Agreed.

I agree - I find streaming to be more convenient but only when it is convenient (which I have no doubt will only continue to get better). Plus the load times on a bluray are just insane...

ps - is it legal to rip then sell/give away your source CDs? I know the average person would unlikely get prosecuted anyhow, but I am curious about the legality of it...

Yea, but there is no comparison between the quality of streaming movies and bluray movies.

I'm not a big fan of hoarding myself, nothing looks tackier than a really large collection of dvd's... But I have no problem purchasing and keeping something like "Frozen Planet" on bluray if it means I can watch it in glorious HD. Somethings were made for high def.

Why purchase an expensive TV and just stream low def material to it?

"As someone who happily ripped and rid (sold, gave away, threw out) his entire collection of CDs,..."

Legally I believe you still need to retain the original copy.

i won a few blurays, not a ton, but probably more then 10. A lot of them are disney, that come with the dvd and digital copy as well. Through certain deals I usually get these insanely cheap.

The streaming argument just doesn't do it for me though. most of netflix streaming items are pretty bad. i mean seriously where are they getting all of these crappy movies no one watches. I would love to see a list of all the movies they have streaming and see how many have never ever been streamed.

Plus as HD streaming becomes more prominent, i am not looking forward to first netflix hiking their prices again. Second, cable companies capping your data or charging even more for usage. I don't think the current networks will be able to handle that bandwidth if it shifts too fast.

I don't enjoying a movie has anything to do with owning a copy any more than having to own the film reel when viewing the movie at the theater.

I do thinking someone needs to proof read. As well, there are too many run-on sentences here. This is not very well written in my opinion.

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I do like how streaming could not be easier, but there are too many downsides for me to go with streaming.

1. Getting the right mix of subtitles and original audio track. This is a real problem all international film types. I guess if all you watch is the drivel from Hollywood, are monolingual, and have no world view outside of manifest destiny, this would not mean much. None the less, it is a dealbreaker.

2. The difference between 720 and 1080 is very noticeable on larger screens. On a 32 inch screen the difference is not that great. On my 42 inch screen it is very apparent. If I am going to spend money I want the best quality.

These are my top two problems with streaming. If you enjoy it, good for you. If I could buy a digital anime with Japanese and English audio tracks with English and German subtitles things would be different.

The problem I have with owning movies online is that you don't know if your service will die and take your movies along with it.

While, yes, stuttering and stopping from my bandwith being choked by Comcast is a concern, I'm more worried about Vudu, Playstation Network, or another service's format just up an disappearing one day. It's not like "the cloud" or my personal hard drive are all that reliable, so I can't depend on storing the movie somewhere and hoping that I will always be able to access the movie I want.

On disc, it's there. Tangible. I can see it, and I can touch it. If it doesn't play, I get a new one. Does it take up space? Sure, but it'll be there if Apple decides to change its format to something that requires a whole new paid subscription. Sorry, but I ain't buying streaming as the end all, be all just yet.

I love watching blu-rays. I own more than 25, although I only purchase movies I watch over and over. I also stream via Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Sony through PS3, and a few streaming channels on Roku.

But nothing beats watching an epic sci-fi in surround sound on an HDTV in HD.

When streaming gets better, I'll be there along with the rest of you. But for now, the pickings are slim and the quality is mediocre in comparison to a blu-ray disc.

Are these really our only two options? Being "surrounded by" hard copies or not buy them at all? Come on. Look, I get it. I too have ridden myself of all the plastic cases from CDs and DVDs, but that doesn't mean I don't want the contents. Is it really too confining to put these thin little discs into sleeves and put them in a cabinet? I stream content all the time but there are movies I already own and some I wish to own that I enjoy re-watching. Want to watch Gladiator? Boom. Here it is. Pop it in and enjoy. Or - to bring myself into the 21st century, this Gen-Xer even backed up his movies and CDs to a hard drive that can be shared on a home network. I'm just saying there are more options than to buy Blu-rays OR stream.

I own one. I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 because the bluray edition came with a Hogwarts ornament. I was rather annoyed that only the bluray editions came with the fun freebie, but it had a dvd copy inside too. I have a few DVDs (less than 30), but I don't watch a lot and I don't mind buying the ones I really love. I won't rebuy my stock just for bluray though.

Books on the other hand...300 and counting.

