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> a world where it only costs $5 to instantly stream almost any movie ever created directly to your TV Wait, where is this world you speak of? I have a Netfli

> a world where it only costs $5 to instantly stream almost any movie ever created directly to your TV Wait, where is this world you speak of? I have a Netflix streaming subscription and it's way inferior in terms of selection to when I used their DVD mailing service ten years ago. But it sounds like you're renting individual titles. I am a bit of a movie buff into old and slightly obscure titles so I went to Google Play and tried three of my old favorites from the 1990s off the top of my head. None of them were available. (I didn't even try the truly obscure stuff.) On the other side of the market, Avengers: Infinity War is $10 to rent on Google Play! Where is this place I can go where they have everything and it's all $5?

ghaff 7y ago
I actually still have the DVD mailing service from Netflix (in addition to their streaming). But their back catalog is really rotting away. I'll probably drop it. It's one of way too many services I have that I don't really get my money's worth from.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  Their DVD catalog is shrinking? Why, from sheer apathy?
  - ghaff 7y ago
    Literally bit rot. Not restocking discs that have to go out of service. I'm not sure apathy is quite fair. Netflix has been pretty clear their disc business isn't strategic. Unfortunately, having pretty much put other DVD rental out of business, it means that you're pretty much stuck with buying discs if something isn't available digitally.
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      Pressed DVDs don't rot. If they get scratched, that's proportional to use, which is proportional to revenue, and shouldn't be a burden to replace.
      - ghaff 7y ago
        DVDs can rot. But, yes, the problem is likely more scratched/broken/lost. I assume that the vast bulk of Netflix' DVD rentals are new releases just as they were with Blockbuster. So they're essentially a Redbox competitor. Netflix simply has no interest is servicing a long tail of DVD rentals. And no one else has figured out how to make that long tail profitable either. You're welcome to give it a shot.
- tigershark 7y ago
  It’s probably the tenth comment that I read about Netflix DVD mailing service, but I hope that’s just the name of the service and you aren’t really watching DVDs in 2019. Can you please confirm that you are indeed receiving blu-rays? Or I’m missing something here?
  - ghaff 7y ago
    I don't subscribe for Blu-Rays but I do indeed watch DVDs from Netflix. I also occasionally get new releases from Redbox. And I buy DVDs from time to time and I also get them out of the library. Why wouldn't I watch DVDs in 2019?
    - tigershark 7y ago
      If you have a half decent tv you won’t want to watch DVDs... In a 4K tv even Blu-ray don’t look that good.
  - heelix 7y ago
    Lord knows I was part of the 3% who had not canceled the DVD portion of the subscription until this Spring. Had 4 DVDs just collecting dust for way to many months. Anyhow... was one of the folks who actually still did DVDs. I've got one gadget that can read a blu-ray, and the rest are either computer systems or have an up-scalar built into them. The newer format is crisper... but man, the endless unstoppable previews really took away the luster. With streaming... the DVD quality is about the same all things considered. I use to fly frequently, so ripping the movies to a tablet or laptop on the weekend, hop on a plane Monday, back Friday, and swap out for the next set was really easy to do with DVD.
derekdahmer 7y ago
Infinity War is showing up as $4 to rent on YouTube and ITunes. https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=OxzKb4a1Qc4 https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=OxzKb4a1Qc4 I’ve never heard of a $10 rental though sometimes new releases are only available for purchase for an initial period. For the three movies that aren’t listed I’m guessing they haven’t been digitized, which is usually a decision by the content owners who don’t see the ROI of paying for film scanning yet. It’s true there could be a niche streaming service that pays this upfront cost for an agreement to be the exclusive provider for a while but the economics of that would be rough.

ghaff 7y ago

I actually still have the DVD mailing service from Netflix (in addition to their streaming). But their back catalog is really rotting away. I'll probably drop it. It's one of way too many services I have that I don't really get my money's worth from.

Dylan16807 7y ago
Their DVD catalog is shrinking? Why, from sheer apathy?
- ghaff 7y ago
  Literally bit rot. Not restocking discs that have to go out of service. I'm not sure apathy is quite fair. Netflix has been pretty clear their disc business isn't strategic. Unfortunately, having pretty much put other DVD rental out of business, it means that you're pretty much stuck with buying discs if something isn't available digitally.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    Pressed DVDs don't rot. If they get scratched, that's proportional to use, which is proportional to revenue, and shouldn't be a burden to replace.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      DVDs can rot. But, yes, the problem is likely more scratched/broken/lost. I assume that the vast bulk of Netflix' DVD rentals are new releases just as they were with Blockbuster. So they're essentially a Redbox competitor. Netflix simply has no interest is servicing a long tail of DVD rentals. And no one else has figured out how to make that long tail profitable either. You're welcome to give it a shot.
tigershark 7y ago
It’s probably the tenth comment that I read about Netflix DVD mailing service, but I hope that’s just the name of the service and you aren’t really watching DVDs in 2019. Can you please confirm that you are indeed receiving blu-rays? Or I’m missing something here?
- ghaff 7y ago
  I don't subscribe for Blu-Rays but I do indeed watch DVDs from Netflix. I also occasionally get new releases from Redbox. And I buy DVDs from time to time and I also get them out of the library. Why wouldn't I watch DVDs in 2019?
  - tigershark 7y ago
    If you have a half decent tv you won’t want to watch DVDs... In a 4K tv even Blu-ray don’t look that good.
- heelix 7y ago
  Lord knows I was part of the 3% who had not canceled the DVD portion of the subscription until this Spring. Had 4 DVDs just collecting dust for way to many months. Anyhow... was one of the folks who actually still did DVDs. I've got one gadget that can read a blu-ray, and the rest are either computer systems or have an up-scalar built into them. The newer format is crisper... but man, the endless unstoppable previews really took away the luster. With streaming... the DVD quality is about the same all things considered. I use to fly frequently, so ripping the movies to a tablet or laptop on the weekend, hop on a plane Monday, back Friday, and swap out for the next set was really easy to do with DVD.

derekdahmer 7y ago

Infinity War is showing up as $4 to rent on YouTube and ITunes. https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=OxzKb4a1Qc4 https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=OxzKb4a1Qc4 I’ve never heard of a $10 rental though sometimes new releases are only available for purchase for an initial period. For the three movies that aren’t listed I’m guessing they haven’t been digitized, which is usually a decision by the content owners who don’t see the ROI of paying for film scanning yet. It’s true there could be a niche streaming service that pays this upfront cost for an agreement to be the exclusive provider for a while but the economics of that would be rough.