This phenomenon is still done with VHS tapes. It’s called rental pricing. The movie is first sold for $100 or so to video stores, then later for about $15 in stores.
Oddly, it has never been done with DVDs.
If it’s just a movie I missed in the theatre, I’ll rent it on dvd. My VCR is nowadays living in a box in the basement. I’ve decided not to throw it out, as I did with my turntable. I’ve got tons of vinyl that I can’t stand to get rid of but can never play.
However - I basically never bought tapes. Too much shelf space. I need abouty 120 ft just for books, add cd’s, magazines and computer things, games ASF, I couldn’t accumulate more stuff.
DVD’s take up less space, cost less than VHS (for some odd reason), I can get rid of those pesky subtitles - and most importantly:
Old classics are being remastered and have tons of goodies on them. I’m planning to get all the old James Bond flicks, since they have on-the-scene featurettes, made then. Interview with Connery from '64 on the set. Very cool stuff. I’m prolly gonna get the Kubrick box, there is a score of good Hitchcock stuff out… I’m drooling and overspending.
I guess my follow-up question would be: Am I the only Doper who hasn’t bothered to get a DVD player yet?
I know I will when The Great Conversion takes place and stores no longer carry VHS, but I haven’t noticed any great difference between the play quality of VHS vs. DVD, and I couldn’t possibly care any less about the extra crap they put on DVDs (director commentary, deleted scenes, alternate versions, et yawn cetera).
As a result, I’m holding out until it actually does become the only option. It’s just a waste of cash for me and what I want from watching a movie.
FallenAngel, the quality of DVD far surpasses that of VHS. Even if you don’t care about the goodies just not having to rewind a tape is one of the best reasons to convert.
Do you still listen to audio cassette tapes, too? 
I rent.
With very few exceptions, I only watch things once.
I own about 25 dvds, mostly music titles or movies the kids will watch again & again.
The rentals are for 5 nights, which ususally gives us enough time to get to most of the special features.
I’ve also got one of the Apex dvd players where I can disable Macrovision, so I can tape it if I haven’t finished watching it before it has to go back.
With most of the movies out these days,
1.) I’m glad I didn’t spend the $8.50 per person to see it in the theatre and
2.) I’m glad I didn’t spend the $20 to purchase it.
Fallen Angel - I definitely see a difference in the picture quality. And many (certainly not all) movies have special features that really enhance the movie. You’d be surprised how many scenes have been cut just to make the movie shorter. I don’t know how many times we’ve watched the deleted scenes and go, “Well that explains what that was all about!”
There’s no going back to vhs. We’re spoiled now.
I think we are on to some real consumption shift. I myself own like 5 videotapes (including 2 beta), but since I have a DVD player, I have bought over 200 movies. It’s amazing how I find myself buying stuff that I would not watch even if it was on TV, but with DVD’s its a different story!
Maybe I need some kind of professional help…
Anyone want to join my support group?..
Jeezus, this is a big one for me. I don’t know when or why my mental capacity drains to that of a gnat but as soon as I rent a DVD I just know that I’m going to pay more than the usual ‘rental fee’. I always keep them an extra day or two…even if I don’t watch them again.
Yeah, late fees are a big reason that I buy instead of rent. Flexible scheduling, too; I bought AI a few weeks ago, and haven’t gotten in the mood to watch it yet. But I will, sometime.
And if I don’t like it, I can take it down to our local used book/media store, where I’ll get maybe twelve bucks for it in trade. So it will cost maybe three or four bucks more than renting it would.
But if I love it, I’ll keep it, and add it to my growing collection. A collection of all the movies I love, in widescreen format, with extras. A collection I gloat over in the deepest hours of the night, rubbing my hands and cackling madly.
There’s just something about owning a DVD library, you know?
[slight hijack]
MrVisible
You’ve got to let me know what you think of that movie…I haven’t met a person yet who has dug AI. I like it a lot…slower paced than most but, I love the ending.
[/end hijack]
While I long ago migrated to CDs for convenience, I still to this day can’t really tell any difference between CDs and cassettes in good condition. I also can’t tell any difference in the quality of DVD vs. VHS if both are played on good systems and in good condition.
Not trying to be a snoot or a Luddite, but I really can’t. I’ve tried. I don’t see any difference.
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- I never rented movies before, because most newer ones I didn’t like and videotape places tended not to have the old ones I wanted. Now most places have gone to DVD…I got no DVD (television) player, I have an older computer that has a DVD drive, but I had not much time for movie watching with school. I later built a newer PC but couldn’t take the old DVD drive out and put it in the newer PC, so for a year or so I had nothing to play DVD’s on at all. I ordered a DVD drive with some other PC junk Saturday and FedEx tried to deliver it yesterday but nobody was home, so I’ll get it today(!)…-To celebrate, yesterday I went out and bought my first DVD-movie: Metropolis ($7). The next two will probably be North by Northwest and Vertigo.
~
-At the local giant bookstore where I went shopping, (except for the boxed sets) most of the best movies were in the bargain bin. And even the Hitchcock box sets they had on hand didn’t include either of those two movies…(-sigh-)
- I never rented movies before, because most newer ones I didn’t like and videotape places tended not to have the old ones I wanted. Now most places have gone to DVD…I got no DVD (television) player, I have an older computer that has a DVD drive, but I had not much time for movie watching with school. I later built a newer PC but couldn’t take the old DVD drive out and put it in the newer PC, so for a year or so I had nothing to play DVD’s on at all. I ordered a DVD drive with some other PC junk Saturday and FedEx tried to deliver it yesterday but nobody was home, so I’ll get it today(!)…-To celebrate, yesterday I went out and bought my first DVD-movie: Metropolis ($7). The next two will probably be North by Northwest and Vertigo.