While I understand the convience of streaming, I must agree with the comments made by many before me. Blu-ray delivers picture and SOUND quality that streaming just can't match. If I've invested in a home theater, complete with top-flight speakers, display, and electronics, why would I feed it sub-par source material?
Also - how long is it going to take before the cable/telco companies to get wise to the streaming game and attached punitive bandwidth caps to their internet service?
If/when this happens, consumers will either be forced to either curtail our streaming or suffer even further compressed video (degrading quality).
Thanks, but no thanks...

What about the proliferation of RedBox and other discount disc renting machines? Do you ever rent movies from one? I've found that to be the most convenient and economical source to rent and watch new release movies.

okay, load times for blue ray discs? i have an LG 3d blue-ray player, and LG 3D tv, and all works as quickly as anything ever did.

For me it’s a formula - does the film itself benefit from the best audio/video quality along with how likely it will be re-watched. Often times the Blu-ray isn’t that much more expensive than the HD iTunes rental I just picked up LOTR for $6 each.

As for 1080p streaming, I wouldn’t hold your breath. Video bitrate for blurray is 40Mbps and audio is 14Mbps. The video will need significant compression for today’s bandwidth restrictions. Personally I’d rather have lower compression 720p over heavily compressed 1080p.

Firstly, at least in the UK owning copies of media which you don't own (even if you did own it at one point) is definitely at the illegal end of the very gray area of 'fair use'.

Secondly, I own 0 blu-ray titles, and when I do buy, I tend to stick to plain old DVD, since I don't have the luxury of being able to afford a full 1080p telly (the joys of post-grad life!)

Generally, I tend to rent rather than buy as most movies i won't watch more than once anyway, I have found that's a much more effeicient way of de-cluttering (for a small monthly fee to lovefilm, of course).

Our internet provider "throttles" downloads in peak hours, and switches capacity to large commercial clients, so streaming is nothing short of a frustrating hassle.

While all this decluttering is all well and good, as a Gen-Xer I love having an actual dvd in a case (tried to talk my husband into albums, but he loathed the idea) and popping it into the player at will. It is much less frustrating than playing something we have downloaded, or which we try to stream.

And no Blu-Ray either. Too expensive.

since we have a kid on the way too, and having little cousins etc. it made me think of this.

Kids grabbing a case from a shelf and putting in a disc is fairly easy. Powering up netflix on the blu, navigating to what i want, buffering, etc, even for myself can be a pain in my a$$.

also to the comment on load times. what load times? bought my blu last year and load times are pretty much non existent, this a limitation of early players.

I have one or two, but don't pursue discs anymore.

Sometimes I do miss the bonus material of the physical disc.

re: loadtimes .. okay, I was an early adopter, and, since my machine works fine, I am not about to upgrade solely for load time. still - between load times, previews, and menus, it is still quicker to watch one of my dvds I ripped to a PC and watch on my tv via boxee.

re: third option - I have a fourth option - I live 2 blocks from one of the best video stores I've ever known.. sure, not everyone has this option.. I am one of the lucky ones.

The cinematography has to be spectacular for us to pick up a film on Blu-ray as opposed to DVD, but it's totally worth it when it is. Netflix streaming was fine for a few months, but their catalog was too limited so we canceled.

As for CDs, the quality is still much better than i Tunes and you can generally find CDs much cheaper than i Tunes downloads anyway (e Bay, used music store, et al).

Most people don't care about bit rate, multiple file sources, etc.

But yes, you must retain the original disc if you also have the digital copy. I dont think I'd be proclaiming that I rip all my CDs then get rid of the original on a blog such as this :)

With everyone buying the big HD TVs during boxing day it’s a shame that people won’t use the machines to the full potential. You are selling yourself short if you don’t load it with a Blu-ray Disc. Braggers throw around buzz words like “my 1080p 60inch tv”, to make sure their ice cream came with hot chocolate sauce. There is no comparison to the glichy download and streaming services, the illegal downloads that get passed around the office, and the mix and match image quality that is cable TV that most people here seem to watch. 1080p means nothing with these sources. You have a race car here folks, you can take it out of 1st gear if you want.

I admit I’m late to the game I just got into HD in early 2011. I wish I had more discs. I love film and there are movies that I will watch over and over again like a good book. So having the best simply means having the best, it helps with the enjoyment of it all both image and sound!

New players do not take forever to load, that was like first gen complaints.

