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I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

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Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#41

Post by dagw »

maccard wrote: post #31
briandear wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're willing to steal movies via torrents, wouldn't you also be willing to get a VPN to watch Netflix?

I'm not a piracy advocate, but this doesn't offer any advantages over torrents. You still don't have a legitimate licence to view the content, so at that stage you might as well just torrent it.

It does offer a moral 'advantage' in that you can tell yourself that even though what you are doing isn't technically legitimate, you're at least doing your bit to make sure the creators get paid.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#42

Post by anon4 »

gexla wrote: post #19

It seems like there would be some sort of hipster twist you could add to a video store to keep it going. Maybe the video store component becomes sort of a background prop, but it would be something that few other places could duplicate. My most memorable moment in a video store was walking half through the swinging doors of a section which immediately electrified the senses of a 11 year old boy. Video boxes floor to…

Maybe you could come in, show them your Netflix subscription and you'll get the movie you want on an USB flash drive you have to return. You can then repurpose all the display cases with, as you noted, interactive movie exhibits and information kiosks, etc. The reason to visit the video store, rather than just click on Netflix would be

1. It's a fun movie exhibit.

2. This movie doesn't count towards your data cap.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#43

Post by microtonal »

Asbostos wrote: post #29
microtonal wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moreover, I think you will be hard-pressed to find someone who will argue that VHS or DVD provided better quality than Netflix et al. Obviously, Blu-Ray provides better quality than today's streaming services, but the format never really took off in a big way among the general population. It's a bit of a shame, since with Blu-Ray, you at least own something. It'll still work when somebody pulls the plug on some servi…

I have a feeling that the idea of owning things is going to become a crazy old-people's complaint. Perhaps younger generations will be happy with their remote-wipeable phone apps, viewed-then-gone movies, hired rides in someone else's car, etc. Maybe these things are becoming so numerous and cheap compared to our income and other costs (housing) that people won't care anymore.

I agree that it will probably become a old-people's complaint. The latter part (numerous and cheap) does assume a perfect market though. In reality, many of the resources may end up in the hands of a monopoly or oligopoly and then they change the rules or charges at any time.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#44

Post by anon4 »

iofj wrote: post #20
ryan-allen wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pay per view rental model like iTunes often has a lot of harder to find movies. A few times for me it's the last port of call when I can't find a title anywhere digitally, at at least then you're getting the best quality sound and picture!

As a non-American I'm really frustrated that what you don't get is translations. Disney movies for the kids have been translated into 100 or so languages, yet buying one on iTunes gets you English and -maybe- Spanish. And then when you get to Europe, they suddenly have English-French languages on the same page. It'd be really nice if when I bought a movie that they're selling the translated version for would be acces…

Isn't the translated version only licensed for sale in the specific country of that language? So even if they wanted to they can't sell you a movie with all audio tracks?

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#45

Post by anon4 »

dagw wrote: post #41
maccard wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a piracy advocate, but this doesn't offer any advantages over torrents. You still don't have a legitimate licence to view the content, so at that stage you might as well just torrent it.

It does offer a moral 'advantage' in that you can tell yourself that even though what you are doing isn't technically legitimate, you're at least doing your bit to make sure the creators get paid.

> the creators get paid.

Netflix and the studios* get paid.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#46

Post by tracker1 »

microtonal wrote: post #11
infinii wrote: post #9

While vinyl records have made a resurgence from near extinction. It's unlikely the same will happen for the video stores as music seems more timeless and collectible than movies.

Moreover, I think you will be hard-pressed to find someone who will argue that VHS or DVD provided better quality than Netflix et al. Obviously, Blu-Ray provides better quality than today's streaming services, but the format never really took off in a big way among the general population. It's a bit of a shame, since with Blu-Ray, you at least own something. It'll still work when somebody pulls the plug on some servi…

I think h.265/HEVC may change that as devices come to support the codec... I've been really impressed at some of the sizes that can be acheived with the newer format.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#47

Post by tracker1 »

msravi wrote: post #39
radmuzom wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you propose the studios which owns the movies satisfy all the laws in India? It may not be possible to get a censor board certificate for each of the movies in the collection of Netflix. The cost of opening up them to vandalism (if they have offices in India) or lawsuits alleging "hurting the sentiments of the people" is too high. One reason I use torrents (even though I am willing to pay for good content) is…

I don't think they need to "operate" in India or anywhere else in the world. They just need to allow people to sign up for their service irrespective of where they're from and access content, just like, you know, how the rest of the internet works. My guess is that they're being held back more by Hollywood's licensing conditions rather than individual countries' laws.

Unfortunately, distribution networks and related contracts are very complicated legally, not even going into local laws and other legalities. Netflix itself has a few good sized teams of developers dedicated just to creating tooling to help navigate the legal nightmares regarding distribution agreements and their streaming services.

I'm pretty sure the studios would much rather be able to have a very few global release channels than the network remnants they currently have.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#48

Post by phphphph »

gexla wrote: post #19

It seems like there would be some sort of hipster twist you could add to a video store to keep it going. Maybe the video store component becomes sort of a background prop, but it would be something that few other places could duplicate. My most memorable moment in a video store was walking half through the swinging doors of a section which immediately electrified the senses of a 11 year old boy. Video boxes floor to…

My town has two successful DVD rental places. Their "hipster twist" is basically: quality movies, and an owner that can find something for you. They aim at students and established inteligentia. At its core, the service they provide is discovery.

(the town also has a surprisingly thriving arthouse cinema scene, so it's certainly a welcoming environment.)

As for the wall of nekkid: "Confessions of a porn store clerk" (http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Of-Porn-Store-Clerk-ebook/...) is a fabulous read. It's available for free, too, but I found it worth the dime.

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#49

Post by dagw »

anon4 wrote: post #45
dagw wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does offer a moral 'advantage' in that you can tell yourself that even though what you are doing isn't technically legitimate, you're at least doing your bit to make sure the creators get paid.

> the creators get paid. Netflix and the studios* get paid.

And (hopefully) the studios pay the creators. But realistically how is that different from me renting/buying a DVD or buying a ticket at the cinema?

Re: I worked in a video store for 25 yrs – what I learned as the industry died

#50

Post by gobengo »

gexla wrote: post #19

It seems like there would be some sort of hipster twist you could add to a video store to keep it going. Maybe the video store component becomes sort of a background prop, but it would be something that few other places could duplicate. My most memorable moment in a video store was walking half through the swinging doors of a section which immediately electrified the senses of a 11 year old boy. Video boxes floor to…

This exists in my neighborhood (Mission SF). Faye's Video & Espresso Bar... http://www.yelp.com/biz/fayes-video-and-espresso-bar-san-fra...
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