don't get to hold digital media or look at the artwork. Physical media ALL THE WAY!!
I've been collecting movies for as long as I can remember. Started with VHS when I was a kid, then moved on to DVD when I was a teenager, and now blu-ray in my thirties (with DVD still going strong, lol).
As a collector, I just don't understand this supposed "convenience" people seem to associate to streaming. I don't really find it convenient at all, because I can't begin to tell you how many times I looked on streaming sites for a specific title, only to find it unavailable. And again, as you stated here, as soon as you don't have an internet connection, you're kinda screwed.
Another downfall about streaming: you don't get the perks of physical media. You get to watch the movie, and that's it, while on a disc you get to go BEYOND the movie with special features, not to mention getting to enjoy that artwork. That's another thing: I like to be able to hold a copy of a movie in my hands, look at it, read the synopsis, etc. Guess I got that from growing up in the "video store age", and it's something I feel like I'll just never grow out of. I like the tangible aspect of collecting; I like being able look through the movies on my shelf, pick a title and pop it into the player...
You made so many good points here Heath, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. And you're not kidding about how you better grab that show you loved as a kid. In the past, I've passed up on the season one box-set of "Silver Spoons", and it's since gone out-of-print, I never see it anywhere and the price has shot up online, so yeah: buy while you can.
Also, there's never been a better time to buy physical media, especially movies (in my opinion), because pawn shops and thrift stores are selling DVDs for $1 - $2 a piece, and if you look often, you can luck out and find gold. It's happened to me on many occasions.
Anyway, apologies for this novel; it'll soon be available in both hard-cover and paperback ;)
Great stuff Heath, love your content. Cheers! -Jex
Also, if convenience is what you seek, then just rip your bought movies in a hard drive and stream it to your tv. There’s nothing illegal about ripping bought movies.
My first job was at a Blockbuster video just as DVD was starting to hit the shelves. To me physical media brings back the nostalgia of browsing the shelves for a rental. While I subscribe to a lot of streaming services, physical media will always be the best way to watch a movie.
50 cent rewind charge
You brought up an excellent point about not everyone having reliable high speed internet connections. Off the top of my head, I can name more than a handful of people I work with that live in rural areas that do not have a strong, reliable internet connection. So when people start talking about streaming being the future of entertainment, I roll my eyes because they're all just assuming that EVERYONE on planet Earth has high speed internet. For me, I live 20 minutes outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - that's a major city and my internet connection is spotty at best. There have been many times when I've tried streaming something and all I keep getting is buffering stoppages. So, nine times out of ten, I'm going to want to watch a physical disc rather than gamble on streaming a film and/or TV show.
I have high speed internet and I was struggling to watch Wandavision on Disney+ last weekend because it kept buffering and quality degrading for reasons I don't know. I ended up turning it off and watching a film on disc instead.
I love collecting DVDs/Blu-rays and CDs. I don't have any streaming services and I don't use digital codes. Although I take really good care of all my discs over the years a few of them will not load/play no matter what player I put them in and I have to find and buy another copy. To me that's the worst part is one day wanting to watch something and although the disc has been in the case it won't play (cleaning the player won't help). Once physical media is over and everything is digital I'll just watch what I have and not deal with new releases and avoid things being censored.
Most definitely Heath. I’m at tail end of my 30s. I find myself wanting pre 2000 movies. I still watch modern stuff but I enjoy titles pre 2000
I am only 19, but I love older movies. I'd guess the vast majority of my TOP 10 had been released before I was born, or soon after (the Lord of the Rings)
However, I don't know why you think interest in those movies is dying. Many people still love and watch them.
@adrian nn I was only commenting on my interests not others.
I'm still a huge supporter of physical media and due to media company censorship, I've gone out of my way to buy 'Gone With The Wind' on DVD and Blu-ray (not for the crazy prices as seen several months ago, but for more reasonable prices now), as well as a bootleg copy of Disney's 'Song of the South' on DVD which was never available, and I'll be buying 'Home Alone 2' too because cable companies want to remove the Donald Trump scene from that movie which is utterly petty and insane.
I did the same with Gone with the wind. It was always a title that i said "i can get that anytime". as soon as the censorship stuff came out I made sure i got myself a copy.
I would love them to release song of the south properly. I've still got my VHS XD
They really need to knock it off with the Donald Trump BS that ship has sailed a few weeks ago let it be. This coming from a guy who wasn't his biggest fan to begin with. I'm talking about all the way back when thinking celebrity apprentice was not a great show.
