The other day, I wrote about Netflix ending its DVD plan, and the challenge I had figuring out which "final" DVD I wanted to get, which I'd be allowed to keep. And I ended up choosing the classic TV special, Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight!, adapted from his one-man Broadway show.
As I noted, though I get chided for it (wrongly, I might add, as I think will become clear), I like DVDs for several reasons. I think they handle fast-forwarding much better than streaming, DVDs include "extras" which I occasionally like to check out -- streaming video generally only offer the movies, and there are movies, TV series and TV specials available on DVD that are not available for streaming. Those are all personal reasons, I know, but I think they're good ones. Not everyone might care about them all (or any), but that's life. However, there is a larger principle that I realized a few months back when Netflix announced its decision to drop DVDs. It's related to availability, but on a far more significant level. DVDs always exist and are available as physical entities anyone can have, but a streaming service can remove movies and TV shows from their library -- and regularly do -- and so they cease to exist. I not only thing this is a personal problem, not being able to find something you want to watch, but even more, I think is is a potential huge problem for cultural "history." I mentioned this is a screenwriter friend who didn't know why I kept insisting on sticking with DVDs. He loves streaming. But when I mentioned this, he had a sort of "lightbulb" moment. He said that over the years, his movies generated a nice sum of WGA royalties for him. Being able to own a downloaded a copy on a website to rent is not the same thing. And he pointed to the music industry. As he asked, "How can a playlist possibly compete with a collection of LPs" And that is spot on. His personal experience is Exhibit A. But I’ll go even a big step further -- not only can a lot of streaming material not be downloaded to own, even if one wanted to, and rented only…but a ton of material isn’t even available to stream! (One quick example: “Mart Twain Tonight!” -- the DVD I selected as my last DVD so I could keep it -- is not available to stream, period, at least not on Amazon Prime or Netflix. Only DVD. That’s the main reason I chose it as my last the DVD.) It’s actually (I think) a very huge problem with the entertainment industry’s full reliance on streaming, a point driven home all the more by Netflix dropping DVDs -- which has gone near-unreported. I’m not even sure how significant the various Guild’s have addressed it (not that they can do much, I suspect, other than draw attention to it.) They most I’ve seen is individual producers or directors complain when their movie or TV series has been taken out of the rotation of a streaming service that has exclusive rights to it. And that’s the other thing -- services buy the exclusive rights to stream things. So, if -- for example -- Netflix or Disney+ or Apple+ buys the sole rights to a movie or TV series and then drops it from circulation, everyone is out of luck. Arguably forever. Previously, it was up to individuals and the public to decide what they want to keep and move the popular culture of a society. Now, that's becoming more the decision of a corporations bottom line. Up to now, this hasn't been an issue as new technologies arrive. Wax cylinders gave way to records which gave way to LP albums which gave way to reel-to-reel tape which gave way to cassettes which gave way to CDs. Even MP3 files are physical entities you can have copies of. VHS tapes gave way to DVDs. There were always physical copies available that helped spready the cultural history of society. With streaming -- that's dwindling. Put this in another perspective -- though eBooks have grown in popularity, and who knows?, may one day eliminate hardcopy books, libraries still exist as a repository for literary culture going back a hundred years. Actually hundreds of years, in some cases -- and even in scholastic settings, a thousand years. While libraries certainly could disappear, it's not imminent. Nor arguably, probable...especially if one considers the reality of digital e-libraries. In fact, eBooks have shown themselves as a vibrant and economical way to preserve old literature, with numerous projects digitizing books and making them not only available as content for individuals, but free. That's a world aside from streaming, where corporations own the rights to what they'll stream. And if something is taken out of "rotation," it largely ceases to exist. Hopefully, this will be something that gains attention as DVDs disappear, and people begin to discover that much of what they want to see is gone. Here's hoping.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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