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My rental habits have changed since I bought a DVD player: I don’t rent anymore. If I even remotely wish to see a movie, I search around and buy it. I think the internet plays a big part in my habits. Would I have bought more VCR tapes if the internet had been as popular then as it is now? Maybe, but probably not.
My thought process (which is part rationalization, sure) goes like this: even I watch a movie once, AND am disappointed with it, I’m at a break even with the price I would have paid to see it at the movies, even during a matinee. (This figures in paying for two adults, and buying concessions.) So, at the worst, I’ve upped the size of my DVD library, and at best, every time I watch the movie, I reduce my overall cost of seeing it.
My main problem with video was the medium itself- players jam up, tapes get destroyed. I couldn’t stand that. As a matter of fact, because of the sheer number of cassettes I had, I was pretty late coming into the CD market, but I finally gave in when my copy of Use Your Illusion II got eaten two weeks after I purchased it.
The medium for DVD is better, and for me, at least, better lends itself to building a collection.
Synopsis: No, you’re not alone, Juanita.
-j
Fallenangel, I’ve recently made the switch to DVD and have tons of CDs. In terms of the quality difference between a new tape and a new CD? Negligible. The big difference for me is degradation and moving from one song to the next. Digital media doesn’t degrade and it’s a pain to fast forward or rewind tapes.
In terms of sound or image quality. There’s a ton of enthusiasts who will totally disagree with me, but there isn’t a chasm of quality between the two. I’ve stuck the same movie in on tape and on DVD and there’s a noticible differnce, but come on. Watching a great movie on tape is still a wonderful experience. You can see everything you need to and the colour and contrast is still sharp. A newish tape gives little up to a DVD.
Plus, ff you stick to VHS, in a couple of years you will be able to buy all the videos you want for. like, a quarter apiece.
People who try to tell you that DVDs are a whole new world are deluding themselves. Don’t get me wrong, DVDs are noticibly superior, but on an average TV, with an average stereo, playing to a person who just wants a solid viewing experience, tapes are just as good. Plus, they’re about a tenth of the cost.
I’m also a little shocked at how blasse people are about the difference between a $5 rental and a $25 purchase. If you’re buying ‘Orange County’ or ‘How High’ instead of renting, you’re tossing money in the garbage. Unless you enjoy crap, that is. I say, see it first, then if you love it, buy it, but hey, I’ve got a boatload of student loans to pay off.
I’ve made exactly one blind DVD buy–The Time Machine–and I never will again. I wall watch a mive before I’ll buy it, and I try to restrict my purchases to movies I know I’ll watch over and over. I also try not to buy movies that I can borrow or rent, unless I really, really, love them. Unfortunately, I have a ton of favorite movies, as you can tell by looking at my collection. I also have a couple of crappy movies that I bought because they were dirt cheap and were interesting enough to pick up at a low price.
Well I liked the movie.
I occasionally rent DVDs, especially if it’s a movie I think I’d like but not enough to buy it. I have dozens of DVDs (just bought two more yesterday and have Resident Evil coming in the mail), but we’ve never been big renters, mostly because it’s a bit of a pain to return them. We’ve managed to avoid any late fees though.
I so totally agree with phreesh. And I too, am a luddite.
I do not own a DVD player. I still like audio cassettes because I can tape right onto them from the radio or another tape or a CD. My wife owns scores of CD, and while I have at least 2 dozen, I only listen to a couple of them, and then only rarely.
I also don’t have any intention of getting a DVD player unless it comes with any new computer we get. I have many, many VHS tapes and my stores are growing now that I can get them used very inexpensively.
Also, for whoever is keeping track, I don’t download music or videos or whatever off the internet. I never even bothered to figure out how to download music.
I recently had a lengthy conversation with CajunMan and DrMatrix about this, and found that they, who are twice my age, are infinately more into this whole new-fangled gadgetry than I.
Failure to convert to new-fangled gadgetry: the real road to perdition.
I believe the human race reached its technological climax with the pinball machine.
And there is absolutely no way to improve the Ice Cream Scoop.
Another reason I’ve bought more DVDs than I ever bought tapes:
When videotape first came out and everything was rushed to market, the videostores were good about stocking a variety of stuff- my whole reason for getting into home video in the first place was to see obscure movies I’d read about but thought I’d never get to see. Now, when DVD is in a similar stage to video’s early days videostores have gone to shit- they no longer stock anything but major hollywood movies. Thus I am forced to buy DVDs if I want to see the type of movie that interests me.
Luckily we do have a pretty good used DVD store where I live, so buying is really not much different than renting- but I have kept many of my DVDs, about 150 of them (!)
I went on a bit of a buying spree when I found out about the great Columbia House deal, but I was never a VHS collector and now I see why. I tend not to re-watch them that often and it bugs me to see all the money I spent on DVDs staring back at me from the shelf.
So, now I’m an avid renter. I hate Blockbuster, I hate late fees, I hate driving there and back, so I looked into online rental companies.
Netflix seems to be the biggest (and oldest) and there is also RendMyDVDs but I was looking for a 1-out plan (which they don’t offer). DVDBarn does, and I’ve been happy with their service so far.
A DVD comes in the mail, I watch it at my leisure (actually since I am my handle I watch it as soon as I can to get the most DVDs for the monthly fee), and I put it out for the mailman to pick up.
Cheap and easy!