It is scary how fast technology evolves in today’s society, especially with movies. The picture quality is continually getting better, and these improvements mean developments on the ways to watch them.
Blue-ray is already fading to the likes of digital copy. Photo by Courtland Jeffrey.The industry made the jump from the VHS to the DVD in the late 1990’s and, while many were reluctant of the change, consumers soon took to the new standard. Then, in the late 2000’s, Blu-ray discs became the next level of quality for movies. Since the transition from DVDs to Blu-ray discs is not near completion, consumers now have a choice of whether to cultivate their DVD collection or start their Blu-ray discs. But in the past year or so, the movie industry has added another option for consumers: digital copy.
Chances are that you have bought a movie in the last year that had a slip of paper in the case with a code on it. That code is redeemable (by following the instructions that are provided) for a copy of the movie to download onto different devices. Since new technology (smartphones and tablets) do not have disc drives, digital copies have become a more feasible option for these users.
Does this mean that it is time again to transfer your movie collection?
Having digital copies of movies is quite a nice feature; instead of having to pack a few favorite movies and a DVD player for the next vacation, you can simply download a few movies on your smartphone and just bring that one item. It consolidates your digital library all into one place and makes it so that watching your movie is just a click (or finger swipe) away. When viewing the features of digital copies on paper, it sounds amazing. But the idea is not perfect yet.
Digital movies have drastically altered tangible movie copies. Photo by Courtland Jeffrey.Today, digital copies have quite a bit of downfalls. The first of the downfalls is expiration dates. When you go out and purchase "The Avengers" on DVD, you probably do not immediately think about that code inside the case, which is a problem. Many of those slips have “redeem by” dates and if you miss the date, you have lost that copy that you paid for. Those codes do not all come from the same company either, meaning you will have multiple movie accounts with multiple sites.
Another major issue with digital copies is compatibility. Purchasing all of your movies on iTunes may become useless for you if you decide to switch to Android or a Windows Phone, because there is no way of transferring the files. In other words, if you want to go digital with your movie collection now, you should choose the company you want to devote your finances to carefully.
The other issue to take into consideration is the storage space. The size of a movie can be up to a couple of gigabytes of space, so that means that only downloading a couple movies to the device and streaming the rest (using up quite a bit of data).
To answer the previously stated question: it is probably not the time to start investing in digital copies yet. Unless you are hopelessly devoted a strong company (me and Google), then holding out until the movie industry creates a universal standard for digital copies is probably your best bet. Until they get it right, rely on DVDs or Blu-ray discs (or services like Netflix) to satisfy your movie craving.
Enjoying your favorite movie on VHS or digital copy? Let me know on Twitter @Court_Jeffrey or via email at cejeffre@asu.edu. Happy downloading!