@@BristolianDave Hold onto that VHS or even buy a DVD recorder to copy the tape (although it likely has copy protection like other Disney VHS tapes did). 'Song of the South' VHS tapes are worth a lot of money on eBay ranging from $50 to $100 and on a great day, probably even more with aggressive bidders. :)
Physical media can’t go away cause you never know when a streaming service might crash for weird reasons and which why I like owning older tv shows and movies in my own and my family’s collection of DVDs. I also wish studios would release older tv shows onto physical format... :/
I love collecting physical media. I'm also more interested mostly in movies pre-1990s especially cult, exploitation, horror films or old Hollywood movies which are almost never streaming, at least not good quality prints. I really enjoy what the boutique labels put out like Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Arrow, Severin, and Kino. They put a lot of love into films big studios wouldn't care about.
I continue to buy physical media but only of those films that I truly love. I collect certain actors, directors, genres, and movies. It’s a shame that most stores are getting rid of the physical media. I miss stores like FYE and Spec’s. I’ve noticed that Best Buy has made the physical media section smaller in the past year. At least we still have online which is where I do most of my shopping now.
Thank you for doing this. You said it perfectly. Collecting film and television is preserving art. It’s very discouraging how the Blu-Ray market has already run out of steam. The recent films I have purchased are all bare bones discs with no features whatsoever. Just ten years ago Blu-Ray was THE popular method of collecting. It actually makes me sad how steaming has eliminated the desire to collect. I used to make friends by discussing what I owned. Now those same people could care less what movie I just added to the vault. I appreciate you discussing the changes. It’s important.
Thanks for your comment. Please keep sharing the titles you find and add to your vault! We are here because we also love movies!
I recently started back . I’m Starting a 4K collection. What you said is right about the age thing. I’m 42 and a lotta what I buy are movies I watched and loved my whole life .
I know streaming is the future but a lot of things about it I don't really like. Every month seems like a new subscription comes out you have to pay for. I just got an email my Netflix subscription is increasing in price yet again. Being a physical media collector it's just easier to go ahead and get it because it pays for itself instead of having to pay for so many subscription services.
I got so sick of paying $3.99 for movies on Amazon. Now I just buy the dern thing
@@knowthycell Yeah that adds up after awhile. New releases are even more than that. Makes me miss the video store my town had that recently went out of business.
@@Robby.Wilson having rented some of them twice it really annoyed me. I used to work at one of those video stores.
@@knowthycell a lot of the subscriptions especially Netflix it seems like I already own, have watched or not interested in the content. I like their documentaries but not sure if it's worth it for just those.
I used to be a disc collector, would buy a bunch of stuff just bc it's like a popular title or has some reputation of being a must own movie. Realized I was collecting for a situation that I just don't run into ever (having a movie someone else wants to watch handy, even if it's not something I love). Now I just try to go for stuff I like and especially for niche stuff to support it like you said. 50s horror and scifi, anything from early hollywood, and especially the renaissance of indie american movies in the late 60s-70s. I'm really glad we do have some of the boutique labels we have, especially to be taste makers and turn me onto stuff I would absolutely never be aware of if they weren't putting it out.
I have always collected physical media and always will. Otherwise I don’t feel like I own it and I’m just renting whatever the work of art might be. This goes to movies, music and video games.
There's also the danger of something getting removed or censored because of an outcry from keyboard warriors.
Physical media is very important. Everything isn't available digitally and if something is, it's probably not going to be around forever. It can easily be taken away if it's in digital format. If you have a disc or VHS tape, or even some form of physical media in video games you'll have it for much longer. I wish people in their 20s and under would understand this. As for Disney, I'm still waiting with wishful thinking to buy the cartoon movie of Jungle Book and hoping they're not ending their "Signature Collection". I also wish they would properly release TV shows like The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh in a full series disc set.
I'm never giving up my physical media collection & my collection is only gonna keep growing. I swear I'm gonna be like 80 or 90 years old & still watching my movies on dvd & blu-ray
It’s the same thing that happened to the music industry as well. I love CD’s & vinyl but I’m not the norm anymore. I remember when new releases at the record store were an event
It's not the disc for me but ultimately the control. I like knowing I have King Kong (1933) available to me whenever I want to watch it in the best possible quality. I do see the writing on the wall though and I'm way quicker these days to blind buy stuff or simply buy something in fear that it might be out of print. As we speak, I have Death Wish 2-4 in my cart. I've never seen them and it might take me years to get around to watching them but I'd rather have on the shelf ready to go than not be able to find them years later. Space is certainly my biggest concern going forward though.
