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>Or check out a DVD for free from a public library. Major downsides to that alternative. My 80-year old friend started borrowing DVDs from the local library 6

by jasode 2y ago

>Or check out a DVD for free from a public library. Major downsides to that alternative. My 80-year old friend started borrowing DVDs from the local library 6 months ago as a personal protest against Amazon Prime adding ads to their streaming. So far, made 3 trips to borrow DVDs and all had various issues: 1) checked out White Collar tv seasons but library only had seasons 1 to 3. Library didn't have last 3 seasons at all. 2) then checked out a British tv series with 10 seasons. The 10th season had 3 discs and the middle disc was so scratched up by a previous borrower that it was unplayable. (The library doesn't have a bunch of duplicate DVDs like Blockbuster Video rentals.) 3) then checked out another series that has 8 discs but only got 6 because 2 of them are already checked out by another patron. Now this means repeatedly checking the library if the other 2 finally got returned so she can borrow them. On top of those problems, the library has a very small selection in comparison to streaming. She estimates she'll exhaust the DVDs sitting on the library's shelves in a few months and have nothing to watch. Another huge negative to DVDs is that she can't play them (directly) on her iPad. Her exercise bike had a mount for an iPad and she used it to watch video streams from Amazon Prime. She was spoiled by the conveniences of streaming and does not look back on DVDs with any romantic nostalgia at all. The only reason she doesn't just subscribe to Netflix or HBO streaming to get back that convenience was she didn't think she could afford it on her Social Security income. On the other hand, the Amazon Prime Video streaming (without ads) was already part of her Amazon subscription.

nradov 2y ago
Even back when Netflix had a DVD rental service the media quality was kind of crap. I frequently got halfway through a movie only to have it skip and refuse to play due to scratches.
reginald78 2y ago
I used to use netflix DVD as a great supplement to a few streaming services. For awhile they had just about everything and were pretty reliable, which meant the occasional extra media didn't require a separate service just a bit of waiting. But then they let it rot and stopped replacing disks before finally shutting it down. I wish they'd just sold it and let some one else run it for maintenance costs but I guess it was probably also a competitor to their more profitable streaming service.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Yeah. I subscribed to Netflix DVD latterly but they increasingly didn't have a lot of stuff (after having driven Blockbuster out of business). So, now there's basically not much alternative--at least discounting a la carte streaming which a lot of people do--other than actually buying discs which people still do to some degree.
dghlsakjg 2y ago
Most libraries want to know if the media is damaged so they can replace it. Your friend can also put holds on things. Some library services also have streaming services, and there are free streaming services as well. PBS has a free streaming service, although I think parts of it are ad supported
- Kon-Peki 2y ago
  ... and don't you all have interlibrary borrowing too? This system is 50+ years old [1], surely it can't be the only one around. Request a title from your local library website and it shows up at your local library a few days later regardless of which library actually holds it. Return at any library, it will always find its way back to the right place. We also have reciprocal borrowing privileges at many libraries that aren't in the network. You can always find a DVD you want! [1] https://swanlibraries.net/member-libraries/ https://swanlibraries.net/member-libraries/
throwaway04267 2y ago
> 1) checked out White Collar tv seasons but library only had seasons 1 to 3. Library didn't have last 3 seasons at all. It's the same problem with streaming services. There are several shows at Netflix and other services that doesn't have the latest seasons (at least in my EU country). > 3) then checked out another series that has 8 discs but only got 6 because 2 of them are already checked out by another patron. Now this means repeatedly checking the library if the other 2 finally got returned so she can borrow them. There's no guarantee that a season will be available in a streaming service either. They sometimes only have shows for a limited time, so you could start watching a series but then it is removed before you finish, often without warning.

by jasode 2y ago

nradov 2y ago

Even back when Netflix had a DVD rental service the media quality was kind of crap. I frequently got halfway through a movie only to have it skip and refuse to play due to scratches.

reginald78 2y ago

I used to use netflix DVD as a great supplement to a few streaming services. For awhile they had just about everything and were pretty reliable, which meant the occasional extra media didn't require a separate service just a bit of waiting. But then they let it rot and stopped replacing disks before finally shutting it down. I wish they'd just sold it and let some one else run it for maintenance costs but I guess it was probably also a competitor to their more profitable streaming service.

ghaff 2y ago
Yeah. I subscribed to Netflix DVD latterly but they increasingly didn't have a lot of stuff (after having driven Blockbuster out of business). So, now there's basically not much alternative--at least discounting a la carte streaming which a lot of people do--other than actually buying discs which people still do to some degree.

dghlsakjg 2y ago

Most libraries want to know if the media is damaged so they can replace it. Your friend can also put holds on things. Some library services also have streaming services, and there are free streaming services as well. PBS has a free streaming service, although I think parts of it are ad supported

Kon-Peki 2y ago
... and don't you all have interlibrary borrowing too? This system is 50+ years old [1], surely it can't be the only one around. Request a title from your local library website and it shows up at your local library a few days later regardless of which library actually holds it. Return at any library, it will always find its way back to the right place. We also have reciprocal borrowing privileges at many libraries that aren't in the network. You can always find a DVD you want! [1] https://swanlibraries.net/member-libraries/ https://swanlibraries.net/member-libraries/

throwaway04267 2y ago

> 1) checked out White Collar tv seasons but library only had seasons 1 to 3. Library didn't have last 3 seasons at all. It's the same problem with streaming services. There are several shows at Netflix and other services that doesn't have the latest seasons (at least in my EU country). > 3) then checked out another series that has 8 discs but only got 6 because 2 of them are already checked out by another patron. Now this means repeatedly checking the library if the other 2 finally got returned so she can borrow them. There's no guarantee that a season will be available in a streaming service either. They sometimes only have shows for a limited time, so you could start watching a series but then it is removed before you finish, often without warning.