Are We Witnessing the End of Physical Media? 

This guy has a more knowledgeable take on online stores. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-czHFbxK_1TE.htmlsi=OzqmMJf3lZzfoe6k

I own 2000 movies on bluray and 4K uhd bluray. . I'm set for life. I don't even need to watch new movies anymore.

My personal opinion is that as physical media becomes more rare, people will start to realize how much they still want/need it.

This RU-vid channel is slowly changing my life

Oddly enough, it was the Netflix movie Leave The World Behind that really made me think about the importance of physical media! No internet, no entertainment!

Thrift stores, pawn shops and friends of the library is where I always look first. About two years ago I found like almost 50 movies/tv series for a dollar each. Many that were on my wishlist but I didn't want to pay $15 each.

To those of you that live by the motto of “streaming forever!”, have a good time paying higher fees for it with each passing year….while they reduce and reduce and reduce your choices in the blink of an eye. Have a ball!

If you want physical media, you can burn it yourself. They do make 100-year dvds and cds. Helps to have a peg leg and a hook for a hand.

One thing I'd recommend is know what you want. It can be easy to go to a dollar store and buy some discs, throw them on your shelf, and then...realize you're not remotely interested in watching the media at any point in your life 😂 Making a list has helped me a LOT.

And another great topic, and again I am hooked by your positive mindset. I am fully honest, whenever I am not feeling well, your videos make me happy. It’s your positive lifestyle „hey don’t treat Amazon the billion times, they don’t need it. The local store does.“ The community grows and we all sitting together, fascinated by your words and having a good time. Plus we can change also few things in our fast moving lifes. I am so thankful.

Another great video :) I'm always looking out to see if you upload a new one.

I wonder what the loss of media and culture would be like if there’s an EMP attack or solar burst.

I am SURE, you are the reason why I even got my Library card to begin with! I want to say it was one of your videos I watched last year. Sure am glad I came across it.

I rip the CDs that I borrowed from the library over a decade ago. Free music.

Great suggestions!

I've found that while there are some DVDs I can't get rid of because I will want to watch those movies again, I find myself not buying any new ones or adding to the collection. I just watch movies once and then move on, for the most part. Every movie I own is one I saw ten or more years ago. Nothing since then has moved me enough to make me buy it physically. but CDs? oh man. I need to keep those. I can listen to an album a few times a year and not get sick of it. not the same for movies.

Sadly, my local Walmart doesn't have the bargain bins for dvds anymore, and they barely carry any at all. My library, thankfully, *does* have a large assortment of dvds, and if they don't have it, they can usually get it from a nearby library. I also found an unexpected place selling dvds and blu rays: my tech repair shop, which is run by just one guy. My city is quite small, but definitely ask around your small businesses to see if they know of any other small businesses who sell them.

I think what can bring back streaming is for electronic stores to promote bluray and 4K players in commercials to get people to watch their next movie using physical media.

Pawn shops are super slept on for dvds.

my local library sells DVDs, CDs, and more as a booksale. you can get those for dirt cheap too. I recently got a copy of the movie "Black Swan" from the library. I love getting these things from the library.

If physical movies completely disappears I will continue to enjoy movies and own movies, but I will honestly download them and have them on physical hard drives and pen drives. I'm not interested on any streaming service where they control when they decide I can't watch it anymore. I will continue to buy my favorite movies on Blu-ray until I can't anymore, then I will continue to own it sort of physically on hard drives. For me, streaming movies, I'm ok with free services like Tubi which I don't care if they go away since I'm not paying for it.

My local library has an INSANE selection of DVDs, and they can source almost any film they don't have in stock from across the library system.

Oh and I forgot to say, we have a huge thrift shop tomorrow in my hometown. I am so exited ,what will I find ? :) I am looking for some dvd boxes. And I’ve terminated my Netflix and Amazon prime. Still can’t with Crunchyroll just because I love anime’s. But let’s see if I can find a way to watch anime’s without online providers. And more a physical way :)

I've waited for 10 years to get The Abyss on Blu-Ray and they JUST released The Abyss on Blu-Ray and 4K Blu-Ray and I got my copy. I think physical is definitely staying around for quite a while, but yes, may stay in more fringe stores and websites. Physical is still a good way for studios to make extra money too

I've only recent decided to upgrade my collection to 4k BD if available. A few of the ones I want have been discontinued with only out-of-region discs available, often from only no-name sellers.

I bought a copy of Haggard with Bam Margera used off of Amazon a couple of years ago. I'm doing everything to only have physical media now because of your videos.

I haven't been to my library in years. I probably need to get a new library card. I remember getting cds there years ago and ripping the albums i liked to my laptop. Where i live, I've never had internet. For all of my life, it has been an antenna and movies on VHS, DVD, or Blu Ray. The fact that a lot of places are starting to phase out physical media is disconcerting. But now that ive picked a VCR recently, the world is open to more media ive never been able to get on dvd. Especially anime from the 80s and 90s.

