It's so funny. Also the way they kept saying "the younger generation" or whatever. Just like our younger generation! Captured by their phones and and their youtubes and their tiks and toks!
Not happy at all about Netflix DVD going away. I've been using it since my freshman year of college (so...2005? Shit, I feel old) and despite using it very regularly (and shifting between 1 to 3 DVDs at a time), I've still got 400 movies in my queue. Dammit.
DVD Netflix was the best thing ever for my family. We definitely got our money’s worth. I do worry about the going to streaming nonstop, but I first complained about owning vs renting back when I played Everquest and I had to explain to people that they didn’t own the game; they only rented it month to month. Today’s Netflix is the same way.
I'll miss my Netflix DVDs coming in the mail. While we stream regularly, we also get DVDs for those movies/series that we can't stream (HBO Max, Disney+, etc). We also like to watch classic movies once in a while and Netflix DVDs was our choice. RIP Netflix DVDs
I think a lot of film buffs like to use DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs to supplement whatever streaming services they may be subscribed to. No one service has everything, subscribing to lots of services is expensive, and constantly juggling subscriptions is a pain in the butt. With discs you can just keep the streaming services you use most frequently, and then use discs to fill in the holes.
I know, I know, this is America, the land of the $. If you live in a low population area, ie rural, the cable companies ain't gonna bother with you - not enough $$. So, you pay more for less with satellite. That's why Netflix DVD's are, soon to be were, such a boon. I think i watched every movie from Argentina starring Ricardo Darin. And, Picard. And...so many more. Weekend evening - good movie - snacks ...
Back in the day, I was able to get all a but a very few of Roger Ebert's Greatest Films of All Time on DVD through Netflix. It was an amazing "course" on the history of film and film techniques, in addition to enjoyable viewing. Good luck on finding even a handful of those on Netflix streaming where you find "movies" not "films."
I think that says something interesting about streaming versus checking out a DVD. I it seems to me that there are two ways to watch media content: browsing until you find something you like, versus going in search of a specific movie/show. Streaming works very well for the former, but it can be a nightmare for the latter(as finding out whether a specific movie/show is even available, let alone on what streaming service and for how long, is difficult). But if all you want to do is browse until you find something you would enjoy watching right now, streaming is very convenient. Even the worst streaming service probably has one or two things available you would not mind watching tonight.
So if you are someone whose primary way of consuming contact is browsing, you probably wonder what all the fuss about the loss of the Netflix DVD service is all about. But if you are someone who generally plans your media viewing in advance (in the old days you actually used TV Guide to figure out what you would be watching each evening) not being able to locate the specific content you want to watch is very problematic.
This is separate from concerns about the general decrease in the amount of film and television content which will remain available, and the starving of the public domain due to excessive copyright length. I am mostly concerned about Netflix shutting down its DVD service because of this, and because the reality is that a lot of people living in rural areas do not have the bandwidth to be able to stream anything. But even without the Netflix DVD service, I know there is already so much quality content out there that I cannot possibly stream all of it no matter how hard I try.
Quantity Vs quality. Now we can have (processed) turkey sandwiches every day of the year, not just the day after thanksgiving or by going to a deli that fresh roasts turkeys every day.
Because I have an old television with only two HDMI slots I am using my Blu-ray player to stream, and I only have been streaming Netflix (although I could also stream Amazon Prime if I wished to). Netflix getting rid of its DVD by mail service is prompting me to rethink cutting the cord and putting a Roku in that second HDMI slot. Then I could subscribe to PBS Passport, Kanopy, the Criterion Channel, and maybe MUBI, Curiosity, and Max (if they keep the Turner Classic Movies content available) in addition to Netflix and Amazon Prime. I could also sign up for the rent by mail service that Scarecrow Video offers. Together, that would give me far more fresh turkey every day than I could possibly eat!
I just worry that people who cannot stream are being left behind and (far more important) many works are going to die ahead of their natural lifespan because media companies are squatting on their copyright rather than releasing material they never intend to stream or reissue on disc into public domain. So many artistic works (such as “The Night of the Hunter”) are only rediscovered and appreciated years or even decades after they were originally created. But for that to happen, the public have to actually be able to SEE them!
