Like the TV repair shops of "olden days," the end of the video store as we know them, had to come sometime. Don’t tell Hollywood Video or Blockbuster just yet. Let them enjoy one last holiday season, where blustery Saturday afternoons bring the folks in, to find just the right video to watch that evening, cuddled up next to a warm fire. But the cold truth is soon to hit, like the winds of November, that their brick and mortar business model is simply not viable anymore.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor
Projection Monthly

This was brought home in the latest announcement from CinemaNow-that 21st century digital download replacement to the local vide store. With the new deal the company cut with Sonic Solution’s, movies can be recorded onto DVD on the customer’s computer for permanent archive by means of the Qflix DVD burning technology.

The company said its burnable offerings will include all major movie and television releases from Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Brothers. Hollywood was eager to sign up in part because the Qflix technology comes with Content Scramble System (CSS) encryption technology. Content burned to recordable DVD’s using Qflix will preserve the DRM content protection to prevent multigenerational copying. Not to mention the greatly reduced distribution costs.

The group said that videos purchased through CinemaNow for download to a PC will be burnable to recordable DVDs for "archival" purposes. All downloadable content will be compatible with standard DVD players, and content prices will range from $1.99 to $19.95 each.

Curt Marvis, CinemaNow CEO said "Our commitment to enhancing the digital entertainment experience has driven CinemaNow to develop a comprehensive set of tools that…" yada, yada. No offence, but this is a simple 21st century business plan that lines the pockets of the Hollywood studio’s by reducing costs, as it shifts the replication burden to the consumer-because they can.

CinemaNow really does little to "enhance the digital entertainment experience." If anything, it makes that experience a pain in the derrière, as most folks would not consider having to download, then burn a DVD an "enhancing experience."

Just what may be lost on the digital download set is the fact that part of the pre-packaged DVD value proposition is in the packaging and distribution of a tangible asset. Yes, Hollywood content is quintessentially one’s and zero’s being read by my (currently red laser) DVD player. But, the original cover art, case and even the DVD disc are part of the DVD value that the download model intentionally omits.

And what about the "archive" as they put it. Most folks call this their "DVD collection" that suddenly now will be "enhanced" by a stack of raw DVD disc’s with sharpie labels scrawled on top instead of the slick cover art and case.

All this built on the premise that the "convenience factor" of digital downloads will win out over brick and mortar shopping. In the end, yes admittedly, some form of digital download and perhaps DVD burning will probably win out. When it finally does, think of the convenience, no driving down autumn-tree filled streets to browse the video isles with your neighbors. Yes something will be lost. But perhaps not as soon as some would like.

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