Why I Don’t Buy Digital Movies

With the availability of iTunes and other digital video services, I hear a lot of people talk about how they don’t buy DVDs any longer.  I hear things like “I don’t want to take up space with all of those cases” or “my kids destroy DVDs” – which make sense, but at the same time I can’t bring myself to give up my physical media.

For me, though, digital video distribution (DVD?) plays a supporting role rather than the primary role in building my video collection.  I don’t purchase movies digitally – I buy the discs.  Almost always Blu-ray discs, actually, since normally when I watch movies they’re being projected on a 100” screen, and DVD can fall apart at that size.  So do streaming services, to some degree, as well, but this isn’t the reason I choose not to invest in digital.  It’s more basic than that.

The main reason is that I don’t trust that these services are going to be around in ten years.  And I don’t want my investment to be lost.

History already tells us that we can’t rely on these services, no matter who is backing them.  Several big players have already tried and failed, including Wal-Mart and Target.  And when they fail, you lose what you’ve bought.

I know what you’re thinking… that Apple’s iTunes isn’t going to go away.  Maybe not.  At least not now.  But can you actually believe that Apple, if they’re still around in 20 years, is still going to be supporting a service that old?  They don’t support any services more than a few years old now.  There’s just no way that they’ll actually still make your movies available to you that far in the future.  Technology changes too fast.  Twenty years in the technology world is an eternity.  Very few tech companies make it that long. 

Owning the discs ensures that I’ll be able to watch them 10, 15, or more years in the future.  Even if (when) manufacturers stop making Blu-ray players in the future, the players I own today will still play those discs moving forward.  Yes, we’ll see improvements in picture quality with new tech like 4K and HDR moving forward, but Blu-ray is pretty good – it’s virtually the same level of quality currently projected in your local theater – and many movies have actually been shot in HD-like resolution, so in those cases a higher quality version usually doesn’t even exist.  And unless you’re sitting really close to very large screen, newer technologies won’t even provide any additional discernable picture detail. (Though HDR, if it catches on, has the potential to improve things considerably.)

The other big reason I still buy discs is convenience.  I don’t want to be without a way to watch a movie if my Internet goes down, I’m travelling somewhere where I don’t have Internet access, or it isn’t fast enough to stream a movie reliably.  Maybe in 5-10 years our Internet access will be more reliable and high speed will be more ubiquitous, but I just can’t count on it.  And will the streaming service you’ve invested n still be around at that time?  There’s no way to know.

That said, it isn’t like I don’t use digital video services, because I do.  They’re just my backup.  Most movies I buy come with a code to unlock digital versions.  And if they don’t, I’ve really found Vudu’s Disc-to-Digital program to be very handy.  (Tip: If you use the service, do the conversions at home on your own computer, and convert more than 10 discs at a time for a 50% discount.) I can’t convert all of my movies to digital, but I can certainly convert enough of them that I’m generally not left wanting when I want to stream a movie. I’ve got 241 on Vudu right now, so I’ve got plenty to choose from.

In any case, I know that everyone’s situation is different.  But I would encourage you to think about the future when making your video purchases.  Would you care if your selected service shut down in 5 years?  Would it bother you if you lost your investment because they’ve gone belly-up, or choose not to support it any longer?  It’s something to consider.

Apple iPad: The Aftermath

Just as predicted, Apple announced the iPad today.  If you weren’t following the announcements, it is a thin device with a 9.7” screen that is more-or-less a big iPod Touch with some new software added to it. 

Things I Like

• The web browser on the iPad is going to be its killer app.  With a large high resolution screen and true tabbed browsing, this is the device’s best potential use. 
• The email app looks nice too.
• The book reader is going to be nice for casual lookup of short passages of text.
• The device can run existing iPhone software at either native or double resolution.
• The photo viewer is nice.
• The IPS LCD panel is going to have a great picture (for an LCD).
• If it can really achieve 10 hours of battery life, this is impressive.
• Apps written in the future can take advantage of the larger screen.

