Truth, Justice, and the Digital Way

September 18, 2005 9:20 PM

Okay, I admit it. I have a DVD player, and I even have a TV ... that I watch! I didn't find myself buying many DVDs though, until I discovered that I could waste my money buying TV shows on DVD, finding the ones I like usually through word of (mostly analog, sometimes digital) mouth. When deciding whether or not to Netflix and/or buy Smallville, I came across DVD Verdict, and I found the site's conceit--to present each review of a particular DVD as one would present evidence in a trial, then deliver a verdict--to be charming rather than annoying. Chalk it up to generally good and entertaining writing, and very in-depth DVD reviews. Oh, the site's authors like Smallville. But then their motto is "truth, justice, and the digital way"...when it's not "making the jump from heroin to digital smoother since 1999".
posted by WolfDaddy (16 comments total)

Yup. DVD Verdict is great. I've long enjoyed both the writing and the idea of separating the review of the movie from the DVD -- many of these DVD review sites don't seem to realize that a great movie can have a crummy DVD release, and vice versa.
posted by Vidiot at 9:43 PM on September 18, 2005

Of course, you can also download tv shows and burn them to DVD, which is illegal, yet suspiciously more convenient.
posted by iamck at 10:42 PM on September 18, 2005

It's always great when an FPP reads like a press release.
posted by delmoi at 11:12 PM on September 18, 2005

Yeah, press releases written in the first person are always suspect.
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:38 PM on September 18, 2005

Arghh! Save ye dubloons and use a pirate ship instead. Blarrrgh!
posted by furtive at 4:55 AM on September 19, 2005

The only TV I watch is illegally downloaded. Quite honestly, if through some miracle all the download sites were shut down, and the only way to watch TV was to turn on a TV, I would never watch TV again. If my partner wasn't such a Coronation Street junkie, our television would be out on the curb.
posted by neek at 5:00 AM on September 19, 2005

The problem with TV on DVD is that you end up watching all of the first season of 24 in one day.
posted by srboisvert at 6:44 AM on September 19, 2005

Tivo + networked computer + DVD burner = cheaper + happy + pie

Pie is just the residual that is supposed to come from the reaction; have yet to see evidence of the pie though. Whoo, used Chemistry 101!
posted by cleverusername at 7:16 AM on September 19, 2005

1. "Buy"DVD
2. Rent same DVD drom Netflix(because you don't want to mess up the DVD you "bought")
3. Back up DVD
4. Return Netflix DVD
5. Enjoy your legal backup, though it seems some people forget step 1.
posted by MrMulan at 7:46 AM on September 19, 2005

The problem with TV on DVD is that you end up watching all of the first season of 24 in one day.

True dat.

And then if you try watching tv as it airs, you wonder why the hell you can't just finish the rest of the series up NOW. God forbid the show take a week off. Or even worse, take a hiatus until January (stupid Sci Fi).
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:47 AM on September 19, 2005

Netflix is about 300 times easier than downloading a torrent.

1. find a torrent site, like mini nova

2. find a torrent of a show you like, and it had better not be anything besides Alias or Cattlecar galactica, or maybe some weird fetish anime.

3. download torrent at 30k/sec

4. hope your isp doesn't get pissed and cut you off

5. attempt to play file. Realize you are missing an exotic codec

6. look for codec, wading through porn popups. Hope your wife doesn't walk in

7. realize you've spent 4-6 hours to get a $25 dvd that you could have rented from netflix for approximately $1.50
(12 bucks a month, 8 dvds rented per month)
posted by craniac at 9:46 AM on September 19, 2005

Downloading TV shows is easier than that craniac, although I think your point is correct. Just rent the damn DVDs and copy them if you want, but really how many times are you going to watch a season of 24? MrMulan, you are nuts if you think copying a rented DVD is legal. A fair use backup is justified when you own the original not when you are borrowing or renting the original.
posted by monkeyman at 10:26 AM on September 19, 2005

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that I liked the website.
posted by monkeyman at 10:34 AM on September 19, 2005

monkeyman, you forgot to take to heart though it seems some people forget step 1. - methinks that craniac was being blithe.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 11:05 AM on September 19, 2005

The one bad thing about getting an LCD monitor is that I can no longer use my PC as a TV to watch from across the room. Sigh.

Of course I download tv episodes to watch ... that's what I meant by alluding to "word of digital mouth". But how, exactly, is pirating stuff and then burning it to your own DVDs "free" or easier than buying a boxed set? You have to buy a burner (if you don't have one), you have to buy the blank DVDs, you have to educate yourself how to rip and burn a DVD--it's still not all that easy process for the casual DVD consumer/PC user--else wait for however long it takes to download someone else's work. If you're not willing to wait for a boxed set of a show, you might have to further figure out how to make rips from your TiVo, which means you might have to buy a TiVo. And pay for a monthly cable subscription. You're spending money and your own time to do all these things. It's not "free". I'd rather run down to Fry's and plunk down the cash ... I want it NOW daddy. As an aside and apropros of nothing other than the slight irony involved, the people I know who have the most DVD boxed sets I've ever seen ... work for TiVo.

Also? Bittorrent/Usenet/P2P networks are fine if the show you're wanting to watch (and watch NOW, daddy!) is relatively popular or current. But go try downloading Sports Night. See you next month.
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:26 AM on September 19, 2005

craniac : "Netflix is about 300 times easier than downloading a torrent.

1. find a torrent site, like mini nova

2. find a torrent of a show you like, and it had better not be anything besides Alias or Cattlecar galactica, or maybe some weird fetish anime.

3. download torrent at 30k/sec

4. hope your isp doesn't get pissed and cut you off

5. attempt to play file. Realize you are missing an exotic codec

6. look for codec, wading through porn popups. Hope your wife doesn't walk in

7. realize you've spent 4-6 hours to get a $25 dvd that you could have rented from netflix for approximately $1.50
(12 bucks a month, 8 dvds rented per month)"

True, but that's only the first one or two times. After that, (1) is done, (2) is partially done (since you've found a decent torrent site in (1), all you have to do now is type in the word), (4) isn't an issue (or at least never has been for me or anyone that I know, though I understand that there may be regional differences), (5) has been hammered out with one of those "all-in-one-codex" downloads, and (6) is similarly solved.

So in the end, you get the following flow:
1) Go to your favorite torrent site
2) Find a torrent for a show you like
3) Download torrent at 30K/sec
4) Realize you spent 5 minutes of effort, and 4-6 hours of waiting, to get for free a $25 DVD that you could have gotten with 30 minutes of effort by driving to the store, or for $1.50 with 5 minutes of effort and 24 - 72 hours of waiting via Netflix.

Let's chart that for simplicity:


Not that I'm trying to convince anyone that torrenting is good. It has its problems (WoflDaddy points out one). Just that of the arguments against torrenting, this 7 point breakdown is one of the far sillier.
posted by Bugbread at 8:31 PM on September 19, 2005