Why Vudu and not anyone else?

[Speedaddict81]

Re: Why Vudu and not anyone else?

You are investing in Blu-Ray titles that devices to watch those on will eventually vanish. VUDU is giving you an option to allow you to take your legacy titles and convert them to the cloud for a low fee.

In actuality you could still watch Super-8mm, BetaMax, VHS, Laser-Disc, and HD-DVD. But you will need to hit ebay, and thrift shops to find a device that will play your titles. The point is that the entertainment landscape will continue to evolve. In ten years we quite possibly could be talking about a new format, at which point Blu-Ray players will be in the thrift shop aswell.

Also the major failure behind Laser-Disc and HD-DVD was the studios did not get behind those mediums

Good analogy. Also, if we see the ability to upgrade our UV titles from SD to HD or HD to 3D in the near future this will bode well for the eventual 4k upgrade (though I doubt most home internet services are fast enough to allow streaming that yet). Then all you'd need is a 4k capable TV and a re-download, rather than buying yet another physical disc for each movie as well as a new player.

Sal, DRM is like the door locks on a car, it is to keep the honest person honest, when it existed on music there were ways to circumvent it and I'm sure there are ways to do so on Movies.

I am hesitant to give up my physical media until a solid solution is in place, and UV may be that solution. I want to see and and use the CFF (including its DRM) so I better understand how it works before I pass judgement. I love having a digital license locker, but I don't want to be required to be connected to the internet all the time to watch a movie. It does sound like there will have to be some authentication process, depending on how you get the CFF file, I know there is a diagram of the process in some UV literature floating around, but it doesn't make sense to me yet.

[salpower]

Re: Why Vudu and not anyone else?

You are investing in Blu-Ray titles that devices to watch those on will eventually vanish. VUDU is giving you an option to allow you to take your legacy titles and convert them to the cloud for a low fee.

In actuality you could still watch Super-8mm, BetaMax, VHS, Laser-Disc, and HD-DVD. But you will need to hit ebay, and thrift shops to find a device that will play your titles. The point is that the entertainment landscape will continue to evolve. In ten years we quite possibly could be talking about a new format, at which point Blu-Ray players will be in the thrift shop aswell.

Also the major failure behind Laser-Disc and HD-DVD was the studios did not get behind those mediums, this is not the case with UltraViolet.

But once again, VUDU and or UltraViolet may not be for everyone, and some people might just not be ready for the change yet. Also if you do not feel confident with the companies associated and the service, do not use them, but we encourage you to give it a try.

Thanks for your reply!

I see your point about the old formats... but you said it yourself - I CAN still watch those 8mms. See what I mean? They aren't locked. Crazy enough - I still have a VHS player... since we did buy enough movies, I keep it around, and occasionally use it. Some movies I've repurchased on newer formats as I've wanted to.

I do live on the bleeding edge of technology... I am so ready for digital, and wish I could buy all my movies digital. But I simply want to own a unrestricted copy. Call me crazy.

Don't get me wrong, I love VUDU, the idea of it... and the convenience. I think the idea of bridging to the new way of doing things is just fantastic. I have an account with a few movies, and I'll use it. I understand the constraints you are under, imposed by an industry you work with. I just am concerned about the fact that as a movie collector - for the first time I could buy something where I simply cannot get it to play without a 3rd party allowing me to. It's not JUST the concern that the companies will disappear - it's that these companies hold all the power and control. They could start charging me to keep my collection long term, limit the # of devices I can authenticate, remove a title, whatever else they want to do, etc... This goes against a COLLECTOR's mentality. This was never the case with Laserdisc, BetaMax, VHS, DVD, HD-DVD, Bluray - why are we going backwards?

So, yes I'm SO ready for the future... I just want a future that's better for me. I think Bluray is probably the last physical medium. In a world where DRM is my only option - I'll simply be forced to rent, rather than collect. Piracy will probably get worse (they will find ways to circumvent protections) - but I'm honest and won't do that. I think once consumers become informed, they will come to the same conclusion I have... Especially after a company fails, and leaves a bunch of people high and dry - and/or frustrated. So, the movie industry keeps on this track they will get less of my dollars if they won't sell me something I can own.

Technology isn't standing in the way - studios COULD offer unencumbered files, just like the Music industry does. Wow... think of the headache and money saved not investing and bothering with DRM! It's what COLLECTORS are going to want.

Good luck! It will be interesting to see if the greed and power control of the movie industry will be able to keep consumers satisfied, or I'd like to imagine a world where the movie industry booms with a hassle-free distribution of movies to collectors, and my MP4 (or later MP5 or whatever) movie collection would simply stick with me, and not be locked.

I'd probably still re-buy the new version of certain movies that do whatever technology comes up with next... ie: interfaces with my embedded wireless eardrum ******** with lossless encoding for true surround sound, my "virtual retina" device or whatever it may be... and I'll laugh at the simplistic HDX format of the olden days. But when I'm in the mood, hopefully VUDU will still be there to play it for me.

It comes down to the fact that collectors want to OWN a copy. (They want the box, and a key to the box). VUDU seems to be marketing to collectors, so... consider yourself warned. I wish I didn't have to buy another movie on disc. But until I'm sold something I want... I won't buy.

[RandomNinjaAtk]

Re: Why Vudu and not anyone else?

@ salpower

My simple recommendation:

Just keep buying physical media and you will have the best of both worlds!

Pretty much all the latest movies, except Disney ones come with UV. So you will get your cloud copy and you will have your blu-ray to ensure if things got ugly, that you'd still have a copy that is playable. There is no compromise when doing this! Then if you feel confident later on (in the technology/service), then you may want to use programs like VUDU's D2D to get your other movies into the cloud also. But you'd still keep the disc, so your not really loosing out either.

This is pretty much what I have done, except I like where it's going and think it will be around, so I've converted almost all titles I have. The only time I ever put a disc in now is to watch one of my 3D films. Everything else just sits in the case and is played back via VUDU.

This is my personal recommendation, it gives you the best of both worlds and you don't have to be paranoid about it going belly up because you have a physical copy as a backup.

--Ninja

[Woodoo4Vudu]

Re: Why Vudu and not anyone else?

Because Vudu is the best darn VOD service hands down. I still have about 40 titles not UV. When I started using Vudu I didn't even know what UV was so you already have my answer.