You can order ANY MOVIES you want on the internet I been ordering movies since Covid have to shop around some prices are higher than others

I just began collecting again. Steelbooks are amazing. I rebranded my channel to reflect my new collecting obsession. Let’s goo!!

We all need to stop equating Best Buy with the end of physical disks, even if Target follows suit, still doesn't mean much.

I am up set That the DVDs and blue ray dvds are going out. I still have a blue ray 6 player. At home

Hey Spence, you forgot Barnes and Noble they still have a dvd cd and record section

I’m not a huge fan of torrent and downloading but I think in the futur it can be an another way to keep physical média ( with cd and blu-ray engraving ) . Not legal for sure but in the end if it’s the only way …..

Can't see companies bringing back VHS players or even old 8mm projectors etc. When it comes to vinyl, there are still so many high quality (as well as low quality) record players and shops around but a VHS player, you may find one or two at the market gathering dust. There are still tons of specialist vinyl magazines / audio equipment around, can't recall seeing any VHS player mags around for many years. I think blu-ray etc will survive as long as companies produce the players and there is at least some audience / consumers for them. Hopefully it will pick up as people see that streaming really doesn't have everything. It has been great to get back into blu-rays etc and watch loads of old (and loved) movies that will probably never appear on streaming (or continue to appear and disappear). I have bought some VHS tapes of late but for films that have never made it to DVD etc but it required me to pick up a player from a friend who still had one resting in a garage.

I’ve been buying a lot of blu rays the last couple months.i started buying vinyl records in the mid 90s ,i have over 5000 records.as someone who saw that being a thing b4 everyone else ,i think that DVDs will make a comeback in years to come..i also was collecting the nes and genesis games in the early 90’s knowing its a nostalgia thing

I remember when the same story happened at Best Buy years ago but for CDs. Went during their final days and got myself 10 CDs

If buying isn't owning...

This has been a hard one for me to put my paws on. Part of me wants to say yes, we’re in trouble of losing physical media, but a large majority of consumers still want to purchase physical media. I’m one of those. I learned the hard way by spending big bucks on digital purchases that I lost once the services were cancelled and not transferred. It is because of this concern that knowledgeable consumers may still keep the fire burning for the sales of physical media. Let’s face a few facts. Most people want to spend as little as possible, but once the cost of physical media far exceeds it’s digital counterpart we’re in trouble of losing it.

Feel like I have seen this before Is this video a re-upload?

Red box still exists in some places also And my main stop is Barnes and nobles. They holds the criterion collection of blu-rays. It's a bit pricy but they go on sale a couple times a year. Most are older remastered classics.

I've been going to thrift shops, such as Value Village, Goodwill, Half Price Books and small physical media specific video/record stores for MOST of my physical media. Also, while some of their prices are high, Barnes & Noble has decent selections. FYE is another. And, online...besides, Amazon, I go to Ebay and other online auction sites. As for the main topic, I do fear that physical media is disappearing, and part of the reason for my VHS, DVD, blu ray collection is because of that fear.

I collect and digitize media, or download (ahoy there) if necessary to build my on offline collection. Hard drives are cheap nowadays. You should look into something like jellyfin and do a video on that.

i have both around 27/2800 films and tv shows on blu and DVDs try recycling centres they have 1000s

Dude our library gets stuff right when it comes out. Those poor discs are very abused though, they need HD VHS or something that doesn’t get all scratched up.

Im in toronto and diddnt know our library had streaming or dvds. Very cool

Physical Media Matters! and I don't want to see it completely gone cause if you buy it physically you OWN it ...at least for as long as your media still works, and if you take good care of your stuff you shouldn't worry about that I personally still collect physical media, either it's games or movies cause it sucks if the movie gets taken down from the streaming service, then you have no way of playing or watching it and with so many streaming services, finding that movie that was removed may not be as easy as if you just own it plus there's the collectors editions, if physical media goes away then in theory so will that

Not sure we will ever will see the complete end of physical media for some time. To your point about the limited edition MGMT single; there's always going to be enough of a market (be it a small one) who wants the collector's edition this or that or limited edition packaging - and the publisher can sell that all for a hefty profit. In the short term this decline will probably cause a price spike in 4k/blurays and VHS, though it feels like regular DVDs and CDs are the last remaining affordable formats (for now). For me personally, I don't think the quality of the movies and TV that Hollywood is putting out these days has me stressing about this topic too much; It doesn't matter whether that content is locked to streaming, available on physical, or in theaters, I'm not very interested in most of it anymore (with maybe a handful of exceptions each year, e.g. Oppenheimer) I have my small collection of favorite blurays/dvds I could watch a million times over, and be good with that.

