See, this is why I subscribe to Netflix disc and NOT to Hulu, Anime Network, etc.

[redneckgaijin]

The Reasons DVDs (and I suppose Blue Ray discs) are infinitely superior to streaming video and always will be:

(1) When I have a DVD, I can watch the thing I wanted to watch IMMEDIATELY. At once. Maybe there will be a preview I have to fast-forward or an annoyingly complex menu, but that's all. I do NOT have to wait 4-5 minutes per minute of actual video for the download to complete.

(2) Most DVDs do NOT AUTOPLAY. Seriously. Why is it so fucking much to ask that streaming-video or what have you DEFAULT TO PAUSE when you first load the page? You miss crap waiting for the load, and then you get stutter-stop when the buffer runs out.

(3) Rewind. Oh, did you miss what they said and try to backtrack on your streaming video? And now all you get is a frozen screen that does nothing? Congratulations, you get to RELOAD THE WHOLE VIDEO ALL OVER AGAIN FROM THE BEGINNING. Enjoy your wait, and remember: this wouldn't happen if you were watching this thing ON A DVD.

(4) Availability. So long as I don't mung the disc, and so long as I have a working machine, I can watch my DVDs over and over again. I have it. It's mine. It's right there on the shelf. On the other hand, when YouTube or whatever other hosting service pulls the video from the website due to copyright concerns, lapse of contract, censorship or other bullshit, so far as you non-DVD-users are concerned the video is LOST F0R3V4RZ O NOES.

(5) Special features. Oh, did you want director/actor commentary on that streaming video? Not to worry, it's right here on this separate page... which you get to wait to download... FROM SCRATCH... all over again. As opposed to DVD, where (if the DVD has the feature) you can switch audio tracks from regular to commentary ON THE FUCKING FLY, BITCHES.

From where I sit, about the only advantage streaming currently has over DVD is that, when you finally get to the end of a YouTube video, you'll be offered a link to My Little Pony v. Big Breasted Japanese Girls Playing Tennis or something like that. Sadly they don't put that sort of thing on DVD much- it's only big breasted CALIFORNIAN BLONDE girls playing tennis on those.

But for everything else, there's TANGIBLE MEDIA. Go buy some today. And those of you making all those YouTube films... put the good shit on a DVD and sell it, dammit. People WILL still buy it.

Comments

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Not to mention big-breasted Japanese My Little Pony 'morphs playing volleyball.

[morphyloon.livejournal.com]

Do want!

Wait... what?

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

You won't get any arguments out of me about any of this.

OTOH, I have known a few people who don't see any reason to keep a book once they've read it; the concept of re-reading just isn't in their universe. As in, "Why would you want to keep all those books? Haven't you read them already?" While that attitude is rare in my social circles, I would imagine it's much more common elsewhere.

I can readily see something similar occurring around the idea of re-watching a movie, and for those people, streaming video is the ideal format. Because once you've seen it, it's gone -- not like books that you have to take to the used bookstore to get rid of.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

My response is along the lines of, "As poor as I am, I really can't AFFORD to buy books/videos that I'll only watch once."

Alternately: "Tell me, do you only golf ONCE? 'Well, I've seen the course, no need to do it again.'"

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Ah, but a golf course isn't static -- the weather, the seasons, and the state of maintenance (not to mention your own luck with the clubs) all introduce variables, so your experience won't be the same from one round to the next. A book or DVD never changes... although your personal response to it may.

I tend to go for the mirroring response: "What do you mean, you only read books once? What's WRONG with you?" But that's because I see the original comment as beyond rude to begin with.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

And people wonder why pirating is still more popular...

Removing tangible media from distribution will only increase piracy. And if they think they've taken all precautions to prevent stream capture, they're sorely mistaken. There will ALWAYS be a way.

The only way to kill piracy is a global EMP. Even killing the internet isn't enough, because people will just create a new internet.