DVD's and BLUE-RAYS becoming obsolete?
And CD's too, they say. We are supposed to "download" everything. There are many flaws in this forward march of technology. It no doubt favors commercial interests. It doesn't favor the appreciation of film as art. It favors people who only want to watch the latest movies, uncritically, instantly, without benefit of ancillary material.
1. The disks have better visual quality.
2. Bonus material. Outtakes, voiceover commentaries, related films other supporting documents instantly accessible on good DVD's.
3. Ability to navigate, back and forth, chapters, adding and removing subtitles in various languages.
4. Accessibility of the whole digitalized film library. There are thousands of films on DVD on Netflix that can't be downloaded.
5. Box sets and "coffrets" -- the quality of the experience and the pleasure to the collector of owning these. Criterion Edition. What is to become of that resource?
It appears that Apple is phassing out DVD players in their laptops. The push is to sell the ultra-thin Mac Air, which can't have a built-in DVD player. This is of a concern to me, because I watch a lot of movies on my Macbook. Apart from that, I have quite a few DVDs by now, though nothing like the number of CD's I have.
Otherwise, I would not lament the passing of CD's (so long as I have players for them; I even havd a Pioneer Elite edition combined DVD, CD, laser disk player. Yes, I have some laser disks. I would not lament the passing of CD's, because vinyl is so much better. The supposed rendering "obsolete" of vinyl records, not to mention cassette tape, is a prime example of how technological "advances" are not an advance in quality. Compare the sound of a metal cassette tape made from a vinyl record with a good tape deck with a CD of the same recording. There is no comparison for richness of sound. You cannot transfer a better recording, from tape or vinyl, to digital format and not lose important information, assuming that you have minimally discerning ears. Of course digital has many benefits, but it also has serious shortcomings -- in sound recording, in the area that counts most.
The reason these "updates" work so well is that people don't know any better. There are those who love technology and those who love art. The appreciation of an art form does not usually benefit from rendering a large library of the work of the past "obsolete." This is happening with books. Books are becoming "obsolete." But the book is a better "technology" than a computer. Just go to the rare books section of a library and ask yourself how many of its contents will become "e-books."
However, DVD's have a very obvious advantage over videotapes. You couldn't carry a half dozen videotapes with you on a trip to play on your laptop. There is still a substantial quantity of the film literature that never made it from videotape to DVD, naturally, because many films are of interest to only a small audience.
But we are that small audience.
Netflix was opposed and has relented (for the moment anyway) when it proposed to phase out DVS's in their rental system in favor of instant download. Again the obvious reasons are given above, the primary one being that only relatively few movies are available for download compared to the number on DVD, and that is a lack that is not going to be remedied. By the way, I use instand download. It's great, for a quick watch or a quick referral. But the image quality is inferior and there is the lack of those resources and functiionalities I've mentioned -- quick back and forward, referral to chapters, changing of subtitles, access to bonus material.
In discussions of the relative merits of the technologies these things are overlooked. It's curious how a new technology blinds people to the obvious.
Quality Movies For the Masses
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.
Movie Buffs vs The Masses
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.