It’s no secret that DVD sales have been on the decline for years. So are DVDs dying out? Will that nostalgic round disc become obsolete in the near future? While predicting the future is difficult, it is likely that DVDs will experience a similar fate to VHS movies.
DVDs will never completely die out. As long as there is a demand for DVDs, there will always be a niche market for it. DVD discs will therefore not become obsolete, but turn into a collector’s item. However, the average consumer will move on from DVD and Blu-ray to digital streaming services.
Keeping your old DVDs is definitely worthwhile. A DVD could be worth a lot of money and turn into a rare collector’s item in the near future. It can be worthwhile to check if old movies might be worth anything. A lot of rare DVDs are already worth $1000 USD or more on eBay!
DVDs Are Dead, Long Live DVDs!
It’s no secret that the vast majority of people no longer buys those ‘old-school’ discs. ‘Netflix and chill‘ is what the youngsters are all about these days. You don’t put a disc in a player, you simply select the streaming service of choice and immediately start watching.
But that doesn’t mean that people no longer appreciate old video formats. In the popular days of DVDs, there were still a lot of VHS-enthusiasts. And similarly, right now there are a lot of people still very interested in the world of disc-based movies.
In fact, it’s quite amazing that a lot of stores still have a large section for DVDs to this day, as they aren’t optimized for 1080p HD. That’s where Blu-ray was supposed to shine, right? The new video format did take over the majority of the market share, but that shouldn’t take away our love for the older formats.
Blu-Ray Made DVD Obsolete
Don’t bother to put a Blu-ray disc in a DVD player, because it won’t be of any use. The newer video format is capable of High Definition-quality, so it’s a whole different beast. Blu-ray is a confusing beast with many different varieties, from old to new:
- Standard Blu-ray (BD-25)
- Blu-ray Extra Large (BD-XL)
- Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K)
Not confusing at all, right! Blu-rays might have made DVDs obsolete, but the Blu-ray disc variety is so confusing (and often incompatible) for the consumer, that it’s not really a good replacement either. That’s where digital streaming services started to take over. The logical next step: taking the video data to ‘the cloud’.
The Rise Of Cloud Streaming Services
DVDs can go bad in storage, but cloud streaming is forever. Well, you don’t really own the movies. It’s just a monthly subscription that gives you access to data that’s not yours.
The introduction of digital streaming services gave users access to a huge library of movies, TV shows, and other multimedia. And they are competing for the market share, as more and more streaming services are being introduced:
- Netflix
- Disney+
- Hulu
- Amazon Prime
- HBO Max
It’s just a small cross-section of the market that’s about to take over the world. Or have they done so already? The virtual movies that you borrow for a short moment are extremely popular. No ownership, only subscriptions. Convenience at its best!
And obviously, every streaming service will have its own exclusive shows and movies to choose from, so users are forced to have multiple subscriptions. Capitalism at its finest.
The digital streaming world has arguably made both Blu-ray and DVD discs obsolete. Over time, streaming services will take more of the market share Blu-ray and DVDs currently have. However, there will always be room for older video formats such as DVD for collectors and nostalgia-seekers.
What’s your opinion on the shift that the movie-world has seen over the last few decades? Do you miss DVDs, or disc-based media in general? Or are you still actively using them? I’d love to hear about your views, so share them in the comments below. In the meantime, make sure to keep enjoying those ‘dying DVDs’ while you still can!
I collect classic movies. How can I do that streaming? I love DvDs.
Hey Wanda,
Really good question! Classic movies are great, but streaming services often won’t support them. Unless it’s a popular classic, of course.
You would really need to look up for each individual movie on which platform they’re published (DVD, Blu-Ray, is it on any streaming services?)
In your case, keep collecting those DVDs, there is still a huge market for it, and the viewing experience for classic movies is perfectly fine.
Good luck!
Arnold
I hate DVD but love 4K Blu-ray disc I want to still own my movies but in the best quality
I stream, but I love my blu-ray player, movies just a few years old are available at Walmart for $3.99 and $5.00. Often times Dollar Tree stores will sell lesser though not always so movies for $1.00, how do you beat that?
I usually purchase movies I want to see more than once.
