 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Mar 24, 2012 - 4:48 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
Another nail in the coffin of physical discs. From Variety:
Walmart Unveils "Disc-to-Digital"
Five studios on board for in-store DVD conversion
By Andrew Wallenstein
Walmart announced an in-store service Tuesday that will allow consumers to create digital versions of DVDs they own through deals with five of the majors.
The "disc-to-digital" feature will be available starting April 16 in 3,500 Walmart stores nationwide for titles from the homevid divisions of 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal and Warner Bros. Walt Disney Pictures is not taking part in the effort.
Consumers will be charged $2 to convert standard definition, high-definition or Blu-ray discs to digital, which will be available across devices via Walmart-owned streaming service Vudu. Upgrading discs to high definition will cost $5.
"We're proud to be partnering with the leading movie studios to provide more choices for customers and breathe new life into America's movies in ways that weren't possible before," said John Aden, executive VP of general merchandising at Walmart, who was joined by reps by all participating studios in a press conference at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Walmart also announced it would be joining the industrywide's struggling Ultraviolet initiative, which the disc-to-digital feature hopes to bolster. "This is a monumental step forward for Ultraviolet," said Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president David Bishop. "It's really going to move the initiative forward."
The effort will be supplemented by a multi-month marketing campaign both in-store and across media aimed at educating consumers about Ultraviolet and the disc-to-digital backed by a budget on par with launching a "blockbuster film," according to Warner Bros. Home Video president Ron Sanders.
The studios see disc-to-digital as a way of maintaining the viability of the physical disc business that has been a primary revenue driver over the past decade while accelerating the electronic sell through market, which is growing -- but not at the rate that the DVD business is declining.
Assembled studio reps hailed disc-to-digital as a groundbreaking development not only to breath new life into Ultraviolet, but into the value proposition of ownership in general, which is of crucial importance to the studios. Hollywood is seeing much stronger uptake online for rental opportunities that deliver far smaller profit margins.
An estimated 10 billion DVDs have been purchased to date in North America. "Even converting a small percentage of that makes it the largest cloud overnight," said Sanders.
Walmart will be the exclusive in-store partner to the studios but only until the fall when other retailers could join. The studios' hope is that Walmart's massive footprint becomes an ideal training ground for consumers to better understand the digital movie marketplace.
The initiative will be a boost for Vudu, which allows consumers to both buy and rent movies across a growing footprint of connected devices that exceeds 50 million.
Discs consumers bring in for conversion do not have to have been bought in Walmart. Consumers also keep their DVDs after the conversion. DVDs of TV shows aren't yet covered but are expected to be eligible for conversion in the future.
While Walmart may have a lock on in-store disc conversion in the short term, consumer electronics companies including Samsung have already announced their intent to make the technology available in homes through devices such as Blu-ray players.
Simon Swart, executive VP of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, defended the price points citing consumer testing. "We think two and five dollars are right in the sweet spot," said Swart.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is the extra charge for? I've already paid for the movie. Another instance of inching closer to having to pay extra each time you watch or listen to YOUR media.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 12:00 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Yen Fai
(Member)
|
Won't this mean you'd need broadband access to the internet every time you wanted to watch your DVD and Blu Ray content? So...more streaming content. More bandwidth hogging ? I have a pretty reliable high speed connection but still at times if I'm streaming a video or radio station, the occasional stop and start, losing a signal losing connection...drop offs... I mean how is that an advantage to popping in a physical disc that isn't going to take time to buffer, and will play any time I want it?
I just don't get this whole cloud thing.
It sounds like these will only be accessible through Walmart's Vudu service (which came with my TV and is often preinstalled on current entertainment devices) so it isn't really in 'the cloud' per se. This will certainly change once other retailers get into the mix. As in your case, I don't think it'll be for everyone. Personally I'll be waiting for iTunes for movies... (iMages maybe?)
Broadband needs to grow up, and fast. Demand is rising steadily and sharply; it is no longer a luxury, it has become the cornerstone of communication technology. The ability is there, the tech is probably already in place, but the companies controlling it continue to market it as a luxury, trying to think of the best ways to charge by usage. I think demand may have already outgrown any hope these companies might have of continuing to charge for the supposed burden of supplying bandwidth. It's simply impractical in this age. Cell phone companies waffle on the concept and I think they'll find they'll need to be more reasonable (and competitive) with their data plans or go the way of the dinosaurs, much like the concept of long-distance phone service.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 2:45 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Metryq
(Member)
|
Broadband needs to grow up, and fast.
I'm no expert on the subject, but American broadband may be slowed by various factors. If some other country has traditionally been behind the US in technology, then any existing technology is "easy" to upgrade, while US customers may be using systems that have not been amortized yet. (Consider a country that had been using 1950s level TV suddenly leapfrogging to HDTV and satellite dishes.) This may result in some "foot dragging" by American providers, except in cities with the greatest number of customers. At the rate new systems are being developed, the provider networks never manage to catch up. There are also many existing tech customers in the US who are, comparatively, spread out over a vast area. (Not to go off on a tangent, but the poorest of the poor in the US live like kings compared to the "middle classes" of other countries. Those 99-per-centers don't know what they're talking about.)
If you're considering wireless, then the problem is compounded by the laws of physics—we are simply running out of bandwidth, until someone discovers new spectra, like STAR TREK's subspace. And a big reason bandwidth is running out so rapidly is the explosive adoption of mobile devices. We'll need more than IPv6 to offset that.
Only a quarter of a century ago home users connected by audio modem (if they connected at all that long ago). Now they connect at speeds far exceeding business connections from 25 years ago—and it's not just one computer anymore. A single house may have a dozen LAN devices from desktops, laptops, mobile devices, streaming TV boxes, networked printers and storage, home security cameras and other devices, smart toasters that phone home for firmware updates, refrigerators that remind you buy more milk, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Does Walmart keep the disc you bring in? It sounds like you go from owning a copy you can watch forever to renting a digital copy via a subscriber service. When you leave Vudu, or when Vudu eventually shuts down, you'll have nothing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 6:37 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
quiller007
(Member)
|
All of this begs the question: If the studios never wanted anyone to own
their personal discs or tapes of movies, tv shows, music, etc... then why the hell did
they ever release any of it for private home use in the first place? If the reason
behind the push to digital downloads and streaming is because of piracy, it seems to me
they've been whining about everyone copying this stuff even way back in the VHS,
LP and CASSETTE days. If they're REALLY so concerned about piracy,
then the obvious thing to do would be to try and pass a bill to close down
the internet completely, and bring back brick-and-mortar stores. But we know
that will never happen, so now the studios are scrambling to take it all
away from us, and attempt to make us pay for it continously. Ain't gonna happen.
Den
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Mar 25, 2012 - 7:22 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
JJH
(Member)
|
All of this begs the question: If the studios never wanted anyone to own
their personal discs or tapes of movies, tv shows, music, etc... then why the hell did
they ever release any of it for private home use in the first place? If the reason
behind the push to digital downloads and streaming is because of piracy, it seems to me
they've been whining about everyone copying this stuff even way back in the VHS,
LP and CASSETTE days. If they're REALLY so concerned about piracy,
then the obvious thing to do would be to try and pass a bill to close down
the internet completely, and bring back brick-and-mortar stores. But we know
that will never happen, so now the studios are scrambling to take it all
away from us, and attempt to make us pay for it continously. Ain't gonna happen.
Den
And what's really dumb about it is that every study done on the phenomenon of piracy shows that it actually increases sales for the studios.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sounds like there's nothing especially bad about it. I personally just don't need it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
