# Are we approaching the point of media collapse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004 "2014-01-06T07:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/41 "2014-01-07T16:52:19Z")
I got my blu-ray player free when I bought my last television. I use it quite a bit for the sound quality through my 7.1 surround system. My favorite for the sound quality is still my laser disc player. Yes I still have one. 3-D was never on the table as I am blind in one eye but I doubt if I would like the glasses anyway. Unfortunately I am a sucker for new tech and will probably try whatever comes down the road. Someone has to keep the economy going! ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/42 "2014-01-07T17:05:08Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I don’t know anyone who has a large-screen HDTV who DOESN’T have a Blu-Ray player. Same here. It makes a BIG difference, especially in big budget productions and (surprisingly, though I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised if I thought it through) animation. The problem with “everything is going streaming so no need for physical media” is the Damocles sword of internet data caps, which get spoken of every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/43 "2014-01-07T17:27:29Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Not just the kitsch, it’s also incredibly cheap. [Less than a buck a tape](http://www.rainborecords.com/cass.htm), if you get enough. Print the digital download info on the cassette case, and you’ve got a package that’s cheap enough to hand out as a promotion, and almost everyone can play it easily. Almost everyone? I haven’t owned a stereo with a working cassette in years. I doubt I’m alone. ETA: But I guess that’s where the digital download code comes in. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/44 "2014-01-07T22:37:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “region free” meaning I could play UK DVD’s in the US. I needed it for some DVD’s my wife had bought, but the region free Blu Ray was the same price (or very close) so we got that instead. I wasn’t aware that anybody openly promoted their Blu-Ray players as being able to play all regions’ DVDs, especially as (a) I am under the impression that this is illegal, and (b) some studio(s) tried to get around this by releasing a Region 1 DVD that would first try to play in Region 2, and if it was successful, the machine would pretty much lock up with a warning message. Of course, some brands have “hidden menus” that let you change the region to a specific value; what brand is your Blu-Ray player? (For that matter, are your wife’s DVDs Region 2, or Region 0 but PAL?) > [@Virgil\_Tibbs](#): > > The disc uses holographic technology to store data, but the image could be flat or 3D. Ah - I see. I thought “holographic” meant that it displayed a holographic image somehow. I still think a card technology will be next. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/45 "2014-01-07T22:41:22Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I wasn’t aware that anybody openly promoted their Blu-Ray players as being able to play all regions’ DVDs, especially as (a) I am under the impression that this is illegal, and (b) some studio(s) tried to get around this by releasing a Region 1 DVD that would first try to play in Region 2, and if it was successful, the machine would pretty much lock up with a warning message. Of course, some brands have “hidden menus” that let you change the region to a specific value; what brand is your Blu-Ray player? (For that matter, are your wife’s DVDs Region 2, or Region 0 but PAL?) Just Google “region free blu ray player”. I have machines from Toshiba, Sony, Yamaha, etc. If it’s illegal, Fortune-500 sized companies apparently don’t care. I can no more tell you what brand the blu ray player is no more than I can tell you what brand of milk I drink. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/46 "2014-01-08T02:45:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Just Google “region free blu ray player”. I did, and every link is from someplace like BombayElectronics or 220-Electronics or some site that you would expect to specialize in this sort of thing. I can pretty much guarantee that any “brand name” region-free Blu-Ray player was modified by some third party. Studios don’t really mind any more, because what I believe are the main reasons for having regions in the first place don’t really exist: 1 - it allowed movies to be released on DVD in the USA while they were in theaters in other parts of the world. This isn’t nearly as bad a problem as it used to be, especially as downloading and streaming pretty much force every “big” movie to be released worldwide at about the same time now. 2 - it allowed TV shows to be released on DVD outside of North America while they were still in their eight-year “no video” syndication cycle. When somebody released a season of a show (I think _Ally McBeal_ was the first) in the USA while it was still in syndication and syndicated ratings didn’t plummet, the studios felt safe to release more shows. (Dramas were never really a problem, as they don’t syndicate locally nearly as well as comedies.) In fact, the two Region 2 DVDs that I ever bought were Futurama Season 1 and Family Guy Season 1, and those were because they had not been released in Region 1 and I figured that they were going to be subject to the eight-year wait. Instead, both came out in R1 about a year later. BTW, I tried my Region 0 PAL DVD in my three Blu-Ray players (Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba), and all three rejected it as unplayable. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/47 "2014-01-08T05:11:02Z")
[Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: On the Actual Ideology of the American Press](http://archive.pressthink.org/2010/06/14/ideology_press.html) is a fascinating article which I was reminded of by the joke **Bryan Ekers** made. I’m posting it _because_ it isn’t political, really, but it _is_ an interesting response to something that the people who make those jokes would probably rather we _didn’t_ respond to in a thoughtful way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/48 "2014-01-08T06:24:44Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: On the Actual Ideology of the American Press](http://archive.pressthink.org/2010/06/14/ideology_press.html) is a fascinating article which I was reminded of by the joke **Bryan Ekers** made. I’m posting it _because_ it isn’t political, really, but it _is_ an interesting response to something that the people who make those jokes would probably rather we _didn’t_ respond to in a thoughtful way. Okay. Did you perhaps mean to post this in a different thread? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/49 "2014-01-08T08:43:53Z")
On topic for this thread: I talk to so many customers every week (I do cell phone/mobile internet customer service) who are limited by budget and/or location to only having 5-10 gigabytes of data a month. Until true high speed internet is affordable and actually available for everyone out in the boonies digital media just isn’t an option for them. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/50 "2014-01-08T16:44:10Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > On topic for this thread: I talk to so many customers every week (I do cell phone/mobile internet customer service) who are limited by budget and/or location to only having 5-10 gigabytes of data a month. Until true high speed internet is affordable and actually available for everyone out in the boonies digital media just isn’t an option for them. Are you saying your customers are using cell-based internet? So the same data limits as a phone apply to their residential service? I have cable internet with no cap, so I’m not sure how these things work, and what types of services tend to have limits. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/51 "2014-01-08T16:57:21Z")
Comcast used to have a 250GB cap but they lifted it last year. I’ll admit I’m not a power user but even watching movies, and downloading some fairly big games and software I rarely go above 150GB a month. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/52 "2014-01-08T20:50:24Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Are you saying your customers are using cell-based internet? So the same data limits as a phone apply to their residential service? I have cable internet with no cap, so I’m not sure how these things work, and what types of services tend to have limits. Yup! In some rural areas the only options are satellite data (the customers say it’s slow and expensive) or cellular data hotspots or routers. The company I do customer service for has data caps. Others don’t cap but have slower speeds or worse coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004/53 "2014-01-08T21:55:28Z")
Yes, there are plenty of people who aren’t going to be streaming movies any time soon. But neither are these people clamoring for the next new hot video format. They’re fine with DVDs that they buy or rent. If the video player they have happens to be a Blu-ray, they’re fine with Blu-Rays too as long as it doesn’t cost any more. But nobody ever is going to buy a physical media player that isn’t backwards compatible with DVDs. Not going to happen. There might be double-secret-super-Blu-Ray-supreme format players in the next decade, but if they don’t play DVDs no one will buy one. But if they play DVDs and Blu-rays and cost the same or a tiny bit more, then sure, why not, who cares, it’s all the same anyway. Any other video format will be media-independent. The player can take information from various inputs (like, you know, wireless internet) and play it. It might be holographic smellovision, but nobody is going to buy a HoloSmello player that can only play HoloSmello media. They’ll buy a HoloSmello player, maybe, but only if it is media-agnostic. If it requires a particular physical medium, forget it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-approaching-the-point-of-media-collapse/678004.md?page=2)