Also, being outside of the states somewhat changes the math, doesn’t it? I can do Zip.ca here in Canada (it’s a Netflix equivalent), but we don’t have the Movie rentals here, nor even the ability to buy movies — we have about nine tv shows to choose from, which we only got access to in December — and most of the online offerings are US-specific.

A last point: people reading this blog are ahead of the curve: most people in the rest of the world are happy to buy a DVD if they want to, and aren’t savvy enough to know or care about the other options. Frankly, keeping yourselves informed about the numerous options is a very time-intensive affair, and most people would say they have better things to do, and that buying a disc, rather than working out the math on how much a rental would cost long-term, is quick enough and easy enough for them.

Other than providing a diversion for the kiddies rasing the stature of regular DVD buyers to “collectors” is sad. Okay, maybe you want to have the Two-Disc Special Edition of ‘300′ for sentimental reasons but the fact that movie studios have convinced consumers that buying DVDs is a Good Thing, when you can rent them endlessly for pennys on the dollar from The Library (aka Netflix), ranks up there with bottled water and magnetic braclets.

And if history tells us anything about format wars it’s that any wins are short lived. Betamax begat VHS begat LaserDics begat DVDs begat HD-DVD/Blue-ray — and I’m leaving some out — and all these “collections” end up in embarrasing heaps at the corner garage sale because something “better” comes along.

I’ve seen the future and it’s not The Keanu Reeves Retrospective 3-Disc Box in [insert soon to obsolete physical video format here].

For buying, you forgot another format war. Most movies are sold DRM full. Which means I choose my allegiance to the Apple DRM alliance or the Microsoft DRM alliance. If I was buying a movie, I would again stick to DVD Or BluRay (now that the war is almost over and a winner has almost been anointed). Good ol discs are a lot more universal than the solutions from Apple or Microsoft. Whats the point of getting a movie for a discount for a movie I buy from Apple when the truth is that It may or may not work when I want it to work …

The rumors of the DVD’s death have been greatly exaggerated if you ask me.

We’ll likely replace the portable DVD players with video capable iPods once the kids get a bit older

You’re right, since I’m not a parent, I didn’t appreciate the value of popping in the Wiggles On Tour DVD to distract the young ‘uns.

But I think you kind of proved my point with the waiting for Blu-Ray. Why go through this all again? Blu-Ray will be outdated soon enough, and collectors will be stuck with another library of films that won’t work on whatever is next.

We’ve been limiting our DVD purchases here for about two years now. We’ll start buying again when the corporate bickering over BluRay v. HD-DVD is over. (…soon I hope.) Then we’ll buy Blu-Ray discs :-) There’s no sense buying a DVD now for something you may want in HD (which is essentially everything now, even TV shows.)

Also… I think there will still be a real desire for people to own DVDs even after downloads become more ubiquitous. Collectors like to collect. Parents buy movies for their children because they watch them over and over… and over and over. You can take a DVD over to your friend’s house and watch it without any hassle. DVD’s have extras. There’s no commercials or lower third overlay promos. (Showtime and Universal HD take note.) And finally, it’s good to have the complete box set of Buffy on hand when there’s a writers’ strike. There’s lots of reasons to want to own a DVD.

Will I want to own everything I watch on DVD? No, of course not. It depends what it is. Offer me a well mastered Blu-Ray set of Babylon 5 and I’ll buy it right now.

The Netflix Rip .