Digital "owning" sucks ass. I love tangible items and being able to watch something whenever I want. Rotating licenses for movies and you losing access, even if you buy stuff, sucks. Good video Heath!
Here is my take on this ...kids do not normally buy DVDs ...but older adults like myself have grown up with VHS DVD and now Blu RAY ...and film companies are noticing this ...so many disc releases are of older classics from the 60s 50s 40s are available now aimed at people like me ...the future will be different ....but we have the money to indulge in our pastimes...
I found one of the tinkerbell movies for like five bucks at family dollar. Why not indulge. They probably wont get rereleases anyway sadly.
We might see a return of disc releases of new content tho, as studios (like Paramount Plus) realize that some shows have far higher demand than the streaming service itself, and they can make more money by selling shows and movies to people who would never spend money on the streaming service
Streaming services only carry films and shows for a limited time. Unless it's owned by the streaming service. Not everyone is going to subscribe to several streaming services.Streaming services don't have all of the special features that the discs contain. I think that more stores like Walmart , Target , Etc. need to start carrying discs from Scream Factory , Severin Films , Etc. A lot of people don't know about these companies.
After years of living off the wasteland of free CRT TVs given to me by family members who wanted to unload them, I finally went a stretch of time where I ended up with 4 HD TVs & a blu-ray all within a few months of each other. My wife streams everything and my eyes have now adjusted to HD which makes it harder and harder to enjoy my old VHS & DVDs. So in recent weeks I've been spending like crazy on building up my blu-ray collection and am very alarmed at how many limited print releases there are and how many titles are already out of print!
My brother and father are farmers in rural, but not super rural America. They get 3Mbps, on which streaming looks like VHS, if it even works at all. There's basically no way for them to watch The Mandalorian or any other streaming shows that aren't also released on physical media. Millions of people in this country are in the same boat, and companies that are phasing out physical media are leaving everyone in areas with slow Internet without access to this new programming.
@Cereal At Midnight - As of today, you have one more subscriber. Thank you for the work you're doing and the passion behind it!
Thank you and welcome!
I try to order physical directly from publisher/studio when I can. Digital is good for backing up physical media. Companies want streaming because they get more control over the content and access to that content.
Interesting points I am a fan and collector of Physical Media from Hong Kong films to mainstream. I don't think they will stop physical media as this same topic came up when the Amazon Kindle came out and everyone said it would be the death of printed media and books. Which it wasn't as for the streaming service I do think it will burst its own bubble if every studio try's to have one. As like you said not everywhere has good internet connects nor could everyone be able to get them all. So I would think it would burst the bubble also especially if they can and some do re-edit films with people realising as buying the film on disk would be cheaper option and uncut. But i do agree we do need to show support with our monies as always a great video and topic.
I agree with you up till the Amazon Kindle comparison. Personally, at least from what I've seen, is that a lot of people are completely unwilling to switch to e-readers from physical books. I'd say that with movies, video games, and music, a lot folks are willing to go digital. I just think that books are a lot more difficult to recreate digitally and since they've been around in physical for so long that most people are not going to switch to a digital version. We'll see though, it'll be a damn shame when or if physical media actually dies off. Seeing a person's collection in their home, you get a bit of a sense of that person's personality and losing that will be a shame....Anywho, ✌
@@theheadytimetraveler3864 great comments. I’ve always felt the same way about streamed music bc the audio quality is so low when compared to CD or Vinyl
@@knowthycell I would almost agree if sites like Tidal didn't exist. There is definitely ways to stream high quality music. Plus with my own listening habits, I mainly listen to music off of RUclips, you can find damn near anything on here no matter how obscure, like Lifun by Trubrot, great progressive record from 1971. There is a version with the lyrics sung in their native Icelandic and there's a version sung in English. Last i checked you couldn't buy that record for less than $1200, especially the English version. I guess for me having listened to so many hours of audience recordings for Grateful Dead and Phish concerts, along with punk from the 70s and 80s, I'm just happy to experience the music in any way I can. Still, nothing beats a physical collection of that stuff, I would just need a whole house dedicated to just music to make it work lol
Only time will tell where physical media is headed.
