Blu-ray Software Deals

This post doesn't have anything about deals on discs but yesterday I was rearranging my DVD's and Blue Ray's and I had an idea since I was using VUDU for all my digital needs that I would see if my discs that could be processed past their expiration dates that I hadn't registered. Well I tried 3 discs and 2 of the three went thru. Both had expired back in 2016. So if you want to process your movies to digital you may want to try this. :biggrin
 
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Well, that would suck. And Amazon makes some titles only available via Prime Streaming, so if I want to own it, I buy it from Best Buy instead. I have a huge library of physical media, and it grows more (albeit more slowly now) almost monthly. Yes, streaming is a big thing, I get that, but some titles I still want to own my own copy of...most movie fans like me do have large libraries of physical media. The streaming services (and I'm not going to sub to all of them, that's just nuts) are always cycling content in/out and consequently, a film I may want to watch might not be available, or may be on one I don't sub to. I dropped Netflix about a year ago when they priced themselves out of my price-point ($15/month). Disney+ is now $1 below my price-point. That's why physical media (to me) is an important option. It's a one-time purchase for unlimited viewings as opposed to a monthly fee that can go up when they want to raise it, or whenever they decide to pull it from their offerings...
 
They've been saying that for at least three years now.

They've been reducing the footprint and phasing out in-store inventory for years (many Best Buys have a single 'new releases' kiosk and not much more than half an aisle for catalog titles).

But Best Buy has basically confirmed the report by providing a comment:

[10/13/23 Update: Variety and Media Play News have now confirmed my reporting that Best Buy is phasing out physical media in the new year, following the 2023 holiday shopping season. The company will apparently still continue to sell videogames. A Best Buy spokesperson provided this statement to Variety: “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago. Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy.” So... there you have it. Longtime readers of The Digital Bits can rest assured of two things: First, no this does not spell the end of physical media. And second, I’ll have a great deal more to say on this topic here at The Bits on Monday and all next week. See you back here then.]​


Looks like after the holiday season they'll liquidate what's left (online and in store) and re-map inventory to those already limited spaces and get out of the physical movie business entirely.

That's a big domino toward many movies never making it to physical media. Personally won't miss it, haven't bought a physical movie since The Martian and it got watched twice. Our Blu-rays and DVDs have been in a box since we moved 7 years ago and will probably get donated at some point. By comparison we have hundreds of pieces of content (TV and Movies) on Prime that we've purchased and thanks to Movies Anywhere can view on a number of other services as well.

I get the appeal and the lament, for sure.
 
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