Things I See as Problems

• The on-screen keyboard is going to be tedious to use.  Primarily because (1) your fingers can’t feel the keys to know where they are, and (2) because the keys are touch sensitive you can’t rest them on the screen, meaning you’ll have to hover your hands over the device.  This makes writing emails and documents something you’d prefer to have a real computer for.
• The new iWork applications are going to be next to useless if you don’t have the optional dock and keyboard.  Nobody is going to write papers, or create spreadsheets or presentations without a real keyboard.
• The fact that Apple did not add multitasking (running two apps at the same time) really reduces the possible functionality of this device.  You can’t listen to Pandora and write an email at the same time, for example.  They REALLY need to fix this for both the iPad and iPhone.
• The Maps app is a good idea, but this doesn’t have a real GPS, so its kind of useless for navigation.
• Getting your own photos and videos onto the device requires going through a computer.  Or in the case of photos, with an optional connecting cable to connect to a limited selection of cameras. 
• The device is too large to carry around with me.  It’s going to get left on the couch all of the time, because that’s the only place a device like this makes much sense.  If I’m out and about I’m going to need the full capabilities of a notebook computer.  So the iPad stays home.
• Reading long books isn’t really going to be a great experience.  Our eyes prefer the non-backlit look of paper over backlit screens when staring at a device for long periods of time. Reading of newspapers and (someday) magazine articles should be fine.
• The device requires a computer for setup and maintenance, as well as more permanent storage.  If Apple is trying to replace a computer (which seems to be their aim) they shouldn’t require a computer.
• The device seems a little bit expensive for being just a large iPod Touch.  I’m glad to see the entry price at just $499, but its 16GB storage isn’t enough if people expect to store much video content on it, especially if it is high definition.
• This is not a device suited to the educational market.  Nobody is going to take notes on an on-screen keyboard (nor does the book reader seem to support that anyway), and I doubt that many people will carry the dock and keyboard with them.  A notebook computer makes so much more sense in that application.  Since it is going to require a computer anyway, this isn’t a good educational solution.
• While the device is not locked to AT&T, AT&T’s network is the only one that really lets you take advantage of the 3G radio in the 3G-equipped models.  They should have offered Verizon and T-Mobile as options as well.  At least the data plans aren’t too expensive.
• I’m going to list multitasking a second time.  A device with a screen this big shouldn’t be limited to running one app at a time.  This is a major failing on Apple’s part.  I really hope they fix this.

Prediction Results

So, how did I do on my predictions from last night?

Tablet (iPad)

• Large iPod Touch, with emphasis on electronic book and multimedia.  Pretty much correct.  I didn’t predict that they would have iWork available for it (their Office-like product), but I guess they need to have some sort of justification for some business use of the device.
• No e-Ink screen, uses conventional LCD.  Check.
• Tool for students and readers: They didn’t really focus on the educational use of the device other than to mention that textbooks will be available on it.  They did make a big deal of the new iBooks software for it, making it a reader.  Half credit.
• WiFi & 3G connectivity. WiFi was right, 3G is available, but AT&T only.  I predicted we’d see Verizon as an option, which we don’t.  No carrier subsidies (or even contract).  40% right.
• Priced $700-900.  Actual pricing is $499 to $829 depending on storage and whether you get it with the 3G radio.  So I was $200 too high on the low end, $70 too high on the high end.
• Available March-April.  Wi-Fi only version coming end of March, 3G version coming end of April.  Bingo.
• Name won’t include “i.”  Wrong.  I was hoping they’d abandon that.  iPad is a terrible name, though, especially if you’ve seen the MadTV skit.
• No stylus.  Yep.

iPhone

• No significant changes for the iPhone.  Check.
• New 3.2 version announced.  Yes, but for the iPad only for now.
• No 4.0 announcement.  Check.
• No new hardware.  Check.
• No announcement of coming to new carriers.  Check.

Mac

• No new iMacs or Mac Mini.  Check.
• Refresh of 17” MacBook Pro.  Nope.  Wrong.
• Solid State Disks option for all models.  Nope.

iPod

• No iPod announcements.  Check.

Software

• iLife suite upgraded to 2010.  Nope.
• iWork suite upgraded to 2010.  No.  But announced for iPad.
• MobileMe updated for tablet.  No announcements made.  But I still see this coming before long to allow iWork to synchronize over the air.
• iTunes updated to 9.1.  Nope.  Or at least no announcement.  I bet it will be for when the iPad is actually released.
• Streaming content announcement.  I predicted it wouldn’t be made now, but will be made before long.  Correct on no announcement, but no score.

I told you so…

If you go back and read my July 26th post, I was pretty much dead on on what the Apple tablet device was going to be.  I should have stuck with that post as my official predictions; I was closer in that post 6 months ago than I was in last night’s.  I gotta quit listening to the media.

Cheaper iTunes

Apple just went live with their variable pricing, which means that most new music is now $1.29 per song instead of the $0.99 everybody is used to.  The Amazon MP3 store, on the other hand, is still $0.89-$0.99 or less for its music tracks. 

A guy named Robert Palmer has created a program called Advantageous MP3, which provides a link between iTunes software and Amazon’s MP3 store, so you can shop for your music in iTunes, then actually purchase from Amazon for the cheaper price. 

The software is free, and there are versions for Windows and the Mac. 

Personally I haven’t tried it, as I don’t use iTunes.  But I hear good things about it, so I’m passing it along to you.  Enjoy!