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BIF · Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:07 pm

I have Amazon Prime but nothing else. Not Hulu, not Netflix, nothing. So I still buy movies from the cutout bins at Walmart and Best Buy.

A lot of them come with a redemption code for a "digital copy" such as for Movies Anywhere, Ultraviolet, and maybe others. Since I buy at pawn shops, many of these codes would be redeemed already or have previously expired. But some aren't yet expired.

So my question: Do any of you redeem those? It has always seemed like a hassle to me so I never did it. But now I'm wondering if I should reconsider.

Your thoughts?

Convert · Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:28 pm

My wife has been bugging me for weeks to redeem some for her. Haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm curious if the hassle is worth it too.

astrotech66 · Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:33 pm

I redeem them all so that I can watch them from my Movies Anywhere account. It's really convenient to not have to swap out discs when you don't feel like it, but you always have that physical copy in case something goes wrong.

Topinio · Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:40 pm

No, it's all BS to me, and I buy a lot of movies. Currently Blu-ray, was DVD, before that VHS.

If the coupons were for iTunes copies, I would redeem them though. shrug.

BIF · Sat Jun 15, 2019 2:07 pm

astrotech66 wrote:
I redeem them all so that I can watch them from my Movies Anywhere account. It's really convenient to not have to swap out discs when you don't feel like it, but you always have that physical copy in case something goes wrong.

Hah, for me the "digital copy" would be the "in case something goes wrong" copy. I have actually had a couple of music CDs and several movie DVDs "spoil" over the years, to the point where they won't play anymore. I'd just be using my contingency copy as the "first copy", I guess.

I think in 10 years or less, nobody will be able to even buy music or movie content on disc. I'm just holding out as long as possible because I don't like my entertainment choices being tracked. It's nobody's business how many times I watch the Airwolf reruns, Austin Powers flicks, or how many times I listen to The Go-Go's or "The wheels on the bus". :wink:

meerkt · Sat Jun 15, 2019 2:35 pm

Do your own encodes. I assume that's better quality, too.

Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:36 am

BIF wrote:
I think in 10 years or less, nobody will be able to even buy music or movie content on disc.

Sadly, I think you may be right. Unless you count vinyl LPs; the hipsters seem to be a pretty good job of keeping those alive. :lol:

BIF wrote:
I'm just holding out as long as possible because I don't like my entertainment choices being tracked. It's nobody's business how many times I watch the Airwolf reruns, Austin Powers flicks, or how many times I listen to The Go-Go's or "The wheels on the bus".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGtYLRQh1Gk
:wink:

***

And no, I have never registered a "digital copy" of anything. The closest I come is if there's a free "AutoRip" copy of a CD I've bought on Amazon, I will usually download that to listen to before the physical CD arrives. Yeah, the Amazon rip is lossy; but it is still of higher quality than what you get over the streaming services.

Waco · Sun Jun 16, 2019 8:25 am

Nope. I just rip a copy and encode myself. Most of my discs have been read twice at most.

TheEmrys · Sun Jun 16, 2019 8:32 am

I never mess with the digital copies. If they were through Amazon, I would do it. I do, however, make my own copies for my Plex server. My rationale is that I can handle having two places where I have digital copies. One local, one remote. If I were to go down the digital copy redemption thing, I would have to keep track of what movie was with which service, the passwords for each.... It doesn't seem worth it. Particularly if they cannot be stored locally and streamed through Plex.

superjawes · Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:10 am

It is absolutely worth it to set up your Movies Anywhere account and redeem digital copies. Especially if you have Amazon and iTunes. Once linked, you only have to redeem once and the movies will appear in both libraries.

I still like physical media, but there is a space/convenience factor of having everything on a single account (or synced to several accounts).

Sargent Duck · Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:43 am

I still buy DVD's and I don't bother registering the digital copy. Seems like too much of a hassle and besides, who's to say they'll keep the service running?

I'm not worried about my DVD's wearing out or losing them.

Although there are a few dvd's that I own that refuse to play on my media center box, so I get around that by "acquiring" them through *alternate means*.

Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:25 am

Of course. Why wouldn't I? If 30 seconds to put a code in to a website is too much hassle, I can't imagine how inconvenient actually putting a disc into a player is for some people.

Movies anywhere puts a copy on every service, ie. iTunes, Amazon, Google. I used to make my own copies, but it's not really necessary anymore. If it all goes kaput, I'll just rip my discs again.

TheEmrys · Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:10 pm

superjawes wrote:
It is absolutely worth it to set up your Movies Anywhere account and redeem digital copies. Especially if you have Amazon and iTunes. Once linked, you only have to redeem once and the movies will appear in both libraries.

I still like physical media, but there is a space/convenience factor of having everything on a single account (or synced to several accounts).

