If you’re upgrading your DVD collection to Blu-Ray, the CEO of Roku says you shouldn’t bother. Roku CEO Anthony Wood predicts that Blu-Ray players will be obsolete within four years.
At an event in San Francisco called the “TV of Tomorrow” show, he told the crowd that people will stop using Blu-Ray players in four years.
He says that as streaming content becomes more and more the norm, people will begin to abandon the now popular disc format the way we abandoned VHS for DVD.
Of course, Wood has an interest in seeing streaming content take off. His company produces devices that allow users to easily stream content to television sets. And, there are also the multitude of game consoles that allow streaming as well these days. And there are also Internet connected sets.
What this prediction doesn’t take into account is the fact that the infrastructure for U.S. broadband isn’t equipped to handle wide-spread use of streaming.
And the fact that some of us have spent years collecting Doctor Who on DVD after collecting the entire series on VHS and there’s no way we’re collecting it all again…
I, for one, will never go to an all-streaming model because I *like* haveing something I own, that I can watch even if the internet is not working for whatever reason. It’s my main knock also against recent PC games, requiring that you be online for even the single-player portion.
Gazerbeam – My feelings exactly!
Ditto…
If Blu does go the way of the Dodo, then I’ll at least have everything on the best physical format made.
yep…I’m too old to change my ways now, but those kids just starting to get interested in collecting media may choose something newer than Blu-Ray (whether that’s digital content saved on cloud storage, or something else)
I agree. If the media service goes under you lost the money you spent buying their media. Having something physical means you can still watch something you paid for despite a hard drive crash. You could also sell it, something you can’t do with streaming services, when you’re done. Streaming has physical limits set by the broadband in your area. If I want to go to a friends house and bring a movie to share, I can do that with physical media. You can’t do that with a streaming service (or if you can, it’s inconvient when compared to putting a disc in a player).
I agree with everything Gazerbeam said. I hate that I have to not only pay for the game, but a subscription to be able to play single-player. Why not include that in the price of the game? I find it hard to believe it is predicted to only take 4 years.
And I wouldn’t consider it until you can watch anything the same way you would at home. Most streaming sites I have used don’t have chapter skip buttons, and scrolling through to the place you want is not always easy or accurate.
And what about the fact that sometimes we buy DVDs & BLU-RAYs simply for the extra stuff, like commentary, deleted scenes etc. This has been denied in most places to force us to buy the hard copy.
He’s right that the Blu-Ray will be replaced in four years, he’s wrong that it’s streaming content. Because in four years there’s gonna be an even bigger and better disc which would take weeks if not months to transfer entirely over the internet.
They looooove the streaming thing. Getting the consumers to give away their rights and enforce controlled playback is a dream come true. EULAs and DMCA tried but failed, with streaming we will be constantly asking permission.
Here’s right the Blu-Ray is dying though (it never lived actually). Online distribution (whether it’s streaming or torrents or similar) and a local hard disk is all we need.
“And the fact that some of us have spent years collecting Doctor Who on DVD after collecting the entire series on VHS and there’s no way we’re collecting it all again…”
So you take your DVds, buy a NAS with storage, and make a personal copy of the DVDs. No upgrade and reinvestment required for the forseeable future.
I just wish Hollywood would realize how much money they would make if they let us buy new releases online after they’re out. Let it play in the theater for a week or two, then let me pay $5 – $10 to stream it. That would greatly reduce people wanting to download the movie that some dude filmed from his seat.
And what about quality? the “HD” streamed today is not the Blu-ray HD ; far from it. When streaming of real HD video (not compressed stuff) is available, let’s talk again, maybe.
If Roku really wants to see streaming become the new normal, then they should work to help improve the current infrastructure (both wired and wireless), find ways to help expand the infrastructure into rural and semi-remote areas, and find ways to make it more affordable in lower income areas, because while it’s not the perfect solution, having Internet access can help make up for a going to a school that has textbooks that are a decade or more out of date.
Then they could play Xbox Live or watch the latest episode of Degrassi 2099 or iCarly or whatever online after they’ve finished their homework online.
He’s also completely ignoring licensing. Sure, you can stream if the content is available. What happens when a group like the BBC pulls your local license? You won’t be able to watch. That’s why a lot of us buy. We don’t want to be subject to the whims of someone else.
I have to admit I’ve become a LOT more selective with the buying over the past 3-5 years or so. I look at DVDs on my shelves now, and if I can’t recall the last time I watched, they move up higher on my list of things to sell or trade.
All 7 seasons of Buffy for instance, as well as both seasons of Dark Angel… at the top of my “outta here” list now, but the used stores aren’t taking in a lot of stuff they already have copies of, and Buffy would likely be on their “no sale” list. Not sure about “Profit” or “Action!”
Nowadays, I would prefer streaming something if I can’t watch it on TV, rather than try to rent the season on DVD. Most shows out there these days are not ones I’d want to buy full seasons of anymore because I wouldn’t watch them enough (both for time and cost reasons).
The thing now is to find some of the older stuff before it becomes “unavailable”.
Don’t see streaming taking over. Netflix for instance doesn’t have the $$$$$ needed to sign deals to stream much premium content, and that probably won’t improve. Apple and Amazon haven’t stepped up either. Disks aren’t going anywhere.
Blu-ray might be but HD streaming will be all the rage for about a month. Then that will be replaced by 3-D HD holographic viewing with smellovision.
There are still a lot of people who are not hooked up to the net, I don’t see them getting rid of hard copies any time soon.
It is a nice idea but there is a lot of people who like to hold the item that they own.
That’s ‘immersive VR holography with a neurally induced sensorium’(TM) allowing you to view and feel the TruLife(TM) experience of the actors using point and select POV to connect to the actor of your choice.
I don’t think dvd will ever become obsolete, but blu ray could. DVD, well, the world keeps getting too use to things and its like, there is an immediate change. Streaming videos, well first off, its takes up memory, and alot of streaming requires internet. Having something I own to watch without using up my memory and use of internet, say when I’m temporarily disconnected. I think the world is advancing too quickly…..really too quick, and we need to slow down
Funny thing is I actually agree, back during the digital transition (from analog to digital TV transition) I was working in the electronics department of a major retailer. Me and my co worker we’re making jokes that we’d NEVER get rid of the truck load of Digital Converters that come in….cause u KNOW…… everyone’s either got CABLE OR SATELLITE NOW DAYS……..WRONG……..we never could keep enough of them….which now that I live back in the county realize it not just viable…… it’s also sometimes the only thing either available or inexpensive enough to have (on a Antenna myself now) I believe that given the depth, time lenght of sales and expense factor DVD like the CD and TV ANTENNA will have it’s place in the tech field ……believe it or NOT!!!!