TechCrunch just wrote an article claiming today being officially the death of compact discs (basically in any format, be it CD, DVD or BluRay). Their reasoning was because the writer MG Siegler had realized he hadn’t used the DVD drive of his MacBook ever for anything. With computers, I’m quite confident that’s the future, and I couldn’t be more happier with it. But what about film industry? When do we get rid of the DVDs and BluRays, and do we even want to?
I’m all for digital distribution, all for the easiest flow of entertainment. But looking around my house right now, I’m unfortunately not seeing an easy way out when it comes to films. And again, unlike with those horrible computer program boxes filled with nothing but air, I do have a mental attachment to our DVD collection. It’s not huge, but it’s cute. In a bachelor nerd way. And compared to a collection of computer program boxes, that become historical relics after just one year when a new version of the program has replaced the earlier one, these are eternal. And by eternal I mean they last 15-20 years. But that’s ten-twenty times longer than a computer program. And even a computer game – watching a wall full of computer games, it’s not quite likely you find yourself in a sudden rush of nostalgia, pull out your old Amiga, set it up, install Monkey Island 2 and spend few hours playing it. It sounds great, but really for that to happen… I don’t think so.
There's a bunch of 'em. Not a huge collection, and a bit messy, but good stuff there is!
So DVDs and BluRays have more collecting value. But in addition to that, still looking around my house and the equipment I have, there’s absolutely no way a digital download of a film would be superior to a physical high quality BluRay, 1080p, 5.1 sound, the works. Connecting my computer through a display port to a HDMI adapter to my TV, then pulling out an optical cable and rigging it to my laptop, then downloading the 1080p file from a pirate site, watching it… It’s just too much hassle, a hassle which I can get around by just walking to Sokos next door, grabbing the desired BluRay, sticking it to my PS3 and kaboom, it’s on. It’s easily something I’m happy to pay 20-30 bucks, and then – I have the physical copy in my collection, available for watching quickly anytime I want. And more than that, just a glance on the wall of my room, and registering titles like Terminator 2, Citizen Kane, American Beauty, Big Fish – even unconsciously – makes me feel like I’m in a good place. Somehow, watching the same names typed on a computer screen with 10pt Tahoma don’t work the same way.
So, the reason BluRays (and DVDs) will live on for at least another 10 years are three:
1) As a physical item, they have a collecting and portability value.
2) As long as hooking your laptop to your home entertainment system requires even hooking one cord somewhere, it’s not working.
3) As long as there’s no reasonable online version that will provide the easiness, the enjoyment of collectibility and the quality of a BluRay.
The conclusion is: digital distribution is not killing the film business. It adds a new customer segment, that will merge *in the future* to the existing one, making it stronger. But as long as the digital pioneers are being punished for the mistakes the industry makes, there’s not enough synergy that this would happen. Hunting “pirates” should end, and we should come up together with the industry, the audience, the film buffs, the Internet and the filmmakers a distribution system that’s making sense so that the merging from physical units to digital distribution would be painless, productive, profitable and possible.
Ugh. Ramble off.
