As I mentioned in my last post, the ongoing shittification of streaming has made me decide to get back into watching DVDs again.

With all the services becoming more expensive while at the same time getting encrusted with adverts, it honestly makes a lot of sense to take whatever I was spending on streaming and instead buy DVDs.

SIDENOTE: Now that streaming has taken over, you can find some really nice deals on DVDs, such as a box set containing all 6 Terminator movies for only $15. I also just bought a box set of 10 Star Trek movies for $15, and the 4 Hunger Game movies for $15.

So I went out and bought a Blu-Ray player. I know that getting into a format over a decade after its time has come and gone sounds like a dumb idea, but it actually makes sense when you think about it.

I didn’t get into Blue-ray when they first came around in 2006. They weren’t worth it given that DVDs were cheaper (and they’re still $5 cheaper) and already offered a screen resolution higher than what my TV could display. Also, Netflix was shipping DVDs, and streaming was just over the horizon, so adopting the new format just wasn’t worth the expense.

SIDENOTE: Blu-ray may have defeated HD DVDs in the marketplace, but it wasn’t much of a victory. The thing is, Blu-ray came along both too early and too late. It was too early for the TV screens where it would shine, and it was too late for the rental market, which was already collapsing at that point. (Both of my local video rental shops – an independent and a chain store – were closed by 2007, and Blockbuster didn’t last much longer.)

But things are very different today.

The thing is, my goal is to gain access to as many cheap physical media as I can, so it makes financial sense to get a Blu-ray player instead of a DVD player. The former can play the latter, and only costs around $30 more ($35 vs $65).

I don’t know that I will be buying a lot of Blu-ray discs, but the player is worth it because it gives me options. Now I can borrow Blu-rays from the library, and also if I find a movie I like in the clearance bin, I can get it without worrying about watching it.

In fact, that player is already set up, and I am currently watching Terminator: Dark Fate (I had been wanting to see it again for a while now).

image by Keith Williamson via Flickr