Amazon stopping their DVD rental service

Gavin83

heartbreak_star wrote: »

I'll never understand not switching to streaming...tis so convenient!

But yes, if a business is making a loss it will close.

HBS x

As others have said you don't have the same kind of library on streaming sites and the quality is some way off of what Blu-ray provides. Streaming is more convenient but until it's caught up on these two points I'll be sticking with the physical media.

Obviously the picture/sound quality doesn't matter to the majority and a lot will depend on what TV and sound system you have but it matters to me.

martinsurrey

heartbreak_star wrote: »

I'll never understand not switching to streaming...tis so convenient!

But yes, if a business is making a loss it will close.

HBS x

Its only convenient if the film catalogues are the same.

John Wick 2 - disk available on Love film, £3.49 to stream on amazon instant

Pirates of the Caribbean - Salazar's Revenge - disk available on Love film, Not available to stream on amazon instant.

3d movies, available on disk, not available to stream.

7.1 surround sound, not on streaming, on disks.

I'll miss my disks, and I DO stream a lot of stuff.

Emma851

You can get great picture quality with a 4k TV and services such as Amazon Prime. Not sure why you'd need DVDs anymore.

System

Gavin83 wrote: »

As others have said you don't have the same kind of library on streaming sites and the quality is some way off of what Blu-ray provides. Streaming is more convenient but until it's caught up on these two points I'll be sticking with the physical media.

Obviously the picture/sound quality doesn't matter to the majority and a lot will depend on what TV and sound system you have but it matters to me.

I have not "rented" a DVD for years but of course some people will always prefer that service and really enjoy it and hopefully it will keep going but there is no denying that its not a growing business.

I went to the Cinema Paradiso website and they are now the only service left in the UK... quote

We have just learned the sad news that LoveFilm, the only other service in the UK offering DVD and Blu-ray rental, is closing down its service on 31st of October 2017. As a result, we have been overwhelmed with questions so please refer to our FAQ page to get some of the answers. And NO, we are not closing our service. We are going strong as ever and investing in the titles all the time. So we are here for many years to come

Maybe one service is all you need now.

neilmcl

Emma851 wrote: »

You can get great picture quality with a 4k TV and services such as Amazon Prime. Not sure why you'd need DVDs anymore.

:wall:

Is nobody reading the above posts. You cannot get the picture and sound quality currently from streaming that will match a good physical blu-ray disc, regardless of what TV you watch it on. And as already explained a number of times there is no streaming service that will supply a similar catalogue of titles, including new releases as the rental companies at the price they do(did).

So long as physical discs are being manufactured there will be a market for them.

neilmcl

I think it's slightly disingenuous for Amazon to say they're shutting down because the service is costing too much to run, it's more like they're shutting down because it's not making them as much money as they can make from customers streaming content via their pay-per-view services.

Now if they came up with a monthly subscription service to allow streaming of up-to-date content then that might make sense and certainly be a first. I think they should at least offer reduced price streaming rentals for Prime customers.

Gavin83

Emma851 wrote: »

You can get great picture quality with a 4k TV and services such as Amazon Prime. Not sure why you'd need DVDs anymore.

Great sure, but not the same. It's impossible, they have to compress the stream significantly to allow for those with slower connections. If everyone was running 300/400Mb connections it probably wouldn't be an issue anymore.

If people are happy with streaming services good for them, I hope they enjoy it. However I'm not happy with the service and therefore I'll use alternatives.

I think the other key is the mention of DVDs here. I'd imagine that streaming services would match DVD quality, however it won't match Blu-rays. If people are used to DVDs (and Blu-rays are still a niche market so that's almost everyone) then they'll be happy with streaming.

However I don't have a great TV and sound system to be accepting inferior products.

john22 wrote: »

I have not "rented" a DVD for years but of course some people will always prefer that service and really enjoy it and hopefully it will keep going but there is no denying that its not a growing business.

I couldn't agree more. However while it's there I'll use it. I'm glad Cinema Paradiso are still going strong and they'll be getting my business.

Gavin83

neilmcl wrote: »

I think it's slightly disingenuous for Amazon to say they're shutting down because the service is costing too much to run, it's more like they're shutting down because it's not making them as much money as they can make from customers streaming content via their pay-per-view services.

This is likely true. As you received the same email as me you'll have noticed that they were heavily pushing their Prime service as a replacement.

They'll have taken a guess as to how many customers they'll lose and decided the risk was worth it. Of course streaming services are cheaper for them to run.

HogMan

So long as physical discs are being manufactured there will be a market for them

Therein lies the answer, I suspect DVDs will soon go the way of VHS and stop being manufactured and quite possibly Blu Ray too.

System

neilmcl wrote: »

I think it's slightly disingenuous for Amazon to say they're shutting down because the service is costing too much to run, it's more like they're shutting down because it's not making them as much money as they can make from customers streaming content via their pay-per-view services.

Now if they came up with a monthly subscription service to allow streaming of up-to-date content then that might make sense and certainly be a first. I think they should at least offer reduced price streaming rentals for Prime customers.

Can you give a link as to where amazon said it was costing too much to run?

They haven't been disingenuous at all, this is the statement on their website...

We have very much enjoyed delivering the LOVEFiLM By Post service to our customers. However, over the last few years we’ve seen a decreasing demand for Blu-ray and DVD rental as customers increasingly move to streaming. Due to this, we will be closing the LOVEFiLM By Post service on 31st October 2017.

It's a simple business decision the service does not generate them enough money to make it worthwhile so shut it down.