Do you remember when you would grab a bowl of popcorn, cuddle up on the couch, and pop in your favorite DVD? For me it was usually something that I had seen a hundred times before like "You've got Mail" or "While you were Sleeping."
But when was the last time you watched, purchased, or were gifted a DVD? For you young couples, do you even have a DVD player in your home??
This past year when we built our house I designed lower cabinets in my fireplace built-ins with the specific purpose of housing my modest collection of DVDs from my teenage years. They're like my old friends that I look back on with fondness, but never take the time to actually visit or chat.
I hold on to them, but I don't really know why.
A while ago (about 2012) Macintosh decided that discs were obsolete. Now none of their products feature disc drives. This was one of the many reasons I was hesitant to go the Mac route (despite ALL of the industry pressure to do so!) but after my 5th PC in a span of 7 years dramatically bit the dust... I got fed up and gave in to the shiny, half-eaten apple.
DVD authoring software used to come free on most every computer. But with each year that passes (and each new update to my PC laptop) it gets more and more difficult to burn a simple DVD. When I started offering videography services I asked around to see what software others in the industry were using to burn DVDs for their clients. I probably shouldn't have been shocked to discover that no one was delivering DVDs. Few were even delivering physical thumb drives either. Digital download is the industry standard, but that's not what I wanted to do.
But it's what I have to do...
- DVDs are not high definition.
- DVD authoring software is impossible to find and even harder to get support for.
- DVD drives are disappearing. It's harder and harder to find ways to play DVDs. While I don't think discs will completely die for a while, have you tried to purchase a DVD player lately?? I have. It's not as easy (or as affordable) as it should be!
I still love DVDs and I don't like to be told what's in my best interest. I want to decide for myself. Maybe I'm just and old romantic holding on to the past but I feel like I've been bullied into giving it up.
So when my laptop PC ran un update last week and my DVD authoring software stopped working I spent five or six hours researching a fix, calling customer service, looking for new software... Only to find that many others were having similar issues. They don't even offer my software for purchase any more (and I bought it just a few months ago when my former software also bit the dust!) I have made the difficult decision to put down my old friend the DVD, and no longer offer that product to my clients.
Many of you have probably already embraced the fact that DVDs are dead, but for any out there that feel the way that I do, do not dwell in sorrow! I really believe that digital is just as (if not more convenient) means of enjoying your wedding videos:
- Most modern TVs allow for video playback via your jump drive connected to the USB port. (Some older TVs have a USB port but only support images and audio)
- You can watch your high definition video on your computer (through the jump drive, or online).
- You can use smart TV or streaming devices to access your web-hosted video content.
- You can screen cast your web-hosted video from your phone.
- (Best yet) Unlike DVD, you can easily copy and share your digital video file with your family and friends to your heart's content!
If you've stuck with me this long, let us give our old friend, the DVD, a salute for the many years of happy times it's provided us. Even for the times we threatened to "accidentally break" that one Disney movie with the little snowman and all that singing that our kids would play on repeat five times a day until we lost all of our little-remaining sanity. I will now do as you say and try to just...
"Let it go."
