Could we see a return to physical media?

Unless you’re a teenager, you grew up in a world dominated by physical media. Maybe it was a 33 or 45. Perhaps a cassette or 8-track was your medium of choice. Perhaps a VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray disc kept your attention while you were absorbing the latest pop culture. But, for the last decade or so, it’s been all about streaming. Few of us think to buy physical media anymore. We prefer to stream from a library of a million songs or watch videos from any one of a hundred apps.

I can’t help wondering if that’s all about to change. I can’t help wondering if we’re about to return to physical media, and with the blessing of those companies who own the content. Here’s why.

Call it the “stupid threshold.”

Most of us have gone through a generational change from one form of media to another several times. Having done it plenty of times myself, I have come to the conclusion that there are two reasons why someone will give up one form of media for another. In the most common scenario, the new form of media is better. CDs, for example, had better quality than cassettes. They were more durable. They held more music. This is a perfect example. You wanted to buy the White Album again, even though you’d bought it on vinyl, 8-track, and cassette. You wanted to hear it on CD. And this is a win for everyone. The customer feels like they’re getting value, and they give up their money.

And then there’s the other scenario. In this other scenario, the old medium gets so stupid that you’re actually willing to give something up to get away from it. Think about it. In 2000, you could go to a local video store and come home with the latest rental within a few minutes. Why would you wait a week to get a DVD mailed to you? Because the video store had crossed “the stupid threshold.” They never had the movie you wanted. Their new release wall had stuff from five years ago. The late fees were just plain ridiculous. They were so stupid that they crossed over some imaginary line. You happily waited a week for a movie because you knew it would come.

A decade or so later, mailed-in DVDs gave way to streaming because it often took 10 minutes to get to the movie, with all the warnings and commercials. Personally I started streaming because it was faster to stream something from halfway across the country than walk halfway across the room and get the DVD. That, my friends, is the “stupid threshold.”

And, it seems like we’re crossing it again

A few years ago, streaming services started multiplying. The big fear was that they would lock in the content they owned. If you wanted a Universal Studios movie, Peacock would be the only place you’d get it. There was a fear that Disney would lock all its content behind a wall, and that there would be no place to get Paramount content other than Paramount+. Funny thing is, it didn’t happen like that.

There have been, to date, six Mission: Impossible films. They were originally based on a TV series produced by Desilu in the 1960s. Desilu was sold to Paramount, and in the years since the film franchise has made about 24 gadzillion dollars. Knowing what you know, you’d think that you could get all six films on Paramount+. But, that isn’t true. I first complained about this close to two years ago: It’s very rare to find a whole film franchise on one app. It’s more true than ever today, unless you’re talking about Marvel or Star Wars. While Disney has done a good job of keeping it together, most franchises can only be found if you have a half dozen streaming services. And some can only be found if you have physical media.

This is another example of the stupid threshold at work.

Not exactly a mixed message

It seems like these studios are giving you a pretty clear message, not mixed at all. They are telling you that there’s a title that’s important to you, buying it on physical media is the only way to know for sure it’s going to be available when you want it. And I simply don’t know why that is.

You would think that these streaming apps would be smart enough to cater to completists without selling physical discs. But apparently they’re not. And it’s not just franchise movies. If you’re looking for anything made before 1980, well, good luck. And I personally think there’s a lot of good films made before 1980. Some aren’t available for purchase on streaming, and others never went to streaming at all.

Look, I’m not one of those folks who think that businesses have a “responsibility” to serve the public by providing common sense solutions. I’m not one of those folks who ignores the profit motive that made this country what it is. But I do kinda wonder what the motivation is for just plain annoying your customers. I want to ask the heads of the major studios, do you really think people will fall for this sort of thing indefinitely? They won’t. If you make your stuff hard to find, people will just… stop looking.

And eventually, the only people who will want those old films will be old folks like me. Is that a really good solution?