this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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DVD really started to take off at the turn of the millennium, with prices for new players plummeting below $100 (USD) by the end of 2002. VHS was basically dead by 2005, with A History of Violence being the last movie widely distributed on the format in 2006. Coincidentally that is the same year blu-ray hit the scene.
Oh sorry, I meant the DVD mail era of netflix not dvds in general. But yeah its fascinating how fast it happened. We went from having no dvd players to having one, to our house being full of them. I remember I even wound up getting a dvd player that was divX compatible that let me watch my downloaded content on the big tube tv. That stupid dvd player caused me to learn the difference between container and codec. It's also remarkable how much clearer those low quality downloads on a low res CRT.
Yeah Netflix really started taking off once TV shows started getting DVD releases. These DVD sets were expensive, but you could get a 3-disc Netflix plan for $15/mo and realistically binge an entire season of 24 in two weeks. This is what I think turned Netflix from a Blockbuster alternative into a Blockbuster killer.