I really felt where you are coming from. Things aren’t geared for the older crowd that wants to be entertained, I truly believe in being lost In the movie marvel’s that’s been a part of my life. Personally, I have been so engrossed in rediscovering older movies and realized how much I have missed. I can really see the genuine love you have for it. Keep up the love.
This was an excellent video Heath and brought up a lot of great points. It's incredibly important to support physical media now more than ever and has given me some food for thought. I appreciate what you do Heath, thanks for sharing and being here.
Thank you, man! Appreciate the kind words.
Has there been a silent film in 4K yet? I feel like Faust or Metropolis would be the best ones for that process because theyre so epic.
*they're
completely agree about high speed internet and how a lot of people don't have it. I live on Dartmoor in the UK, where we have flaky Internet at best. It literally depends which way the wind blows as to our signal. To give you an idea of how bad it is, if I was to download a HD film it would take me two days! I have half a bar on my internet signal box and we've been told that no super optic fibre is coming our way in the foreseeable future. If I have things I need high speed internet I have to drive 10 miles across town to my mother in laws house to use her internet! So I make sure I collect physical media because that means I can enjoy a film without it pausing every few minutes.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Well done, Heath!
I can totally get behind the idea that we all need to appreciate the contents of the disc more than appreciating the disc itself, especially if we are going to see a change in what is released.
I still buy physical media because I'd rather own my favorite stuff than have someone dictate to me what I should watch, listen to & read. My focus is on my favorite stuff from movies, tv, music & books. I shop at actual stores vs online stores for the love of discovering something that I might be interested in. I'll never do streaming because of the rampant censorship in the modern era. I'm still old school & will continue to be old school.
This is one of the most mature RUclips videos I've seen in recent memory. Hats off to you, sir!
I have a collection of movies, games and cd's. To me, its art that I can appreciate a lot more by owning the physical copy rather than just streaming it.
Best Buy’s around me have condensed their movie/tv section from 3 aisles or more to just 1 double sided, it’s dark times and is just heart breaking. Best Buy to me used to be a safe haven for movies and it’s depressing to see it diminishing in real time right before our very eyes. I’ll always be a physical media guy til the end.
I have been searching for the recent Star Wars Movies on DVD and I cannot find them. Some other titles are hard to find. Yeah streaming is the future, but I feel much better about physically owning the movie (or like you said, you don't own the disc itself, you own it for convenience). I am lucky that there is a store about and hour away called FYE that is my true Video Store. Where is the unaltered versions of Star Wars? On VHS or DVD. THAT is something that Disney + will probably NEVER have. I do love your videos. You have a very good explanation about different stuff.
Physical Media is far from dead. People are starting to notice all the kinks in the digital media armor. I keep hearing a massive outcry for streaming service digital content on Blu Ray.
Yeah, streaming only is just a phase because eventually it disappoints you too many times. Having said that, certain titles are hard to find on blu ray. The movie isn't important enough to be released on blu ray or its out of print or something.
It's been my birthday recently and physical media are easy gifts for my family to buy me. So I got Blu Rays, a CD and even a LP (LPs overtook CD sales last year in the UK).... at 48 I don't want gifts that are any practical use!!!!
Great thoughts, dude. I think disks will be a specialty business that I'll be very happy to participate. I will never stop buying disks, specially for the movies and tv shows I love. Internet is not a given, specially if you like quality. I cannot stand to be watching something in 1080 that keeps oscillating to 720 or even 480p... Not gonna happen! And you are absolutely right! We need to keep buying!
My husband is a collector. He loves the movies. We don't just collect, we watch our movies -- all genres, foreign and domestic. We have a modest cinema room, and an outdoor inflatable screen and projection system. We watch films together, but we love to have company over of all ages, and do neighborhood family nights outdoors during the summer. We are physical media fans. Our Blu-rays outnumber both our DVDs and 4k's, but our 4K collection continues to grow. Some complain about the Blu-ray disc that accompanies the 4K, but because there is no outdoor 4K projection system, the Blu-rays work just fine. There is hardly a month go by that we don't purchase something on physical media, including CDs. The only thing we stream is Amazon Prime, but the movie titles seldom change. We'd go broke subscribing to all the streaming services, just to get all the titles we now own. We also own software that allows us to print out our entire collection in a bound spiral book, that we update and reprint every year. Love physical media.
I picked up the awesome Universal Monster 30 film Blu-ray box set.
