For a Thrifty Audience, Buying DVDs Is So 2004 (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

The New York Times ^ | November 22, 2008 | Brooks Barnes

[abb]

MATTHEW BOWERS, of Chicago, has been paying to have HBO piped into his home every month for nearly two decades. He tunes in for the occasional episode of “Entourage” and every couple of months orders a movie on demand. Recently, the whole family watched “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

But when his company laid him off in September, he started to think about the value he was getting out of the premium cable channel. “It’s ridiculous to pay for this service I rarely use when I can get the same stuff online and save a lot of money,” he said. The result? HBO is losing a customer.

Does an economy in tatters slow down or speed up the shift to watching TV shows and movies on the Web and mobile devices? The entertainment industry doesn’t like the answer that is rapidly becoming clear: A global economic crisis almost certainly means a sharp acceleration in the move to new ways of consuming content, setting the stage for a new clash between consumers and studios.

Historically, the movie factories haven’t been terribly afraid of tough economic times. In fact, they have almost welcomed them. During the Great Depression, people continued to turn to the movies for escape. VHS rentals boomed during the recession of the early 1980s, while DVDs got a boost from the downturn earlier this decade.

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But the current gloom has the Hollywood establishment rattled. DVDs are now where the industry makes its money, and Nielsen VideoScan reported a 9 percent drop in DVD sales in the third quarter over the quarter a year earlier — before the economy ran into a buzz saw. In television, crucial car advertising is drying up.

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[MrEdd]

Copyrights should be limited to the fourteen year term instituted by the founders, and still shown by current research into the optimal time limit for society.

Period

All this nonsense of forever and a day copyrights should be funded in total by those who want them, that is they pay not only traditional court costs, but they pay for the court buildings and staffs, officers of the court to deliver papers...everything. Because the current length of copyrights is a drag on society, not a benefit -therefore it is not a legitimate function of government.

So yes. Any movies more than 14 years old should be public domain - and the internet (built at taxpayer expense) should be our public library.

I am tired of corrupt politics trying to extend intellectual properly rights off to the horizon.

[mowowie]

If you have an xbox 360 or PS3 in your house you can now stream the netflix through it to yor Television.
I have the PS3 and use software called PlayOn to watch Netflix, Hulu.com, Youtube, CBS and ESPN on it.
Looks and works awesome.
Tons of old, great television series and movies are available.
I’m reallllly thinking of dropping cable completely and throwing an antenna on the roof for the locals.

[abb]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2137030/posts
INTERNET MORE TRUSTED Than TV & Print Combined

[ConservativeMind]

This is a great thing.

Why should I be forced to pay for and watch cr@p in-between the actual items I prefer, under a “subscription”?

Trust me. All the pertinent companies are finding ways to monetize these “on-demand” alternatives.

In the end, I only want to encourage that which I desire. For people such as yourself, you can continue to help keep MSNBC alive through your monthly liberal-helping tax called “cable fees”.

[raybbr]

In the end, I only want to encourage that which I desire. For people such as yourself, you can continue to help keep MSNBC alive through your monthly liberal-helping tax called “cable fees”.

Gee, that's pretty heavy-handed. I support what I desire. There really is no alternative to replace cable so that's what we have for now.

[abb]

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov23/0,4670,APonTVWatchingLater,00.html
DVR usage making big changes in television viewing

[abb]

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov23/0,4670,APonTVWatchingLater,00.html
DVR usage making big changes in television viewing

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He worries that the ease of DVRs may get people out of the habit of watching their favorite shows. First, they don’t have to worry about being at the TV at a certain hour because their shows are being recorded. Then they forget to watch the playback. Before you know it, they’ve stopped seeing the shows regularly.

It isn’t simply more houses getting DVRs that is making a difference these days, it’s houses getting their second or third DVRs, the experts said.

CBS’ Poltrack believes that DVR usage will continue to grow until the machines are in about half of the nation’s homes with TVs. He expects the technology to become obsolete soon after that, because more people will have televisions and computers working together to give them even more freedom to program their personal networks.

[Onelifetogive]

Same here. I'm thinking about getting Netflix and getting rid of cable, probably in January.

I have had Netflix and no cable for years. I couldn't be happier. 10 is about the maximum number of disks I can consistent receive a month. Makes them <$2 each, counting two way shipping. Plus thousands of titles available online. I can't watch all that is available.