Criterion is your friend. I get a -$10 off coupon once or twice a year, and they do a 50% flash sale once a year.
In the early days of Netflix streaming they had a bunch of really low budget indie films. Some looking like they were shot on SD tape. I kinda liked those movies and was glad that Netflix gave them a chance. I suppose it was like the early days of cable TV when the goal was to just get anything on the air to sell ads against.
Anyway there was a brief window where bad stuff that looked bad and cheap got to be on our TVs and I miss it.
The last two episodes of Picard were the best Star Trek we've seen I think since either "In the Pale Moonlight" or "First Contact". I know it probably won't happen, but Jean-Luc...I mean Patrick Stewart...deserves an emmy nomination for his work this season. Just absolutely masterful
I absolutely got my money's worth out of the Netflix DVD subscription (back in the day.) I had the 3 disc at a time plan. I would get a disc, watch it that night, mail it back the next day - upon which I would receive a new one. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was pretty much watching one a day. It's how I caught up on all the classic movies and shows I had always wanted to watch. The selection was just so much better. They had EVERYTHING on DVD. Streaming selection was very limited. Now, pretty much anything you ever wanted to see is on streaming - SOMEWHERE. A lot of those old shows I watched on DVD are popping up now on the Roku channel for free.
Speaking of DVD's, isn't it true that Blockbuster passed on the opportunity to continue their deal when DVD's were new, so the studios changed their pricing model to make them around $20 instead of the $90 they were charging for VHS? I only owned a handful of commercial VHS tapes (had a ton I recorded off TV though) because of the price. When DVD's came out, I bought EVERYTHING. And now I'm looking at my shelves of DVD's and wondering whether or not to keep them.
Keep them. I never plan on getting rid of mine so I ditched the slip cases and put them all in CD albums. It reduces a wall of DVDs into a neat little package.
Learned the hard way with books that when my wife stripped off all the dust jackets on my first editions they became almost worthless. I don't even bother to look at the CDs not in their jewel cases.
I loved Netflix's DVD service because it offered so many more titles than streaming. Yes, it's a shame that Dogma is unavailable for streaming. Luckily I have a copy. It's one of my favorite Kevin Smith movies along with the original Clerks. Clerks III reminds me of the 3rd season of Picard. It's a great nostalgia trip. Smith also gives some insights on the making of the original. Speaking of Picard, the first season was meh. It started okay but lost its way by the end. The second season was a mess. I am enjoying season 3 for the same reasons you are.
The first year of the Pandemic (1 CV, I guess) I had my husband and son install two posts in our backyard where I hung a 9 foot by 5 foot piece of white jersey -- a movie screen. I bought a cheap projector (we've upgraded once since then) and some gravity chairs and made our own drive in. We love movies and this allowed us to watch our DVDs in style in our own backyard. I am now happily going to yard sales and garage sales and picking up physical movies for a dollar or 50 cents a piece. I wonder if there is someway to access Netflix 'inventory' of DVDs like I was able to when the Blockbusters and Family Video stores went under?
Oh and yes, we do own a FireStick and can access our streaming services outside, but as you noted it's much easier to access my personal DVD copy of 'The Last Starfighter' than try to find it on any streaming site.
I think that we as a society are making a big mistake by abandoning physical media for video given current copyright laws. There's a lot of content out there (especially older material) which may never become legally available by streaming.
I like how in season 3, the "Borg virus" only affected people under 25 - thus sparing the old farts so they could save the day.
It's so funny. Also the way they kept saying "the younger generation" or whatever. Just like our younger generation! Captured by their phones and and their youtubes and their tiks and toks!
Not happy at all about Netflix DVD going away. I've been using it since my freshman year of college (so...2005? Shit, I feel old) and despite using it very regularly (and shifting between 1 to 3 DVDs at a time), I've still got 400 movies in my queue. Dammit.