I still have a dvd recorder. Three of them. A black Magnavox with no tuner but has a HDMI output and only reads -rewritable and -non-rewitable discs. And I have a Panasonic that reads all formats + and -, but unfortunately, the Panasonic fails the discs, and they get stuck inside the combo. As for this other older analog Magnavox combo recorder that supports +rewritable and +non-rewriteable discs, it just recently stopped reading the +R discs, but still reads the +RW discs perfect so far, but I fear it may reject them too. I watch YouTube, but I still like to record live TV on a disc, and as long at least one of them still record, I will keep doing it, phased out or not. Same with CD burning. I have an It(Inovative Technologies) brand CD recording system that I bought at Rose’s Express. Still works so far. I already transferred my old cassettes to DVD and I still record off the radio.
My worry is that a lot of good movies have been left behind between VHS, DVD and Blu Ray. Let’s face it: A lot of what is on Netflix is pure crap, and ditto for pretty much anything Amazon generates.
I love streaming when it’s available, but there’s so many movies out there I’d like to see, and they’re not available for streaming.
Because you don’t actually own anything on a Streaming Service, you only have limited access to their library for as long as you subscribe. They remove something from their library, you loose it too.
I miss actually going out to the store near Christmas and my birthdays and looking at all the new movies I didn’t yet own. Now with everything at your fingertips on your own TV with a click of a button, it’s hard to justify going out for anything fun anymore, no longer is there anything fun to look for during a day out shopping.
The problem with streaming services is that they might not have the movie/show you want to see available at any given time. Yes, you can buy a digital copy, but the company can take it back without issuing you a refund.
About 5 years ago, I purchased digital copies of all 13 seasons of King of the Hill from Amazon. About a year later, I noticed that Season 11 had become “unavailable.” I called Amazon and they told me that Season 11 had become unavailable due to a “licensing issue.” Apparently when you buy digital copies, you aren’t guaranteed to own them forever. They can be made unavailable due to licensing issues and you’re out of luck: you paid to own it, but it can be taken back at any time, no refunds. Basically digital copies are just rentals of indefinite length. You don’t really own what you bought.
I’ve had people tell me, “Well, this is why you need to download your digital copies and save them to a flash drive.” That doesn’t really work. If you try to download a digital copy of a movie, it downloads into two dozen separate files that won’t play on a video player. Maybe a tech-savvy person could figure out how to make a downloaded digital copy play, but I am not that person. Besides, if I have to download it to a flash drive – a physical piece of hardware – then I might as well just buy a physical copy. What’s the point of a digital copy if it still has to take up physical space in your home? I personally would rather have a DVD collection than a flash drive collection.
So now I buy DVDs again (thinking of upgrading and buying a Blu-ray player too, but that’s a different story). Yeah, DVDs take up physical space, but at least when I buy a physical copy, I *know* it’s mine forever.
Well i mean you can have quite a lot of CDs in a sole Drive. Thats a gigantic advantage in terms of space id say.
I collect dvds as well as stream. I can usually find a copy for less than the rental price from Netflix or Prime. I can sell the copy on but I tend to keep ‘classics’ especially when there is bonus content. When my player fails I will move on to a multi format system. My eyesight is such that the benefit of a 4k system is minimal so I’m happy to stay with 1080HD for now. I do object to the drip feeding of titles via Prime and Netflix and also the sudden removal of shows that have been free to view.
I have books worth of DVDs and also 3 shelves of VHS tapes with 4 movies on each tape and yup, VCRs. I HATE streaming service because they are taking shows away from TV, and I have cable. How dare they? I know that AMC got so much flack over “Discovery of Witches” going to AMC+ stream and they finally ALSO put it back on AMC cable. What I have is stuff I’d want to watch again.
Also, right now I can’t even watch streaming because my browser is not up to date due to me having Windows XP. OK. I am JURASSIC. I’ll have to get Wndows 10. Still paying for all that when I have Cable? They should ALSO show the shows on TV, somehow, someway.
If you want to watch a movie on Amazon and can’t keep it, just buy the DVD of the movie.
Streaming services for most people will never be able to match the quality of any Blu-Ray or most DVDs. There simply isn’t enough bandwidth. I have a 10Gb connection and streaming to my 75in Ultra HD screen at times has terrible latency, tearing and pixelation whereas my local DVDs and other video sources look stellar.
The real reason DVDs and Blu-Ray are going away in favor of streaming has more to do with making money. If they can make you pay for a service and pay per view they get paid for their content and more importantly to them ….
DVDs can be copied, and streaming cannot (at least easily) *and* who would want to at the lower resolutions they broadcast at. It really perturbed the movie industry when DVD encryption was cracked, and the code was splashed all over the internet. They’ve been working toward this solution ever since.