Personally, I'd rather have a DVD or Blu-Ray. Especially after Prime started putting commercials in. The same for books. I don't trust digital media for movies or books. I would rather have it "in hand" so to speak.

I just got the “Bonanza” Complete Series 100-DVD set that came out last year. DVD is still a more popular format than Blu Ray or 4K.

Garage Sales are called Car Boot (trunk) sales in The UK.

I believe physical media's end is a long way off. It still represents a large portion of sales for studios. If it was on its way out, I doubt companies like Criterion, Arrow, Kino Lorber and Shout would be able to move product. But I do believe studios are cutting down on how much they are producing. Look at Oppenheimer 4K, Cameron 4Ks and now Dune 2 4K. They are not producing enough discs to meet even a third of release day demand. On top of that, many of the special features are being held back on physical media while the digital is getting them (WB discs are notorious for this) and now with Dune 2 they are not even giving the disc the full IMAX AR. Couldn't they at least produce it where it has both on the disc? The digital is getting it, but not the disc for some reason. I feel like they're just slowly trying to make it less and less convenient in order to push buyers to streaming & digital. The problem is you don't own digital anything and as soon as the next format comes out, nothing says they won't just clip it and tell you to buy it again.

I don't care what they say, a 4K ultra Blu-ray is always going to be better quality than streaming. Just not as convenient. Its like going from radio to CD quality.

Another side to this is that devices to play physical media are no longer made. You have old DVD/CD players to play the discs on. Once those break, and they are not easy to repair, what are people going to use to play DVD/CD on?

With all the ad supported crap these days, I could see blu-ray making a minor comeback. Plus a lot of them come with digital codes too

I’m sure cd’s had a resurgence last year, or the year before.

Back n 2012 I donated 99% of my dvd collection except for sm tru classics and special releases. To this day I regret getting rid of my old collection. Since then replaced most of what I had with blu ray or 4K/hdr. Finally have a decent collection agn. Ended up getting a Panasonic ub9000 so get btr picture when watchin things So yeh I basically have a wall set up for my media collection including my vinyls, and my old cd collection from the 90s-2015s. I hv it set up nice and get compliments when friends come over. I keep having to say “no, u can’t borrow” to folks. Hahahaha All that to say sm of us will happily keep our media libraries and will find ways to add to it.

I think you're right, physical won't go away, just be more niche. I love physical media and have more vhs now than anything I think 😅 We have Hmv here in the UK which is a music/film shop but they've also had to branch out into figures and colletables, anime etc to survive. It's the only mainstream shop here now so I'd hate for it to shut down. It's been saved once and is doing well apparently so that's good. I do need to buy more from them tbh to support them. The main shop I buy music and films from though is my local oxfam book shop which always has different stuff in it being a well run charity shop. I think people are getting tired I'd streaming and are slowly finding other ways to watch and consume media like ourselves. I do like them especially for their convenience and that's where they've got people tbh. The convenience factor

When it comes to Amazon, they arent the ones carrying the media most of the time they are just a consignment shop. I was looking for around 40 titles on amazon a few months ago because im moving overseas to a area that was very bad internet and almost nothing was shipped and sold by Amazon and was mostly sold by third parties. Ive had better chances on Ebay finding copies of movies.

It’s too bad streaming is far from a replacement for owning a physical copy. I don’t remember the last time a favorite title was pulled off my shelf and then put on a shelf I don’t have access to without paying again. Or even having to pay a regular monthly charge whether I watch anything during a month or not. And you don’t have to go to a completely different store to buy a Disney film than a Paramount, or Universal. Streaming does provide things physical can’t, but it doesn’t fully replace it either. Sure, with just a couple streaming services you have access to more choices than you’ll ever have time to watch, but if you want something in particular you may often be out of luck. And as far as physical becoming more niche, it doesn’t seem too promising because the equipment needed to play it isn’t likely to remain available if it’s a small market. Oh well, there was once a time where you no choices other than the dozen or so channels broadcasting live.

I bought a VCR a couple years ago on eBay, a few weeks later on market place I found a listing on some tapes for $40, dude begged me to take all his tapes and DVDs. I sure did... Too bad he was a smoker tho... I had to air it all out for the rest of the summer before I put those tapes in my VCR

I think the market is more so transitioning over to boutique labels controlling the physical media market. The issue however, is how long will there be players on the market before they are phased out entirely.

The best physical media is an 8 TB hard drive filled with MKVs

I've never heard it be called a cassingle before. Interesting.

We are witnessing the end of big box retail chains. You'd be stupid to pay full price for a digital copy of the real thing.

Analog will never die. Just like fashion, things that we think will be dead in the future come back. Bell Bottom in the 90s was such an example. People were saying bell bottom would die forever in the 2000s. And guess what happened? People are wearing back bell bottoms.