DVD Netflix was the best thing ever for my family. We definitely got our money’s worth. I do worry about the going to streaming nonstop, but I first complained about owning vs renting back when I played Everquest and I had to explain to people that they didn’t own the game; they only rented it month to month. Today’s Netflix is the same way.
I'll miss my Netflix DVDs coming in the mail. While we stream regularly, we also get DVDs for those movies/series that we can't stream (HBO Max, Disney+, etc). We also like to watch classic movies once in a while and Netflix DVDs was our choice. RIP Netflix DVDs
You should check out the rent-by-mail program that Scarecrow Video offers: https://blog.scarecrow.com/scarecrow-rent-by-mail/
I think a lot of film buffs like to use DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs to supplement whatever streaming services they may be subscribed to. No one service has everything, subscribing to lots of services is expensive, and constantly juggling subscriptions is a pain in the butt. With discs you can just keep the streaming services you use most frequently, and then use discs to fill in the holes.
I know, I know, this is America, the land of the $. If you live in a low population area, ie rural, the cable companies ain't gonna bother with you - not enough $$. So, you pay more for less with satellite. That's why Netflix DVD's are, soon to be were, such a boon. I think i watched every movie from Argentina starring Ricardo Darin. And, Picard. And...so many more. Weekend evening - good movie - snacks ...
You might be interested to know that Scarecrow Video has a rent by mail service, as well as a huge catalog: https://blog.scarecrow.com/scarecrow-rent-by-mail/
Back in the day, I was able to get all a but a very few of Roger Ebert's Greatest Films of All Time on DVD through Netflix. It was an amazing "course" on the history of film and film techniques, in addition to enjoyable viewing. Good luck on finding even a handful of those on Netflix streaming where you find "movies" not "films."
I think that says something interesting about streaming versus checking out a DVD. I it seems to me that there are two ways to watch media content: browsing until you find something you like, versus going in search of a specific movie/show. Streaming works very well for the former, but it can be a nightmare for the latter(as finding out whether a specific movie/show is even available, let alone on what streaming service and for how long, is difficult). But if all you want to do is browse until you find something you would enjoy watching right now, streaming is very convenient. Even the worst streaming service probably has one or two things available you would not mind watching tonight.
So if you are someone whose primary way of consuming contact is browsing, you probably wonder what all the fuss about the loss of the Netflix DVD service is all about. But if you are someone who generally plans your media viewing in advance (in the old days you actually used TV Guide to figure out what you would be watching each evening) not being able to locate the specific content you want to watch is very problematic.
This is separate from concerns about the general decrease in the amount of film and television content which will remain available, and the starving of the public domain due to excessive copyright length. I am mostly concerned about Netflix shutting down its DVD service because of this, and because the reality is that a lot of people living in rural areas do not have the bandwidth to be able to stream anything. But even without the Netflix DVD service, I know there is already so much quality content out there that I cannot possibly stream all of it no matter how hard I try.
Quantity Vs quality. Now we can have (processed) turkey sandwiches every day of the year, not just the day after thanksgiving or by going to a deli that fresh roasts turkeys every day.
Because I have an old television with only two HDMI slots I am using my Blu-ray player to stream, and I only have been streaming Netflix (although I could also stream Amazon Prime if I wished to). Netflix getting rid of its DVD by mail service is prompting me to rethink cutting the cord and putting a Roku in that second HDMI slot. Then I could subscribe to PBS Passport, Kanopy, the Criterion Channel, and maybe MUBI, Curiosity, and Max (if they keep the Turner Classic Movies content available) in addition to Netflix and Amazon Prime. I could also sign up for the rent by mail service that Scarecrow Video offers. Together, that would give me far more fresh turkey every day than I could possibly eat!
I just worry that people who cannot stream are being left behind and (far more important) many works are going to die ahead of their natural lifespan because media companies are squatting on their copyright rather than releasing material they never intend to stream or reissue on disc into public domain. So many artistic works (such as “The Night of the Hunter”) are only rediscovered and appreciated years or even decades after they were originally created. But for that to happen, the public have to actually be able to SEE them!
Truth! My wife and I felt we were the only ones who still cared. . .
