Netflix Will End Its DVD-By-Mail Service After 25 Years - Slashdot
source link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/23/04/18/2051200/netflix-will-end-its-dvd-by-mail-service-after-25-years
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Netflix Will End Its DVD-By-Mail Service After 25 Years
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I haven't gotten a dvd / blu-ray in forever.. in fact, I quit because while DVDs are a hardy thing that tolerates the abuse of countless careless renters, blu-ray isn't. It's very delicate, and nearly every blu-ray I got from Netflix would pause, skip or be outright unplayable.. on both a Sony mid-range blu-ray player, on an Oppo BD-103.
As for Netflix the streamer, I barely partake anymore. I might just drop it. I spend most of my time in crunchyroll and hidive or watching from physical media.
When a movi
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When a movie comes out that I really do like, I buy it in blu-ray. That way I see when I want, not when the streamer happens to have the license.
And you don't have to worry about the streamer editing or otherwise censoring the media as well. We've seen plenty of that in the last few years. I buy any show I like and rip it to a harddrive plugged into the TV. Streaming is fine for something you watch once, or a few times over a short period of time, but not for things you want to go back to in the future
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Also why I have dead-tree editions of what I like. Some of it in 1st-edition hardbacks.
Already found a difference in the AppleTV (Itunes) purchased version in Band of Brothers vs. the version which aired on TV / Netflix - the Apple version has British-style text on the cards. Certain words are spelled the Brit way instead of the original.
Similarly, the version of "The Challenge" I have from Apple is missing the scene where Toshiro Mifune's character literally guts two security guards coming out of an elev
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I still use a VCR, you insensitive clod!
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My public library has a lot of DVDs.
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Our public library (Los Angeles area) has a substantial selection, and will even deliver them for free from other LAPL libraries that are too far to drive.
I've seen a surprising number of good movies at the Salvation Army and Goodwill for sale for a buck or two... sometimes $4.
My friends and family hardly watch their DVD/Bluray collection, so I borrow theirs.
I've also seen good collections at street fairs and swap meets, though the prices tend to be higher than Goodill and SA etc.
Hope that helps, -
Most (albeit not all), you can buy or rent on your favorite movies for purchase streaming service, like Vudu, Apple, Microsoft, Google Play/Youtube, etc. For the remaining few, they're generally hard to find on disc anyway.
Redbox is also an option for now, though it's selection isnt as big, it generally has new stuff and favorites. I get codes pretty often from my cell service (TMobile) so I use it to stay up to date with new stuff.
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I live way out in the boonies with connectivity that sometimes doesn't meet the USG definition of broadband, with a microwave tower on part of our property bouncing a signal off a water tower in town 11 miles away.
So streaming is not always a useful thing to me. The DVD subscription catalog was many times larger than the streams and was not loaded up with Netflix originals instead of licensed movies and TV shows.
I will be one source of entertainment down once this takes effect. Or sooner if I just go ahead and cut it now...probably won't get through the backlog in my queue anyway before the cutoff date.
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Is Starlink an option for you?
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How is it possible that there were only ever 40 million unique subscribers (to the DVD service, presumably)? By the time they started doing streaming, Blockbuster was already on the ropes and failing financially, in no small part due to Netflix. Was there really only roughly 40% of the households in the country with a subscription (at some point)?
I'd be interested in seeing their highest concurrent subscription count. I'd not be surprised if it's close to that 40 million figure.
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but it stunk on ice for TV shows. The trouble was the disks would get lost or scratched and not replaced. So you'd get to disk 3 of a 6 disk show and be out of luck. About the 3rd or 4th time that happened I gave up, and I mostly watch TV shows.
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It was practically useless anyway. DVDs over time get lost, never returned, broken, and they never replaced them. I have a few disks on my waiting list for over a decade at this point
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I haven't had that trouble at all. A disc arrives broken about twice a year, true, but they have always been replaced promptly.
The bigger problem is like the Expanse. Seasons 1-4 are available, 5 and 6 are not. So how did it end?
Looks like I'm going to have to figure out BitTorrent. Sigh.
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...Because I hate how every production studio now has their own streaming service, and nobody shares anything with Netflix anymore.
All I can stream on Netflix is Netflix content. But I can still get the DVDs for new releases or shows streaming on other platforms. Lately been watching Handmaid's Tale, because I don't subscribe to Hulu.
I wish the studios would do a better job licensing their content with competitors. I hate our vertically-integrated world now. Four of the Big Five Studios has their own damn streaming channel. Universal has Hulu, Paramount has Paramount+, Disney has Disney+, and Warner Brothers (will have) WBTV. Only Columbia/Sony still licenses their content to Netflix & Disney rather than start their own platform.
Guess I'll have to get my DVDs from the local library now.
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The studios don't want you to access their material unless you are paying them exclusively for it. They look at what Netflix was 5-10 years ago and want that, even though it doesn't exist any more, and never will again. They look at the streaming landscape and think, "How can we turn this into cable?"
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I've been a subscriber since 2004, back when we lived in Columbus, OH. The service went with us from there to WA and now to PA where we live now. I've watched a lot of movies that aren't available on streaming. I'll definitely miss the red envelopes but it makes sense that it would end at some point.
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Agreed on all counts. The issue with all the streaming services has been mentioned multiple times but it bears repeating: We have interest in maybe one movie every other month from any given studio, we are mostly into "indies", and cannot justify paying every damn streaming service monthly for such infrequently used content.
We are still in Columbus.
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It's great for digging up classic movies as well as new releases/shows (as long as you don't mind waiting). Thanks to them I've seen a lot of obscure films that I might not have otherwise tried.
After DVD shuts down then I'll treat Netflix like the other streaming services. Just cancel it when there's nothing in particular that I want to watch. The DVD service is what's kept me subscribed for almost 20 years. Only Amazon gives a reason to stay stick around thanks to Prime.
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The reason I'll miss it is because there was plenty of content that was available on DVD that was never available through the streaming service. I suppose licensing issues were probably behind that.
I ditched cable TV, where I was paying for many channels I had no interest in, for the Netflix DVDs, and then added streaming. That combination gave you excellent coverage for a decent price. Now the streaming market has become so fragmented you need to pay for at least half a dozen to get good coverage... a
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Looks like they're still pretending blurays are a type of dvd.
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It's shame they never offered any 4k blurays.
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Iâ(TM)ve had netflix dvd since 2004. Itâ(TM)s been my only netflix since then (never got the streaming option). Iâ(TM)ll be sad itâ(TM)s closing. Iâ(TM)ve seen hundreds of movies in DVD thanks to netflix.
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Cmon slashdot with the fricken messed up apostrophes..
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Physical media are going away, and with them, first-sale doctrine rights. In the past, if you wanted to rent a movie to other people, you could just buy a copy and rent it out. Now, if you want to rent a movie to other people, you have to negotiate with the company owning the rights to "license" it, which means they can impose their terms and even change them on a whim.
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