"The future is streaming!" - Warner CEO. Wow so brave.
I'm a huge fan of physical media. I do stream, but refuse to purchase digital movies. High speed Internet is unreliable in the best areas, and there's too much that I like out there that isn't available to stream.
4k physical media forever!
Film preservation is important and can be done best by fans. Studios cannot always be trusted
I’d go further and say they should never be trusted. The people at studios running these kinds of things are not creatives. They are money men and we are just money meat bags to them.
Hey buddy, after watching your video you most definitely have a point. I stream as much as I watch a Blu-ray from my collection. I love the aspect of collecting and ‘ownership’ of a movie but equally love the convenience of just flicking through a streaming service and hitting play on my remote. Interestingly enough, I bought two new Blu-rays today from Warnerbros website (which I’ve never done before). I limit my buying but the prospect of receiving the movies in the post is already exciting me and I know many others feel the same way. Is streaming more popular than disc buying? I have no doubt. The general population who don’t care for disc space or quality will happily just stream. It’s the future but I do think there will always be physical media, at least in my lifetime and I’m 33 😀👍🏼
Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, and Disney Plus.. I remember when it was just netflix and blockbuster ;-;
The other thing Walmart is not caring a lot DVD’s anymore and best buy that why I been getting most out printed DVD’s on eBay,you so right I think lot DVD’s will be hard to find in the next 1-2
Very well said! I think I'm doing more for digital media than I ever have before. I've bought 28 new titles already in the last few weeks.
I absolutely love the boutique labels and am still finding new ones regularly! I also support streaming but I definitely step up more for collecting physical media.
Remember what Netflix did to Back to the Future 2? Now apply that to everything in the future
Yes! The last few years, I've been collecting classic sit coms, original super hero shows and cartoons from my youth. And it always gets me when I see some of peoples collections on RUclips, they haven't even opened them and have little knowledge about the shows. I only get the stuff that I love, especially the shows that rarely airs on tv or hasn't aired in decades.
Right on! It's the difference between being a "collector" and being a fan of what's actually on the discs. Anybody can buy this stuff, but they have nothing to say about it if they aren't watching it. Physical media is not baseball cards, or comic books. I do not identify as a collector, though I have thousands of movies. I'm a pop culture nut! I LOVE film and TV history (music, too) and that's the basis for this entire channel!
I'd stop buying discs immediately, if every film that I liked were available on streaming. That day is far off, and if it's ever reached the increase in the number of competing streaming services will make it ever more expensive. I have a "streaming test" which everyone should do: Write the names of your 10 favourite films on a piece of paper. Then check how many of them are available on streaming. If you score at least 9, streaming can replace discs for you personally. (P.S. My score is 2).
This is why when I saw Twins on Blu ray I took that chance to pick it up because I didn’t think I would have a chance to buy it again
Yes, if you find a Blu Ray you like (and can afford) buy it as it may not be available again! Wish I had discovered Twilight Time sooner. Missed out on classic films that may never be released again!
I mostly buy physical movies because I got sick of my favorite titles being unreliable to track down on streaming, lol. There one month, gone the next. Special features and commentaries are just the icing on the cake, really.
I can say once physical media dies im hitting the high sea
LOL 😂 ARRRHHHHH!!!!!
I’ll be right behind you as soon as I find my eye patch ...
Hi Heath. Another great opinion video. I completely agree with your thoughts on the fate of physical media and the current collecting trajectory for 2021. Like you, I continue to collect physical media (films and TV) that I love and want to enjoy without the limitation of licensing agreements on streaming services. I do like the flexibility of streaming services also and support a few (Criterion Channel as an example) but, as a physical media collector, I appreciate and enjoy the flexibility of watching what I want whenever I like. Long live physical media!
Yes! One thing I should have added was that I am not anti-streaming. It certainly has its place, especially for discovery. But the idea that everything is on streaming or will be on streaming is, in my opinion, very unfounded. And even if everything does end up on streaming, then there's a wall (or four or five walls) between us and the content we want to watch. Buy it once, and you have access forever. Streaming comes with a monthly bill, per service, and things disappear on a whim. The most important point I can make is that streaming is not a permanent archive, but our collections are. Hopefully this video can promote some people to support these companies who are serving us so well!
My local Best Buy hasn’t restocked their movies in 2 months
I have been on a mad rush to archive all the classic movies, and as many DVDS I can find, ever since Hastings closed.