Wait, wait, wait.... Movies Anywhere let's them go into Amazon? I am going to have to look into this. What if Amazon doesn't sell them?

Ifalna · Sun Jun 16, 2019 3:29 pm

BIF wrote:
So my question: Do any of you redeem those? It has always seemed like a hassle to me so I never did it. But now I'm wondering if I should reconsider.

I never could be arsed to do that.
Why would I redeem a code for an inferior streaming version?

I am still attached to the disc, simply because
a) best quality money can buy
b) no neverending sub fees that leave you with nothing once you quit even if you paid for years and years
c) entertainment when the net is down (rare but it happens)

Plopping down a month of Netflix to marathon a series I happen to like? Sure.
Outsourcing all movie entertainment to volatile streaming services? Hell no.

Even if BD went out of style and optical drives would no longer be produced, I could still rip the discs at that point in time.

BIF wrote:
astrotech66 wrote:
I think in 10 years or less, nobody will be able to even buy music or movie content on disc.

I seriously doubt it. Esp when so many people in rural areas still have crappy internet speeds. I don't see that changing anytime soon b/c there is not enough money in it for the telecommunication corps.

Usacomp2k3 · Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:35 pm

Always. I’ve got quite a few on my VUDU account that I redeemed. It’s nice to have that as an option.

meerkt · Sun Jun 16, 2019 6:43 pm

Ifalna wrote:
I seriously doubt it. Esp when so many people in rural areas still have crappy internet speeds. I don't see that changing anytime soon b/c there is not enough money in it for the telecommunication corps.

SpaceX's Starlink, and similar.

superjawes · Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:22 am

Ifalna wrote:
BIF wrote:
So my question: Do any of you redeem those? It has always seemed like a hassle to me so I never did it. But now I'm wondering if I should reconsider.

I never could be arsed to do that.
Why would I redeem a code for an inferior streaming version?

Because you still have the physical disk? Because you can still rip a digital copy later? Because having another option do watch the exact same thing is generally a good thing?

Why wouldn't you redeem a code? I get not using it, opting to use the disk for regular viewing, but it's never a bad idea another option, especially when that option means I don't have to carry around my movie collection to show things to family and friends.

TheEmrys wrote:
Wait, wait, wait.... Movies Anywhere let's them go into Amazon? I am going to have to look into this. What if Amazon doesn't sell them?

I mean I've yet to encounter a movie that isn't available on Amazon. I couldn't tell you how it works for older stuff, but last week my wife brought home three movies that released in the last year. All three had Movies Anywhere options, and all three showed up in my iTunes and Amazon accounts.

pikaporeon · Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:34 am

A few movies years ago I redeemed on iTunes (Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Scott Pilgrim vs the World), mostly because at the time I was fully in the iPhone ecosystem and it was easier than rip/transcode to get it to my phone or tablet.

Haven't really bothered since

I'm more likely to redeem MP3 copies of albums I buy on vinyl, just because it's easier to get it to the iPod Classic powering my car stereo

demolition · Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:37 am

I tried doing it once just to check it out. Obviously it was DRM-infected and the quality was horrible so I really couldn't see the reason to use it as I would never watch that version. I can see that it kinda makes sense if you can use it to activate the movie on other services that you already use, but I do not have Amazon or Itunes either (they were both severely handicapped where I live last I checked and didn't carry any of the shows that I wanted to watch) so that still doesn't do it for me.

I want the best quality audio and video and I don't mind having to handle a physical media to get that.

superjawes wrote:
Why wouldn't you redeem a code?

Because redeeming the code enables them to track your movie interests? It may seem relatively harmless in itself, but combined with other data it can be used for some quite powerful stuff and could make you buy stuff that you wouldn't have bought otherwise (and thus, probably don't really need). When I buy a physical BD, they can just tell that someone bought it but not who.

Arvald · Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:49 am

My issues with digital copy.
initial ones were 1 year license started day of release on DVD. it did not state this on the package.

Ultraviolet service shutting down. this was a big service, back in the earlier days seems they did remastering of older movies to be DVD and Blu-ray quality.
Later they were just a streaming service. At least they are letting you transfer the license to other providers but one of mine is not showing up in the new provider.
Once they close for good in the next month there will be no way to register the digital copies of "legacy" movies.

Digital copy is DRMed like crazy and needs a specific app. this has you searching over several apps to figure out where your movie is.

Bought 4k movie and got DVD or Blu-ray digital copy.

srg86 · Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:57 am

Meh seems more hassle than it's worth, I just put the disc in. Changing Discs simply isn't a hassle to me. That said, if we have something on disc, but it's still available on Netflix, Amazon Prime etc for no extra charge, we may watch that, but I wouldn't go out of my way to redeem though.

To me, with all the DRM, they just feel like a scam.

Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:16 am

srg86 wrote:
Meh seems more hassle than it's worth, I just put the disc in. Changing Discs simply isn't a hassle to me.

