Are DVDs worth the investment any more?

[boukilisa]

Maybe streaming is the way most people are going now. It seems so much harder to trade or sell DVD workouts now. Even vidoes that used to be considered high value (like Cathe or KB videos) are much slower to move. Are DVDs going the way of video tapes?

[Peggy T]

I live in the boonies so I don't see me streaming ANYTHING any time soon, LOL!

[Sue B]

DVDs are more tradeable than streaming videos If you like a DVD, then it's a great investment.

[mtnmom]

It takes some technical savvy to hook up streaming to TV, and I think there are far too many of us who don't have the know-how or finances to do it.

I think the main reasons DVDs are harder to sell and trade these days is the abundance of new workouts that are produced, as well as bootlegs that are on the market.

[Kesal]

Originally Posted by mtnmom

It takes some technical savvy to hook up streaming to TV, and I think there are far too many of us who don't have the know-how or finances to do it.

I think the main reasons DVDs are harder to sell and trade these days is the abundance of new workouts that are produced, as well as bootlegs that are on the market.

I agree. It used to be that there was a lot less variety. Also, people (me included) seem to be much more interested in newly released workouts than old ones. Looking at exchange listings, how many people are looking for workouts more than a couple years old? Vs people looking for workouts that have barely been release (or maybe even that haven't been released yet)?

[dela]

Still DVDs for me, I have not put the effort into how to trade well, so I don't buy them with trade equity in mind. I don't want to deal with streaming quite yet.

[mtngoat]

I have never traded, so that is not an issue for me.

I prefer downloads to DVDs now, providing that the quality of the download is sufficiently high. As an example, Cathe's downloads are of good quality. (I recently purchased a download which is of very, very low quality. I was very disappointed - it had several workouts mashed into one file with no chaptering, and the resolution was such that it only looks good on the ipod screen. At least with a DVD you know what you are getting.)

I currently prefer downloads to streaming, simply because I don't always have access to wifi. (And I like to have something kinda tangible in my greedy little hands!)

[Juliepie]

Originally Posted by mtngoat

I have never traded, so that is not an issue for me.

Just curious as to why you have never traded...

Do you always make the right choices when choosing workouts, and you never change your mind and then change it back again...like so many of us vidiots?

[Eibhinn]

Given the difficulty people are increasingly having selling or trading DVDs, I don't think most releases can really be looked at as an investment any longer, as you're unlikely to recoup much of the initial outlay in the future. However, I still feel like DVDs are a better deal than digital copies - especially anything involving streaming --- especially given many cost nearly the same as DVDs.

It's easy to preserve and protect DVDs and, as physical assets, they can be covered by insurance in case anything extreme happens and you lose your collection. There are a host of potential problems with digital copies:

- compatability issues: I don't think DVD players are going away anytime, but files often became incompatible/unreadable with newer versions of programs, or can become corrupted.
- data loss: it's pretty easy to lose files, and most vendors won't guarantee you a backup copy if it happens.
- internet issues: many people have to pay by data use, so streaming workouts continue to cost you more each time you use them. If you have slow internet access, downloads aren't even an option.

I can see digital options, especially streaming, being a good option for variety junkies, assuming they're cheaper than DVDs. But, just as an example, I paid $15 for a copy of Yoga Shakti about eight years ago and have used it literally hundreds of times, and will probably continue to use it for many years to come. The disc is still in perfect shape, because I take care of my things, and I could probably easily trade or sell it tomorrow if I wanted. If my house burns down tomorrow (god forbid) I can replace it with insurance money. In that 8 year period, I've gone through three computers, one after the motherboard fried, causing us to lose everything on the hard drives. Even though I was an early adapter in terms of digital audio and video files, I only have one or two files that I used eight years ago, and I don't anticipate probably using any of the digital files I use now in eight years time.

This is my long winded way to say - no - I don't think you can ever look at digital files as an investment of any kind. When you spend money on something intangible like that, you have to face the fact that it's gone forever, and likely for something more temporary than if you bought something material.

[mrsyancy]

i'm actually like mtngot....i've never traded, so it's not an issue for me either.....not that i absloutely love every dvd that i've ever bought....but i feel like all the dvds that i have bought i can use them in some form or another......and plus i have soooooo many dvds that it's not an issue if i didn't like a particular dvd(i have over 300...lol)........i definitely can't see me streaming any time soon.....i am technologically challenged....lol....so i am going to stick with what i know for now....and right now that's dvds and maybe soon.................downloads....gulp.....lol