Best Buy to stop selling DVD's in 2024

[kphoger]

I haven't owned a DVD player in about 10 years.

Just last week, we tried hooking up a VCR/DVD player in order to use the VCR half, then we were disappointed to learn that the machine won't switch its output to VCR even if the tape physically starts playing.  We still have boxes full of VHS tapes we'd love to play.

[ZLoth]

Seriously, yes I want to watch "Mr. Baseball," but not for $4.99 per viewing.

I actually caught Mr. Baseball on TCM some years back. It's a decent "fish-out-of-water" film especially since I think Tom Selleck is a good actor and Dennis Haysbert from both 24 and The Unit. It's available on both DVD and BluRay.

[triplemultiplex]

More space for phone cases and washing machines, I guess.

I bought a spare DVD player years ago in preparation for the demise of that format.  Still unopened in the box, in the closet, in case the current one pukes out.
There's something more permanent about owning physical media when it comes to movies and TV shows.  The biggest one being freedom.  They are not subject to media company bickering over broadcast rights or revelations that someone involved was a gigantic piece of shit.  Nor will they get their aspect ratio fucked up by some streaming company that should know better!  I'm talking to you, Disney!!!

Piracy is likely a more long term solution, but not everyone is down with that modality, so physical media is the best insurance against corporate chicanery for most people.

[tmoore952]

I also have a combo VHS/DVD player. One that I didn't use very much and therefore it is still functioning.

It is attached to an old TV of mine to which I added the appropriate equipment so it would receive over-the-air TV when all the over-the-air stuff changed some time back. Although I live between Baltimore and Washington DC, the cable company only gives me DC channels, but I live close enough to Baltimore to get Baltimore channels over the air. It comes in handy sometimes with the NFL, if the Commanders HAVE to be shown in DC (as the home market), but the Baltimore station shows the Eagles game instead, which I would rather watch. I have also heard but have not verified that Jeopardy! is shown in Baltimore earlier than it is in DC.

Back to the VHS/DVD player, I am watching some of my old VHSs at the current time. A long time ago, I tried copying some of them to DVD when I realized that VHS was dying, but some of them have technology preventing you from doing that.

[LilianaUwU]

In any case, the FTC should go after Best Buy for false advertising, because they're clearly not the best place to buy stuff anymore.

[SectorZ]

In any case, the FTC should go after Best Buy for false advertising, because they're clearly not the best place to buy stuff anymore.

Do you still have them up in Canada anymore? I bought a bunch of foreign (to me) CDs at one in Quebec City about a decade ago. Customs guy entering Vermont asks me what I am bringing back and I mentioned the CDs. He questioned if they were legit CDs even after telling them I got them at Best Buy

[Big John]

^^ Googled "Best Buy Canada" and they still have stores there and a domain bestbuy.ca

[kkt]

More space for phone cases and washing machines, I guess.

And think of all the money they'll save on checkers, once I and people like me no longer shop there!

[Henry]

The chorus is only getting louder: "Fuck Best Buy!!! Fuck Best Buy!!!" It all started when they stopped selling CDs, shooing the music fans away almost immediately (well, at least those who weren't getting hooked on vinyl anyway).

That being said, thank heaven for Walmart, Target and secondhand media stores like FYE.

[LM117]

Welp, there goes my biggest reason for going to Best Buy. They used to have the best in-store selection of Blu-rays.

RIP Best Buy. It's been an honor. 🫡

[zachary_amaryllis]

The fact that yet another retailer (Best Buy) has announced the discontinuation of DVD and BluRay sales after the 2023 Christmas season. This really doesn't come as a surprise to me from a business standpoint as one of the measures of success is how quickly the product goes from shelf to being sold. The DVD's heyday was from 1999 until 2008. After 2008, sales declined and the studios cut back on the supplemental material included in DVDs/BluRays. Costco/Sam's Club stopped selling physical media a few years ago. Many folks have also turned to a monthly streaming service, thus you need a search engine like Just Watch or Reel Good to figure out which service is carrying which film or TV show.

Look, I certainly don't want back to the "good old days" where it was the broadcasters who decided what films should be broadcast, when I should see the film, and hack it up to bits just to fit in more commercials not to mention language and content reasons. The VHS rental store opened the door to some interesting titles (albeit in 240i resolution), but it was DVDs (480i resolution) and later BluRays (1080p and then 4K) that opened the door to actually building movie and television collections... especially for an entire season or series of a TV show. While the VHS releases were usually straight dumps from the film (dirt, film fade and bad colors), the DVD and BluRay releases caused many of the studios to go back, revisit some of their back library, and perform restorations to assist in the compression of the media both in physical release as well as streaming release. Plus, the additional commentary tracks have been educational from the actors/producers/directors/composers/film historians standpoint. I've lost count of the number of niche titles that I was able to collect and view over the years, not to mention the foreign film and television titles which included not only the English dubs (of various quality), but also the original language track with subtitles.

The challenge I have with video streaming is how it's done. Video streaming utilizes codecs which can adjust the resolution and video quality due to network congestion. In addition, the studios can yank the titles from the streaming services with little to no notice, and exile it from public view. With physical copies, there is the concern about Out-of-print copies, but no studio executive will request the return of a title that I have owned for years.

That said, I haven't bought physical media in years.

Besides being a wannabe road geek, I'm also a wannabe film geek as well. So, yes, I still collect physical media. Some of the titles are definitely in the niche department.

I'm with you. Streaming isn't a great option on traditional satellite internet, and living out in the boonies, the internet sometimes goes away. If I stream, I save it locally as well. When the internet goes out, the LAN still works, and I have all my content available.

Same goes for the phone.

[HighwayStar]

Not surprised. The media companies don't want us owning content, they want it to be streaming only. I go to BestBuy once in a while, but usually only because I need something that day and can't wait for shipping. I don't buy new DVDS very often though, used is so much cheaper.