Best Buy And The Future Of Physical Media

The debate about whether physical media or streaming is better is a tale as old as time. Many people love the convenience of almost any movie or show being available at the click of a button. Others prefer the satisfaction of holding a DVD or Blu-Ray copy in their hands. It’s no surprise that, along with such a debate, the question has arisen about how much longer physical media will last. But Best Buy recently gave us a revelation that may hold a grim prediction for the future.

Best Buy Will Discontinue Physical DVD Sales

In case you don’t know, the popular electronics retail chain announced that, according to entertainment magazine Variety, it will discontinue sales of physical DVDs and Blu-ray discs in-store and online, phasing them out in early 2024. For insiders, the decision is expected — one source says the company first decided to end DVD sales nine months ago. While there have not yet been any announcements from other big retailers ending their sales of Blu-Rays and DVDs, this makes one wonder how long it’ll be before places like, say, Target and Wal-Mart follow suit. If you appreciate having a hard copy of Back to the Future at home, you might want to hold on to it.

This isn’t necessarily a surprising turn of events. In a statement, a spokesperson for Best Buy said that “Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to discover, explore and enjoy.” That thinking is merely predictable for big tech companies. However, there are absolutely drawbacks to streaming shows or films outside of whatever original content is put out by Apple TV, Amazon Prime or Hulu. For one, you need an active and reliable internet connection to watch anything. If you want to put on an old episode of Friends, you need to have a working Wi-Fi signal, as opposed to a DVD or Blu-Ray player and a disc.

“Friends” (2001) – source: NBC

Additionally, there’s the issue of money. Specifically, the amount of money you can end up having to invest for various services and to gain access to every little thing you want to watch. The bigger problem there is that everything has its own streaming service: movies, TV shows, sports, music. All those costs start to add up. A perfect solution to this issue would be to purchase that favorite movie or TV show on DVD or Blu-Ray once, after which you wouldn’t have to pay for it again. You’d also save money that could be used for using Spotify Premium or subscribing to ESPN.

Some people might read that last paragraph and respond with, “Well, what if I just buy my favorite film on streaming? Isn’t that just as good?” Well, you’re not exactly buying it. If you “buy” a new movie for $20.99 on Amazon Prime, in actuality it “may become unavailable due to licensing restrictions or for other limited reasons,” according to Amazon. Streaming services negotiate an arrangement with the distributor who owns the movie they want to make available for their users, well before they announce their monthly schedule of releases. Moreover, the distributor has agreed to only allow the streaming service to borrow their title for a specific period of time. Therefore, if you were to buy Love, Simon on Amazon Prime, for example, you wouldn’t be buying it at all. You would just be throwing away your money for what’s essentially a glorified rental.

Conclusion:

I have been in love with physical media since I was little. Trips to Hollywood Video were a regularity in my early years (I couldn’t count how many times I walked out of there with The Lion King 1 1/2). To me, when I pick up a Blu-Ray or DVD from my collection, I associate with it memories of my first time seeing this or that movie, as well as fresh recounts of how it affected me originally. Every time I revisit Eighth Grade, I still remember the emotions I had after I saw it in theaters. More recently, I checked out the Jennifer Lawrence comedy No Hard Feelings from the library, and while predictable, I still recall a lot of scenes I enjoyed, and I can tell you I’ll remember the experience for a while. When I see movies for the first time on streaming, though, they typically go in one ear and out the other.

If streaming really is here to stay and physical media is on the way out, it shouldn’t be. While I certainly enjoy a lot of original programming from streamers (Ted Lasso is one of my favorite shows, and that’s an Apple TV+ property), nothing can replace the sheer emotions that come with actually picking up a copy of, say, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and watching it with your friends. In contrast, anytime I go to pick something on streaming, it leads to a lot of listless scrolling, which usually dampens my motivation to watch something in the first place. Plus, I can get overburdened by choice, which adds to said listlessness.

I hope that reading this leads you to consider your own feelings on the issue. I understand the convenience of streaming, I really do. But think of it this way: How many movies can you vividly recall seeing on Netflix, versus those you saw for the first time on an actual disc?