I recently had to replace my DVD player and since the price difference is small these days I took the jump to BluRay. Since then I've bought few movies on BluRay. At the moment I have about 10 BluRays, 400 DVDs, 200 Audio Cd's and 1000 books. BluRay is the highest quality video standard widely available today. Although I'm not much for paying lot extra for little more, more quality is always better and the price difference is much smaller than it was. I don't like downloaded or streamed content. The quality (glitchy streaming and highly pixelated pictures) is usually lower than I can accept.
Owning hard copies of movies and books may be as antiquated as buying software in a box but I don't buy software anymore. I use Linux and other free software on most of my computers. I've digitised most of my DVDs and Audio Cd's. I have a copy of quite a few of my paper books on my Kindle (plus lots more and most books and disks I keep in the garage so they don't "mess up" my living room).

I'm fine with HD streaming content via Netflix and Apple TV for now (currently only own an older 720p set). If and when I really want to enjoy a film with cinematography and immersion in mind, I drop by the local theater (I know I'm a bit spoiled living in LA where theaters and revival house screens are common enough).

As someone who formerly owned thousands of CDs, hundreds of LPs and DVDs, I don't feel any worse not owning these physical mediums. Your mileage may vary, but living with less media has been liberating!

It is perfectly legal to rip DVDs and CDs that you purchased. That's what the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was all about. If you end up selling the disc later on, you DON'T have any duty to delete the digital copy on your hard drive. Of course it would be verboten to sell or share these digital files, but that's not what Greg is talking about.

I generally prefer streaming, but when I really like a film, I want to geek out and watch all the special features, which aren't available on Netflix or Amazon streaming. I've missed this since switching over to Netflix's streaming only plan.

@James - I don't think anyone is arguing the fact that you can make digital copies for yourself, but.. do you have a citation for it being legal to sell the originals? I cannot find much on the internet, but what little I do find seems to contradict what you are saying. I'd just like to know for sure.

People who stream movies are the same people who ruined music. I will take a blu-ray to streaming any day just like I will take a SACD or DVD-A before an MP3.

I actually watch the vast majority of my content streaming, but it's silly to call Bluray dead on arrival. High speed internet is still not available in much of the country, and believe me, what technically qualifies as "high speed" in many rural areas can NOT stream high def movies.

As for clutter, you can keep a hundred movies in the size of one large booklet, so I don't really find that complaint realistic. The movie BOXES are a waste of space, I agree, but you don't have to keep them.

Well I still actually have a bunch of DVDs since I *just* got a TV large enough to even justify blu-ray. We're talking about getting blu-ray discs now. There are just some movies I'd want/love to have on hand and not be at the whim of netflix availability or the local ISP service issues.

So you do own a blu-ray player?

Lord, I am tired of articles where the author makes these huge sweeping statements about media formats being "dead" or pointless.

Great for you that you don't care about the quality of what you're watching or listening to over the convenience of streaming or digital copies, but for those of us who DO care- who think that if we are going to invest time watching and/or listening to something, we'd like it to be the very best quality possible, there will always be a place for Blu-ray (discs in general) and CDs/records.

Might as well say there's no point in owning a letterpress printed, beautifully designed and laid-out book, since you can read it on any e-reader. Or ask what's the point of all these micro-breweries when Bud's available at any convenience store.

I don't own any discs except for exercise DVDs, which I could stream but I take them with me when I travel so I have options and it's just easier.

But this article made me feel ancient when it cited Gen Xers like we were the Greatest Generation or something. Seriously? I work in a digital environment and so do a lot of other "old folks." *shakes cane*

Most of the Dvds here are for my 5 year old nephew. Zero of the bob the builders are blue ray...haha
My dvd player is quite outdated and wont play the blue ray discs anyways..so I dont buy them...When it comes to watching movies I usually just rent them from the redbox or the library (which is free!)

I do not own any blu rays for a very simple reason, one DVDs provide us with the "same" quality as far as picture or sound. What is the point of having 1080p resolution of a movie that was simply upped from the DVD format?

I think people fail to understand the difference between DVDs and Blu Rays in resolution, compression of bit rate or sound bit rates, reminds me of people going out to buy a 14 mega pixel camera simply because it has more "pixels"...

And of the new films that are out, very few are worth it in Blu Ray.

I stream from iTunes and the quality is very good, even on most SD titles. If you haven't tried, do...you know, versus watching Netflex in a 1mbt connection and then spouting off about how streaming quality is bad. I buy movies from iTunes almost exclusively and I love my big LIBRARY of digital movies, all at my disposal with the click of my appletv remote.
I understand the allure of Blue-Ray and HD movies, but those who flagrantly bash everything but, you are the minority (albeit vocal). 720p is fine for me and I suspect for most. Having 120 movies at 3 clicks of the remote is great and no shelves to display tired amaray cases, is icing on the cake.

.02

FAILURE!