I am lucky enough to have grown up in the greatest era of film, and film consumption, in the history of Earth. I was a kid in the 90s, the greatest decade of film. I was raised on VHS, the greatest way to watch a film. And I distinctly remember how absolutely blown away I was the first time I saw a DVD.
Going to Blockbuster was a massive deal. It’s impossible to explain the almost religious experience of walking into a Blockbuster, rummaging through the new releases, only to have to settle for The Mummy for the 32nd time because what you wanted was sold out. But that’s what made it so electric. You see, there was a time where you didn’t always get what you wanted as soon as you wanted it. And the crazier part was nobody complained, we just rented our 6 movies, bought our 3-year-old bag of popcorn, paid our late fees, and went home for movie night.
Watching a VHS will forever be the greatest film-to-consumer distribution contraption. You were hesitant to stop it or rewind it, in the event that your faulty VHS player completely ruined the VHS. So, you sat as a family and you watched the film like cavepeople, together, and without your phones.
Then, one day in 1997, I walked into my local Blockbuster, high-fived Jason at the front counter, and made my way directly to where I knew Good Burger was residing. 7-year-old Jay, without a care in the world, trying for the third time to rent the coveted Nickelodeon masterpiece that all my friends were raving about. Then, I saw it. Nestled in the corner under new releases, juxtaposed with its larger in stature VHS shelf companions, was the DVD Twister.
I didn’t know it yet, but the game had changed. It wasn’t until later that I realized the groundbreaking capabilities of the DVD. If I didn’t want to watch the first 30 minutes, no problem, I would simply go to “Scene Selection” and start where I wanted. No more fast-forwarding. After you finished the movie, you just ejected it. No more rewinding.
My love for film was birthed from the films that I watched on DVD. After a short time, it wasn’t simply new releases that were on DVD; it was the classics as well. My introduction to classics like Jaws, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Finding Nemo all came by way of the DVD. At one point, it was cool to have a DVD collection, and I, of course, had one. If the VHS was the best way to watch a film, the DVD was by far the coolest.
The end of an era
I read this Friday that Best Buy, due to a “decline in physical media,” will no longer sell DVDs. Now, for those of you that don’t know what Best Buy is, it is like a Toys R Us for adults. Robot vacuums, TVs, refrigerators, stereo systems for your house and car, phones, cameras, and yes, DVDs. They offered a huge selection all perfectly shelved and perfectly categorized to maximize your film shopping experience. And just like that, they’re gone.
Now, this is not the end of DVDs for good. Retail stores like Walmart and Target will still continue to sell physical media, and Redbox still, believe it or not, exists. However, according to The Pit, in its mid-year report, Digital Entertainment Group stated that physical media revenue in the United States dropped 28% from $1.05 billion to $754 million. But this news, coupled with the fact that Netflix stopped shipping DVDs two weeks ago, is pretty sombering. Physical media is dying.
Couple takeaways. One, that is a massive drop. Two, I honestly cannot believe $754 million worth of DVDs are still sold. I mean, as much as my nostalgia is taking a hit from this news, and as pro-DVD as I am, I haven’t even thought about watching a DVD in at least 4 years. But, I guess there remains a market so not all is lost. What is scary is when Best Buy releases their 2024 earnings and whatever replaces the space previously taken by DVDs turns out to be extremely profitable, goodbye DVDs.
Even though physical media is dying, it doesn’t mean it’s dead. And quite frankly the pettiness from Barnes and Noble, the largest retailer of books in the U.S., takes a little bit of the sting away.
This news is not at all shocking given where we are with streaming. But it does hurt a little. Life is so busy. I try to be a good husband, a good person, and a good father, and even when I get a chance to sit and watch a movie, I am quick to hit pause or not even finish it. DVDs, to me, represent a time in my life where life was just a little simpler, a little slower. A time when the biggest problem I could have was whether or not there was a scratch on my DVD rental. And, I guess it’s just a shame that like most other things I enjoyed as a kid, DVDs are dying as well.