It also means you need to get up off the couch every couple of hours, which is probably a good thing! :lol:

srg86 wrote:
To me, with all the DRM, they just feel like a scam.

DVD and BD have DRM too.

demolition · Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:24 am

srg86 wrote:
To me, with all the DRM, they just feel like a scam.

You would have thought by now they've learned that they need to provide something better than pirated versions if they want to defeat it. Piracy used to be a problem mainly because pirated versions were less hassle to get and the quality was better than low-bitrate DRM'ed versions (be it movies or music). Streaming services have now absorbed a big chunk of that market so for this 'digital copy' to make sense, it should just be a code which could be redeemed across all services that carry the movie be it Amazon, Netflix etc. instead of having a separate service for it.

just brew it! wrote:
DVD and BD have DRM too.

True, but you will still be able to watch the movie even if company goes under and their servers are shut down. Okay, it may not be the case for all BDs as they can allow for some online-validation but my feeling is that it is not widely used (only for some extra features).

Usacomp2k3 · Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:27 am

If people don't want to do it, that's their choice. I personally don't understand it. I havne't used the vast majority of mine, but if I'm on my phone or at my computer and just want to watch "that one scene" from Jurassic Park or Pitch Perfect, I can open the Vudu app and be there in about 15 seconds from anywhere in the world (well region locks, so maybe just anywhere in the US). It's nice to have that option, especially when it is free.

demolition · Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:29 am

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
It's nice to have that option, especially when it is free.

https://blogs.harvard.edu/futureofthein ... e-product/
:-)

TurtlePerson2 · Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:36 am

Movies Anywhere is portable, not just in the sense that your movies can go anywhere on your device, but in the sense that the licenses are available on a number of different platforms. This is especially important when you have an older device like my iPad (Gen 3), that no longer supports the latest apps. If you can access the movie apps for Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. then you can download your movie and watch it on the plane.

Now that I understand Movies Anywhere, I probably wouldn't buy a disc that didn't come with it. The quality might not be the same as a Blu-Ray, but I can watch it on the plane, which means that I don't need a video subscription for flights.

Usacomp2k3 · Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:03 am

demolition wrote:
Usacomp2k3 wrote:
It's nice to have that option, especially when it is free.

https://blogs.harvard.edu/futureofthein ... e-product/

Very true.. In this particular case, it's a small enough portion of my watching that I don't mind giving them that data. I won't disparage those that don't want to.

Bomber · Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:07 pm

I'll toss one more for the Movies Anywhere reason. Connect your accounts and Amazon, iTunes, Microsoft, Google, Vudu pluse Movies Anywhere. For mobile use this is ideal. Choose your poison and it's available. My Movies Anywhere account is 160 odd movies strong. Though I buy fewer movies than that. I snipe my parent's and in-law's codes when they buy movies.

cphite · Mon Jun 17, 2019 1:26 pm

BIF wrote:
astrotech66 wrote:
I redeem them all so that I can watch them from my Movies Anywhere account. It's really convenient to not have to swap out discs when you don't feel like it, but you always have that physical copy in case something goes wrong.
Hah, for me the "digital copy" would be the "in case something goes wrong" copy. I have actually had a couple of music CDs and several movie DVDs "spoil" over the years, to the point where they won't play anymore. I'd just be using my contingency copy as the "first copy", I guess.

I never bother with digital copies... if I want to watch a movie on the go there are countless options between Netflix and Amazon and Tubi and whatever else I'm subscribed to...

I don't recall ever having a DVD go bad... I guess it's possible but seems unlikely if they're stored properly.

I think in 10 years or less, nobody will be able to even buy music or movie content on disc. I'm just holding out as long as possible because I don't like my entertainment choices being tracked. It's nobody's business how many times I watch the Airwolf reruns, Austin Powers flicks, or how many times I listen to The Go-Go's or "The wheels on the bus".

In truth, no person actually cares how many times you watch those things^*. To the systems that are track that information, "you" are nothing but a randomly generated ID number, and the information is used to decide what other movies to recommend to you.

^*By that I mean, no person at the streaming media company... your neighbor across the street with the binoculars is another matter entirely.

Ifalna · Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:45 pm

superjawes wrote:
Why wouldn't you redeem a code? I get not using it, opting to use the disk for regular viewing, but it's never a bad idea another option, especially when that option means I don't have to carry around my movie collection to show things to family and friends.

Dunno, I'm not exactly a movie buff. It is rare that I watch them with other people because I do not visit other people to stare into a box for 2 hrs. I can do that at home.

Even so, taking a tiny disc case with me it no hassle at all, since i take my house boots etc with me anyway so there is always a backpack transport ready.

I do not watch movies on mobile devices. At all. Either big screen and good sound or I rather just listen to music (e.g. in the bus etc).

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