Netflix Ships Last DVD(about.netflix.com) |
Netflix Ships Last DVD(about.netflix.com) |
Netflix prepares to send its final red envelope - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37632096 - Sept 2023 (282 comments)
I hear the high seas calling...
Good library systems have a good percentage of DVD released films readily available for free.
There are of course many movies on DVD that have not been released on streaming or Blu-Ray, I suppose the size of your local library system could make a big difference on what is available. Especially if you live in a more rural or remote area.
The seller sent me a DVD-R in a case with an inkjet printed cover. I went out of my way not to pirate it and ended up doing so anyway. :(
In general though, our library has completely replaced Netflix for our house for ages. It's great.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Always:_Sunset_on_Third_Street
Wonder how many people dumped their collection because 'i can always get it from netflix'.
For me it's super convenient as I can request that they send a copy (found anywhere in their system) to my local library, and I can bike over to pick it up a few days later.
I found that the high seas are only good for popular films, and that obscure films are very hard to find. I've had better luck at the library.
They had machines that could verify the checksum of the disk in three seconds by reading the entire thing with multiple laser heads. They had machines that would OCR the sleeve and mark it for replacement if it was too dirty.
They had printers that could print the entire address on the envelope in about 300ms using multiple offset print heads, so that the sorters could run at full speed.
I wonder what will happen to all those machines. I know that sometimes they allowed bulk mailers to rent the envelope printers/sorters in the afternoons, I wonder if they'll just sell those to bulk mailers.
I would love to be able to buy such a drive, would be great to rip all my old discs.
Many of those movies aren't available on any streaming platform, but also the DVDs are hard to buy, so the Netflix DVD catalog was the only (legal) way to watch them if you wanted to.
If you’re looking for it, just be patient for me to turn on my client every few weeks.
We're left to speculate.
...But I hope it was Weird Al's first film, "UHF".
I suppose they could have figured out the last fulfilled order though.
"This month the Washington Post’s Ty Burr reminds us of some movies we can’t stream: “Cocoon” (1985), directed by Ron Howard, “Short Cuts” (1993) by Robert Altman, “New York, New York” (1977) by Martin Scorsese, “Henry & June” (1990) by Philip Kaufman and “Silkwood” (1983) by Mike Nichols."
The only silver lining is I am probably going to start exploring the Kanopy catalog more which may be available via your local public library.
[0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/dvds-demise-leaves-many-films-g...
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/netflix-will-let-you...
I'm honestly surprised there was a viable DVD business that lasted this long.
I do actually miss some of the moments of strolling through my neighborhood video store with my brother and discovering staff-pick movies an algorithm would never put in front of me today. Heck, there were some days where the browsing of movies on shelves was more satisfying than watching the actual pick at home later.
Neflix DVDs became a total lifesaver for me when I originally binged BSG. I became a solid fan at the time.
I think it’s worth it even if it’s available on D+ or whatever other platform. And I can rip them and stream them myself. Which I sometimes do for trips.
I think while a little tedious sometimes, it’s worth it.
I hate the Everything-For-Rent world we live in today.
I too have ripped physical media in the past for my own convenience. These days, I just use a third party torrenting service ;) (I do try to have legal access to the given media first)
If there was a way to purchase data outright (or the rights to it) that wasn't copyable (sort of like a bitcoin or ethereum token for a single copy of some data, stored on some kind of shared ledger... which I believe is what the "contracts" crypto idea was about, except hasn't really taken off yet), this advantage of physical media would go away. (It would still have other advantages, though, such as anonymity, make-your-own-tuned-rip, zero dependence on outside services such as contract authentication ledgers, etc.)
I am historically a data hoarder and old system emulation enthusiast, these are obviously legal gray areas
The variety is just larger than the streaming platforms. And to be honest while they tracked the DVDs you rented you never felt you had this bird on your back watching your every move.
On streaming you might try something, get through half way of it, give up, and next thing you know the platform thinks it’s your most favorite thing, and starts shoveling “things you may like” while thing you hated sits in the “continue watching” for the next two months.
So, anyway, happy customer. Sorry to see it go.
* unless one blackbeards it
I still buy things I may want to see again. And since I'm still using DVDs I bought 20 years ago, I know that that can happen. Many of them are simply not available on streaming. Others are, but would involving chasing subscriptions hither and yon, and more than once I've done that, only for the content to not actually be there when I finally got to wanting it.
Also, I will say, music I am still buying. Purchasing MP3s is acceptable, if anyone will sell them to me, but I want to own anything I really care about. For any given CD I have no real confidence that anything but my physical possession (converted to MP3 and backed up) will still be there in 20 years.
"DVDs still conquer the market within those sales, and at their peak, DVD sales were over $18 billion, while Blu-Rays made just over $2 billion in a year."
I remember when video stores went under, I brought a lot of vhs tapes, a few that never got launched on dvd or blueray.
From an outsiders perspective it's just incredible, though.
If someone believes there is still value in it, they can try filling it, but the only other player I see in that market is Redbox (whose business model is kiosks rather than postage), and they probably don't need anything Netflix has to offer.
As much as I dislike the modern tech/business sector, I think this makes perfect sense, even though I have a lot of nostalgia for it, so many good memories from the DVDs I rented over a decade ago.
> The business was shrinking and shrinking
Was that the problem, though, or was it just that it wasn't as profitable as the streaming business? The last most of us knew, the DVD business was still profitable.
https://marketrealist.com/2019/08/is-netflixs-dvd-business-p...
> If someone believes there is still value in it, they can try filling it
Hard to build up all of the catalog, infra, etc. that DVD.com had. And even though there were buyers, Netflix would not sell.
https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/netflix-turned-do...
The real story is probably about big corporate agendas being set by the market, which demanded higher profits on everything of a hulking company than a tiny niche business could produce. That combined with a desire to not bleed IP by spinning the DVD business off to be its own success.
Anti-trust laws ought to keep these things from happening.
Similar to how gyms count on a decent chunk of members coming once a month or even less, but those members basically subsidize the $10/m price for everyone else.
Netflix DRM playback is harder to deal with.
If anything, DVD ripping probably helped Netflix, as subscribers used it to build their own private archives.