PlayStation is deleting 500+ movies and ending disc production by 2028. Here's what that means for ownership, media preservation, and the future of physical media.
Great article. For me, I'll continue to support physical media as long as its around. "Buying" online movies and then losing access to them isn't fair to the consumer (especially since the consumer thinks they purchased the movie--it's only buried in the TOS that you're only renting it).
I'll be curious to see what the future will bring. But I still have Atari 2600 games that I can play and it's been 40+ years. Each year my kids and I have a blast playing the old games.
I'd be fine with smaller footprints for physical media or online content that you actually own (and can port to another platform). I don't see companies going down this path, but maybe things will change.
As someone who had a bunch of videos and other important documents saved on an external hard drive that suddenly died and took them all with it, I really don't like the idea of downloading anything from Kaleidoscape or ripping a disc unless you keep multiple redundant backups on multiple drives, which can get extremely expensive very quickly. Even more so than the terabytes of data you're already using just by storing it on one drive to begin.
Physical media has its own problems of course, but the carbon footprint argument is largely negated by the fact that streaming anything or keeping it in cloud storage requires it be hosted by data centers that destroy the environment all around them.
> Those people are simply losing access with no refund and no recourse because a licensing deal expired.
I broadly agree with you, but StudioCanal sets the terms on where and how long their movies can be sold. They're not renewing, so Sony has no choice but to withdraw them. What Sony could do is clearly label what you're getting is effectively a 'rental' when you buy media through them. StudioCanal deserves at least as much heat as Sony here, and probably more. I get that we love what they do on physical media and 4KUHD, but if they renew the agreement, this doesn't happen to customers.
Great article. For me, I'll continue to support physical media as long as its around. "Buying" online movies and then losing access to them isn't fair to the consumer (especially since the consumer thinks they purchased the movie--it's only buried in the TOS that you're only renting it).
I'll be curious to see what the future will bring. But I still have Atari 2600 games that I can play and it's been 40+ years. Each year my kids and I have a blast playing the old games.
I'd be fine with smaller footprints for physical media or online content that you actually own (and can port to another platform). I don't see companies going down this path, but maybe things will change.
These are all good ideas, but the recent James Bond 'revisions' have convinced me I need hard copies of anything I really want to keep.
But they were done to remove racism, and would never be used for evil purposes. Sure...
As someone who had a bunch of videos and other important documents saved on an external hard drive that suddenly died and took them all with it, I really don't like the idea of downloading anything from Kaleidoscape or ripping a disc unless you keep multiple redundant backups on multiple drives, which can get extremely expensive very quickly. Even more so than the terabytes of data you're already using just by storing it on one drive to begin.
Physical media has its own problems of course, but the carbon footprint argument is largely negated by the fact that streaming anything or keeping it in cloud storage requires it be hosted by data centers that destroy the environment all around them.
There's no perfect solution here, unfortunately.
> Those people are simply losing access with no refund and no recourse because a licensing deal expired.
I broadly agree with you, but StudioCanal sets the terms on where and how long their movies can be sold. They're not renewing, so Sony has no choice but to withdraw them. What Sony could do is clearly label what you're getting is effectively a 'rental' when you buy media through them. StudioCanal deserves at least as much heat as Sony here, and probably more. I get that we love what they do on physical media and 4KUHD, but if they renew the agreement, this doesn't happen to customers.