DVD's and BLUE-RAYS becoming obsolete?

As a subscriber to Netflix, I have found that more than ever, the more obscure and difficult to find independent and foreign films are becoming more and more available to the masses and at comparatively little cost and ease of use. The quality of computers, monitors, home sound systems and technology, like 3-D, are making the more difficult to find and independent movies to the general public in a way that conforms to the general population's proclivity for easy access and in format that is of adequate quality to appreciate. With the working class being under the pressure of a poor economy, scant amount of free time having to take care of kids and household and yard duties, working to pay the bills, the way of the DVD and Blue-Rays are no longer convenient nor practical. But with the increasing quality of movies overall, the general public the world over in countries with poor mail access or limited funds the wave of opportunity for these rich and wonderful, unknown films to be seen by the rest of humanity is perhaps a great gift to filmmakers the world over.

Rosy picture, tabuno, but you are ignoring the points I started this thread with.

What you say in the above post that more technology is making more films available is not true, unless you refer only to quantity.

Streaming is not the film buff's choice for viewing copies of films at home. Except for fancy cable setups you don't get the image quality. You never get the functionalities (sound setup choices, subtitles choices, commentaries). You lose the bonus material that comes with even a not-so-good DVD.

Apart from that disadvantage, only a small percentage of the existing DVDs are available in streaming form.

The phasing out of DVD rental stores is bad for film buffs. A lot of films will cease to be available. Do you think Netflix is just going to take over all the rare titles and stream them? Think again. They can't afford to do that and wouldn't want to. Their interest is in volume.

Luckily DVDs will not vanish any time soon. But they will become harder to get hold of, if the big rental services drop them.

Example of what happens if you eliminate DVDs: Netflix lists 21 titles by Eric Rohmer now but only 13 are really available and only 2 streaming. So without DVD, you get two Eric Rohmer titles. And are they his best work? No. When you lose the brick and mortar stores, especially the independents -- as when we lost Tower Records -- you lose the experts -- the nerds, the buffs, the passionate devotees behind the counter -- whom you could consult with who cultivated intelligent collection, maintained amazing catalogues -- the kind of people who would know which Eric Rohmer films it's iimportant to have in streaming form.

Videotape is also a loss, an increasingly complete one. The material does not go onto DVD, and the DVDs do not go onto streaming.

There are some websites that offer free downloads of unusual films. For instance there are one or two that offer free streaming of a lot of Arabic films. Of course, no functionalities, and no subtitles.

The more obscure and difficult films are becoming available to the masses? I doubt it. The masses don't want them.

Just a parting shot before I go, as I won't be able to stream or DVD anything where I'm going.

I have super high speed internet and can stream over 20 mbs. That's the fastest internet you can get in your home without going commercial. While I can watch HD movies in stream (including HBO) via the internet, the quality of films via services like Netflix is a hit or miss proposition. True, Netflix does offer some movies that most people would never see or are only available at Art House theaters in major cities. However, Chris is right in that the real good stuff - Criterion, Foreign imports, etc - are not available by any means other than DVD. And here's where Chris and I part ways. I have been in homes that had theater systems of incredible quality, screens the size of your wall and projected with the clarity of 35mm film. Many theaters have already switched over to digital, which means that the theater owner gets a DVD in the mail and projects the film via DLP projection system. This has happened to numerous theaters in many midwestern towns (digital projection systems). Within this decade, we will see the end of all film systems and a switch over to streaming films directly from distribution centers into theaters for the first few weeks and then into homes for a fee - no DVD, no chip, and no direct ownership. Watch what you want, when you want, but pay each time you watch. Like it or not, that's coming and we are helples to stop it.

Goodbye. Have a great summer. See you when I get back. Cinemabon

Except that you cannot "watch what you want," if you are a film buff, by these means. Of course we know of the switchover to digital. But this causes problems and delays in projection, and is not always appropriate. Of course rep houses have to be able to project film. So do serious theaters like those of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Jack Angstreich who I know from FSLC events and who is featured in the 2002 documentary Cinemania is a fanatic about proper format and projection, and won't watch a film unless it's properly projected for its format. He often doesn't.

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And here's where Chris and I part ways. I have been in homes that had theater systems of incredible quality, screens the size of your wall and projected with the clarity of 35mm film.

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Yes, except that "the clarity of 35mm film" means digital, so it looks digital, not like film. It generally has a cold, edgy look to it. It's sharp though. I've seen big home video projection too. I'll still stick to the Walter Reade Theater.

I believe that since American capitalist commercialism appears to be driving the film industry market, that it is the masses, the non-movie buffs that the technological surge of easy accessibility to the less seen independent and foreign films that will eventually link quality films to the rest of the world and which in turn will enable quality firms to survive and eventually thrive. Quality by its very definition implies that people will watch it and want more of it. By streaming, by instant on demand availability, the rest of us can help drive the market albeit slowly to preserving and encouraging more great movies to be developed and created by film producers.

I hadn't thought of it that way. I suppose I'm an elitist; or more of an elitist than you are. That's a good idea. It's idealistic but admirable and it may be true. I hope it is. Thanks.