Criterion is your friend. I get a -$10 off coupon once or twice a year, and they do a 50% flash sale once a year.
In the early days of Netflix streaming they had a bunch of really low budget indie films. Some looking like they were shot on SD tape. I kinda liked those movies and was glad that Netflix gave them a chance. I suppose it was like the early days of cable TV when the goal was to just get anything on the air to sell ads against.
Anyway there was a brief window where bad stuff that looked bad and cheap got to be on our TVs and I miss it.
Yeah I still buy 5-10 Criterions a year and sub to the service.
The last two episodes of Picard were the best Star Trek we've seen I think since either "In the Pale Moonlight" or "First Contact". I know it probably won't happen, but Jean-Luc...I mean Patrick Stewart...deserves an emmy nomination for his work this season. Just absolutely masterful
I still haven’t watched the finale yet! Won’t be able to until tomorrow.
I had one complaint with the ending but, to be fair, it was a Good one. Though it does raise future Questions
I absolutely got my money's worth out of the Netflix DVD subscription (back in the day.) I had the 3 disc at a time plan. I would get a disc, watch it that night, mail it back the next day - upon which I would receive a new one. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was pretty much watching one a day. It's how I caught up on all the classic movies and shows I had always wanted to watch. The selection was just so much better. They had EVERYTHING on DVD. Streaming selection was very limited. Now, pretty much anything you ever wanted to see is on streaming - SOMEWHERE. A lot of those old shows I watched on DVD are popping up now on the Roku channel for free.
Speaking of DVD's, isn't it true that Blockbuster passed on the opportunity to continue their deal when DVD's were new, so the studios changed their pricing model to make them around $20 instead of the $90 they were charging for VHS? I only owned a handful of commercial VHS tapes (had a ton I recorded off TV though) because of the price. When DVD's came out, I bought EVERYTHING. And now I'm looking at my shelves of DVD's and wondering whether or not to keep them.
No, I think the studios just realized there was more to be made by selling directly to consumers. So DVDs started cheaper than VHS started.
Keep them. I never plan on getting rid of mine so I ditched the slip cases and put them all in CD albums. It reduces a wall of DVDs into a neat little package.
Learned the hard way with books that when my wife stripped off all the dust jackets on my first editions they became almost worthless. I don't even bother to look at the CDs not in their jewel cases.
I loved Netflix's DVD service because it offered so many more titles than streaming. Yes, it's a shame that Dogma is unavailable for streaming. Luckily I have a copy. It's one of my favorite Kevin Smith movies along with the original Clerks. Clerks III reminds me of the 3rd season of Picard. It's a great nostalgia trip. Smith also gives some insights on the making of the original. Speaking of Picard, the first season was meh. It started okay but lost its way by the end. The second season was a mess. I am enjoying season 3 for the same reasons you are.
Yeah I still have my deluxe DVD, it’s basically an investment now.
The first year of the Pandemic (1 CV, I guess) I had my husband and son install two posts in our backyard where I hung a 9 foot by 5 foot piece of white jersey -- a movie screen. I bought a cheap projector (we've upgraded once since then) and some gravity chairs and made our own drive in. We love movies and this allowed us to watch our DVDs in style in our own backyard. I am now happily going to yard sales and garage sales and picking up physical movies for a dollar or 50 cents a piece. I wonder if there is someway to access Netflix 'inventory' of DVDs like I was able to when the Blockbusters and Family Video stores went under?
Oh and yes, we do own a FireStick and can access our streaming services outside, but as you noted it's much easier to access my personal DVD copy of 'The Last Starfighter' than try to find it on any streaming site.
The Last Starfighter??? I wish I lived near you because I'd say hang the screen, I'll bring the snacks and let's fire up Starfighter!!!
One of the best, right? IMHO it holds up.
For those of you who can see articles on the Washington Post, there's a good Opinion column and associated comments thread discussing this issue: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/21/netflix-dvd-rentals-movies-forgotten-streaming/
I think that we as a society are making a big mistake by abandoning physical media for video given current copyright laws. There's a lot of content out there (especially older material) which may never become legally available by streaming.