I've been doing so since before Borders closed. Even more so since then. It was my favorite book store. Second was Hastings. We're stuck with barnes and noble, half priced books,and vintage stock now. And maybe a few family run gems here and there. I hate when good stores die.
Checkout your local Walgreens it's an amazing source
i have less than 1/10th of your collection and i have tons of movies and shows that are not streaming anywhere online!
Great video and completely on the mark as usual .
Thanks, Aaron. Means a lot coming from a physical media veteran such as yourself.
Sometimes I just buy a disc because even to rent a new film for streaming it ends up being like 17 to 19 dollars. Sometimes it's lesser than that but if I am pretty sure I will like something, I just buy a copy.
Love your videos and content. You are a god sent to this community...
Well shucks! Thank you!
it might be reduced to collector items but I do not think it will ever end because of the fact that the love of feeling of holding a physical object in your hand will never end, same as books and on top of that the special features that we get with physical media will always be an incentive for people to keep buying until all of that is transferred to streaming as well. I will say I was talking ti a friend of mine about this and he told me something very interesting, he told me about a future without disc and instead why not flash drives, they are long lasting, can hold more content, and much more smaller. and instead of buying a blu ray for each seperate films, why not buy a blank flash drive optimized for film storage and just go into a kiosk or something like that and just buy the digital media that way and download it into the drives and then once that drive is full you can buy another one, I think that would actually be pretty sweet, almost like a refillable movie card if you will
Without physical media, the price of subscription streaming and buying digital films individually will then increase so the "value" factor of streaming will be eliminated and we will be left with all the downsides of streaming and physical without there being physical anymore. Price of new release PC games on Steam years ago used to be significantly cheaper than buying them boxed off the shelf or the console version. Now there is no difference in price.
Most of my friends regrettably do not believe in physical media anymore! They like me to throw "the old stuff"" away and put faith in the streaming wonderland (also, because it is cheap). But, you know, wonderlands do not last forever! Something can take it all away. But the physical stuff will always remain under your direct control. A big difference!
Do not listen to them brother, people make fun of me for having DVDs and CDs to.
Apple Music took away a Status Quo album off of their music streaming service! (Quid pro Quo) But lucky for me I have the album on CD 💿
So I popped it into my CD player and had a listen 😁
Pick up your favs now people. I would not waste time / space / resources on anything physical media I don't absolutely love.
Great video Heath, it's always a topic I enjoy hearing about. I'm a physical media fan, but I do think with the big companies like Warner and Disney doing their own streaming services now, with big-budget new content going directly to them, I feel like more people will choose to adopt streaming over collecting physical media, especially younger generations.
Probably half of my DVD/Blu Ray collection does NOT have a legitimate streaming release in the U.S. Of course, I mostly collect Asian films, but the transition to streaming should be expanding access, not limiting it. Movies like "Green Tea" and "He Lives By Night" were good enough to be released on physical media, but apparently not good enough to be released on streaming. I have doubts that they will ever be available again.
Great video, and it's an important reminder of why it's essential to get a region free player so you aren't held hostage by what the studios are doing over here with their physical media.
I had eaten cereal late at night watching Johnny Carson. Great RUclips channel, thank you.
Great video, I got into physical media for teh quality. Even today the quality of streaming is terrible, so I'm not worried that streaming will suddenly take over in my house. The biggest thing is the difference in quality of 4k, vs blu-ray and streaming. People want to see an obvious difference in quality, and sometimes it isn't there. Paramount Presents stuff as an example, though it has gotten better.
I think bit-rates of all 4K's need to be higher, we need to use the full space available. These discs are still not perfect, from a videophile and quality perspective. I want more.
I'd like to see more support for the HEVC codec, the codec that makes 4K UHD possible. For improvements that can be made there. Quality is a huge thing for me, and if 4K UHD, as a format, gets get better quality every year, that for me is how we will save it. By having incredibly restored movies at the absolute highest quality. I want to see more done to the important things that are not seen, codecs, and improvements to the technical side of it.
some people are so dumb.... its amazing how many things arent on streaming that isnt on dvd that never made it to vhs. So much media out there that isnt available any where. People are sooo gonna miss physical stuff if it ever goes away. Thats why my room and storage room looks like a rental store threw up in it.
I started collecting two years ago, people think I’m weird for having DVDs 📀 box sets and CDs 💿 (I work at a place that sells tech so that should explain a little)
Little do they know the movies I have you can’t always find on these so called “streaming services”.
