First Sony DVD player was $1100.
Posted on 03/03/2017 7:32:48 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Yes, folks, it’s true… this month marks the 20th anniversary of the beloved DVD format. The exact date is a matter of debate; some technically consider March 1, 1997 as the official date, though our records show that March 19 technically marks the official start of the U.S. launch, and the format was actually launched first in Japan in November of 1996. Either way, the first players and movie discs weren’t available in the seven initial U.S. test markets (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Seattle, and Washington) until much later in March 1997.
Specifically, the first DVD titles appeared at Best Buy, Tower Records, The Good Guys, and other video/electronics stores in those markets on March 24, and the first actual players didn’t arrive in stock until March 26. Warner launched the format with an initial slate of 25 titles, including Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut (as it happens, the first title I purchased – you can see it below), Twister, Batman, GoldenEye, Eraser, The Fugitive, The Glimmer Man, The Mask, and Space Jam, among others. Those titles sold for $19.95 to $24.98. Tell me... do these old Snapper cases (below) look familiar to you?
(Excerpt) Read more at thedigitalbits.com ...
First Sony DVD player was $1100.
Interesting.
Informal poll: who still owns a VHS player? I do!
I remember how video stories started getting DVDs. They switched from VHS. But I never understand why video stores went out of business entirely.
I remember how video stories started getting DVDs. They switched from VHS. But I never understand why video stores went out of business entirely.
No more late fees and keep the movie as long as you want.
The concept of the video store still exists, it just took a different form. Your corner video store is essentially a Redbox robot, capable of performing all the typical functions of a video store, at an astoundingly reduced cost (no brick-and-mortar store, no employees, reduced utility costs, insurance costs, etc.)
Netflix started with their rental by mail program, and that took a huge dent out of the Blockbuster franchises. Once Netflix added streaming (as broadband became more prevalent), they basically ate Blockbuster’s lunch.
Today, Netflix has more monthly subscribers than Comcast. It’s value is pretty good, even after some price increases.
Streaming video killed them. Why get in the car and burn gas to get to the video store when you can have a movie or TV show come straight to your living room via Netflix or Hulu, or even to your mobile device with iTunes?
Bonus question: What do the letters in ‘DVD’ stand for?
I remember video stores. Then the DVD’s replaced VHS tapes and now? No more video stores.
Imagine if fast-food restaurants would adopt a similar concept!
I totally miss going to video rental stores. I always loved browsing the shelves of everything from the new releases to the B grade movies.
It was so much more recreational then ordering movies the Netflix or download.
I’m still going to always prefer physical Blu-ray and DVD though. More reliable, better and deeper resolution and color, and there’s just something about having a tangible box sitting in my shelf as opposed to in the cloud or even on my hard drive drive.
Digital Versatile Disk (officially)
Except for these.
I used to use these. Years ago before internet streaming was common.
So why are these still around? Can someone explain that to me?
I still buy them.
“Everybody has reliable high-speed internet” is a lie.
First answer is the right answer. Congratulations.
“Everybody has reliable high-speed internet” is a lie.
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True dat. I just moved from the city to the country. From digital high speed fiber optic unlimited internet to piss-poor satellite internet that buffers most movies I try to watch on Netflix.
They keep saying that we’ll get fiber optics soon. Hope so.
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