It was 1998 when I first started collecting DVDs, and oh
what a time it was. Buy one get ones were all over the web, it was difficult to
pay more than five or six bucks for a disc back then, if you knew where to go.
It was the golden age of collecting and in a very real way, it was responsible
for the super fast adoption of DVD.
Blu-Ray has seen its share of buy 2 get one deals, super
special pricing and so forth, but it in no way compares to the early days of
DVD. It was the perfect storm. I was working for an online company at the time
and was very in-tune with the fledgling industry as a whole. The rise of the
internet played a big part in the surge of consumer technology. New product
news traveled fast and people wanted it, now.
The general idea behind internet sales sites was not to make
money, at least not for a few years or even a decade. It was all about being
cool and getting as many customers in your doors as possible. Music, movies and
book sales were the driving force behind Amazon and many other companies, they
practically gave away the media. Just to ensure they were not going to make any
money soon, they often threw in free shipping.
I miss those days but I also realize that they had to end in
order for these companies to survive. I grit my teeth when I look at prices for
new releases and have had to adopt a different mindset when adding to my
collection. In the old days. I bought everything the week it came out, assuming
it had received high ratings for picture and sound quality. Today it is more
difficult to get me out there on any given Tuesday, I can wait most of the
time.
Waiting serves two purposes and unless I absolutely know I
have to get the movie, I wait. First off, waiting means the price will come
down, way down in most cases. Second, I end up finding I really didn't need the
movie. I rent it and will probably never watch it again.
Waiting was unthinkable before, I would miss out on the good
deals... hey, wait a minute... you know what? That old marketing ploy actually
worked. Amazon got me collecting on the cheap, they hooked me like a pusher
births a junkie. All those years ago I thought I was taking advantage of these
companies but they were just waiting for my addiction to fully kick in.
I don't collect as much crap as I used to and I figure the
stores I buy at are even making a little money off of me now. Perhaps Blu-Ray
needs to go out and offer up a few cheap highs to the public. It worked in the
past, besides, I could deal with a good sale on Blu-Ray movies right now. I
still have a taste for the addiction but I am staying on the wagon, at least
for now.