Actually owning the physical tangible disc in your hands means so much more than the electrons flowing through a wire doesn’t feel the same.
Great video! I think you’ve got it right. We saw the handwriting on the wall when Best Buy and other retailers shrunk their Blu-ray/DVD sections to a small fraction of what they once were.
I prefer physical media, and I buy it (probably more than I should), but in some cases (especially films from South/Central America) it can be hard to find a Blu-ray, and even DVDs are expensive. So I do end up buying some HD titles from iTunes.
I know streaming isn’t as good as physical, but streaming music isn’t as good as a CD, either, and I know very few people who buy CDs anymore.
CD's are an extremely poor comparison IMO because 99% of music I want to listen to is available on RUclips for free (with ads). None of the songs have been taken done either. What percent of movies I want to watch are available online for free... less than 1% for sure
@@10milliondogstorturedinchi92 I know that a lot of music is available free. I'm talking about the quality, not the availability.
@@pm45678 I doubt anyone can tell the difference between an HQ audio track on youtube and its CD counterpart
@@10milliondogstorturedinchi92 Many people cannot tell the difference, just as many people don’t see a difference between streaming video and a physical disc. That does not mean that nobody hears or sees the difference.
@@pm45678 Sure.. I think the main reason people don't buy CDs anymore though is because of the availability of free music online, especially on RUclips. So it's just a terrible analogy for movies, which have very low availability online (even paying $ for it). Correct me if I'm wrong, but even paid digital content can be removed from VUDU or something and then you'd lose access to it, is that right?
That is why personally I don't collect CDs, but I do collect DVDs and blu rays.
You are absolutely right. 2020 was the pinnacle of collecting physical media. Here is the thing. As long as third party companies continue to produce physical media, then physical media will continue to thrive. As long as there is a demand for physical media, then its popularity will always exist. It may taper off a bit, but it will never fade. You can watch a movie years down the road if you have it on a physical disc and as long as you take care of it. On the other hand, utilizing a streaming service just simply gives you access to the movies that are available, as long as you keep paying money every single month. You don't actually own the movies and TV shows. They have no value. You can't let a friend borrow them. You can't go to a movie store and sell them. If you have an Internet issue, then your access to those movies is non existent. You need a decent Internet connection in order to stream movies and TV shows. Of course, not everyone has Internet access, much less a fast Internet connection. Here is another thing. Let's say that you subscribe to a particular streaming service and there are certain movies or TV shows that you enjoy watching. Suddenly, they get removed from the subscription service and they are no longer available. You end up losing both, money and the content that you enjoy watching. Of course, they aren't going to be available forever anyway. Speaking of which, not every movie or TV show is available to stream. Sure, there is a lot of content out there, but no all of it is available to stream. Collecting physical media, be it movies, TV shows, music, video games, is more than just admiring a nice box art and a shiny disc. It's about having a physical and tangible ownership of something that you enjoy. It's about having a peace of mind. As long as you take care of the physical discs that you own, then you'll have access to them for a long time without any limitations or disruptions. Each and everyone one of us has one life to live. You might as well enjoy it to its fullest capacity. Part of that enjoyment means supporting physical media. Otherwise, thanks as always Heath for another enjoyable and informative video. I really appreciate the continued hard work. Keep it up!
Absolutely agree with voting with your dollars (insofar as budgets permit). This is also why, as of this year, I decided to (as much as possible) purchase my physical media either directly from the distributor OR from an indie physical media shop (brick and mortar or online).
The big shops don’t need the extra money like the indie ones do, and many of the indie sites and stores put a lot of effort into curating the best selections of physical media as well as importing foreign content, making it much easier to get a copy.
I never make New Years resolutions, but I guess I did this year. It’s more important than ever to support the little guys that have put a lot of effort into getting wonderful art into our hands!
You made me want to look and see what I have in VHS. I have more than I realized. I have Ferris Buelher's day off, Field of Dreams, Lock stock, and two smoking Barrels and a few more.
I learned so much about the future of film in these 14 mins! Well said and presented. A true Cinephile like myself. So appreciate my physical film library more after watching this!
Love the channel and will always support physical media
100% agree Heath. I still buy CDs, BD's 4K because I hate streaming. Buffering issues, lag times, limited choices, Nope, Never! I have a small collection of movies (about 100) and upgrading to 4K. When armageddon happens and no internet, WE will have our movies in our bunkers, haha.