Physical media is already a niche market. All my friends and family look at me crazy when I tell them I still buy physical media. They don’t even know what 4Ks are so I don’t even bother explaining 🤓

As much as I don't want physical media to die out, I'm afraid the answer is yes.

Funny what you said about admiring cover art. I bet my kids' generation doesn't even know about that joy! 🤔

It sucks that I just now came back around to owning more physical media again as the availability starts shrinking

Redbox sells used dvds and Blu-rays for like $4

I have no doubt that the destruction of physical media would be wayyyy further ahead then what it is, had it not been for boutique labels when it comes to the movie format that's for sure... VHS is a gimmic for collectors now, they don't really collect them now to actually watch them, but more to display them.

Vinyl has the advantage of typically sounding better and being less compressed than CD/digital. I don’t know that movies have that same equivalent.

How is Vinyl anymore analog than a CD when its coming from the same masters ? Its not like the recordings and Vinyl are done like they were in the 40-60's

I do think physical media is going to narrow down to more of an enthusiast's market, though, I think there is a degree of irony already at play, as I've seen a great many people on other similar channels and on other platforms backpedaling on all streaming and reclaiming their DVD collection. Irony, because the overabundance of streaming services and the way streaming is becoming like cable subscriptions all over again is burning people out and driving them back to physical or to piracy. Companies like Netflix trying to squeeze more money out of people and trying to corner the distribution market in cahoots with movie studios is going to drive customers away and will backfire if enough folks vote with their wallets and influence.

Oh god. I don't think they'd turn to VHS tapes; I think they'd do laser disc instead. LOL. All said, VHS is capable of HD and Technology Connections did an episode, I think? Maybe it was TechMoan.

these days we still use cds blu-ray so i don't understand

We're witnessing The End of everything.

If the music industry can bring back Vinyl then I think we need to bring back Typewriters. I myself use a 3rd party word processor and consider word processors in jeopardy.

As much as I want to step away from tech and live more simply and in touch with the present, I've grown tired of moving my massive record collection every time I want to move. I'm in the process of selling 700+ records to pursue a more nomadic lifestyle now that I divorced someone who didn't have that same desire. I just wish there were options better than the current streaming services and that library services like Freegal had more robust selections.

I gave up buying used dvds a long time ago because you end up wasting a lot of money on scratched dvds that won’t play. Which also is why Netflix stopped doing dvd’s. I remember at end I would sometimes have to send back 2 or 3 discs before I got a playable one. Why not just buy from Apple, they allow downloads and you can backup all the files, sure you can only play them on Apple devices but so what

One thing I've thought about it that the majority of modern movies have been...bad. The only physical movie I've wanted to buy recently is "the boy and the heron". I haven't seen any others that I really wanted a hard copy of. Some shows yes like rick and morty. Adventure time. I just bought the whole set of that on Amazon.

What I think is company want dvd and bluray to died in popularity so someone can make a new media format that offers more space and options

Is this Greg Sestero? ... *Oh hai mark* !

I am still buying movies and TV shows on iTunes and storing it on an iPod in case they pull the files online. You have to use the Apple Devices program now instead of PC iTunes - but I have an iPod Classic with upgraded storage and a cable/dock to connect to a TV. Edit: Make sure to select video quality to standard definition, otherwise it won't sync to your iPod. This is found in settings and some videos aren't available in SD. Eternal Sunshine for a Spotless Mind isn't in standard definition, but the Super Mario Movie is.

But yeah that said, I will keep buying physical media. If they decide to stop producing it, then I will probably streamrip and burn those to a DVD to play. AVCHD discs are actually pretty decent quality and then I have a local copy stored. But I won't sign up for streaming and I'll probably just stream stuff when it's free through Tubi or Freevee.

Most new movies aren't even worth owning.

Amazon & Walmart still have physical media.

I'm not going to stop buying physical media, ever.

Loving this channel just found it recently, did anyone tell you you look like Alan wake ?

I have over 3.000 Movies on DVD & Blu Ray. I hardly buy any new movie because they are all bad.

we are all going back online for somethings

Where have you been for the past 20 years? Look at how long DVD lasted. BluRay has been a shell of DVD sales. This is the last generation of consoles with physical media (look at the leaks for confirmation). See a lot of stores selling music CDs in the past 10 years?

I hope VHS doesn't come back because that format was garbage. I think DVD will always be here because DVD sales are still overall strong. That and, as you mentioned streaming fatigue, DVDs will stick around. Definitely will be more limited though.

If it "dies". Well then looking forward to $10 UHD blurays. movies are expensive

Not in my house!

Library FTW.

Yoo watching this while high is some of the funniest sht I’ve seen all week. Also this Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia is hitting

Vinyl is the future....

Why do we romanticise dead formats but ignore current ones 😩

No physical media lives forever you just have to find out where it is. Physical media is available world wide so it's always there somewhere