what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

[00pontiac]

same as the subject, what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

seeing as the movie is stored on Vudu's servers, I lose the movie don't I?

[00pontiac]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

this lack of any kind of an answer is not inspiring confidence.....

I guess I'll keep buying real blu-ray discs...

*shrug*

[Guest]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Sorry pontiac,

The only real answer that i can give you is; VUDU is backed by the biggest retailer in the world. I don't think it's in any danger.

[tcfish19]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

On April 14th 1912 up to 11:39PM conventional wisdom held that the Titanic was unsinkable. By April 15th 1912 at 2:20am history had been re-written.

[JohnA]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

On April 14th 1912 up to 11:39PM conventional wisdom held that the Titanic was unsinkable. By April 15th 1912 at 2:20am history had been re-written.

Clever!

[canadien37]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vudu goes out of business?

I'll throw in my take, I am a purchaser of over 200 (I think) movies on VUDU....I thought long and hard about the very issue that the OP has brought up.......The Walmart acquisition boosted my confidence that the service will be around..... That said, I am concerned about Walmart's future growth due to the economy.....They recently had a little blip on their radar in terms of performance, they intend to go back to their original formula for success, "Everyday Low Prices"....Hopefully going back to Sam Walton's formula will get them on track, but inflationary pressures in the economy are affecting them, no doubt..

The consumerism that America is currently engaged in is unsustainable in the long run, and I fear Walmart will be affected big time when the inevitable occurs.....I do however, still have the faith that if any retailer can pull out of the muck, it's Wally...Therefore I will continue to purchase films via VUDU...The post about the Titanic was good, though....I do hope Walmart/VUDU join the Ultraviolet consortium, that sounds like an interesting project to allow consumers to own films regardless from who one purchases their films from....It involves a digital locker concept.....Nothing is risk-free......

[aaronwt]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Didn't Walmart have record earnings in 2010?

[canadien37]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

I think they did, aaronwrt, I will look up the article I got the info from......I think the blip occurred this year.....

https://gcalhoun.wordpress.com/2011/...g-formula-pdf/ will link you to a Wall Street Journal article about the blip in sales performance.......

[GaryInNY]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Go out of business? Anything's possible, but this isn't my biggest worry. But even if Walmart doesn't go away, they could decide to sell or change Vudu. In a way Vudu doesn't seem like a natural fit at Walmart. Walmart has always been about lowest possible prices, Vudu about high quality. These seem to be somewhat in conflict, and I keep waiting to see if Walmart somehow cheapens the service, maybe to the detriment of the quality that I originally chose it for (I have the original BX100 standalone box, not one of the newer streaming TVs or other players).

Obsolescence is possible with anything, though; I own movies I purchased on VHS; I don't watch them much anymore. I own music on vinyl and cassette (no 8-track though). And on CD. And movies on DVD, though I now have a BluRay player. It seems like pretty much any technology eventually becomes obsolete, even physical media that seems like it should last forever. Right now it doesn't seem possible that BluRay will become obsolete, but someday, it may (if it does, my guess would be online access might be what replaces it). Lots of people buy online music; there's also the possibility that could become unplayable someday (for example, if you don't have the right player anymore).

[canadien37]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Go out of business? Anything's possible, but this isn't my biggest worry. But even if Walmart doesn't go away, they could decide to sell or change Vudu. In a way Vudu doesn't seem like a natural fit at Walmart. Walmart has always been about lowest possible prices, Vudu about high quality. These seem to be somewhat in conflict, and I keep waiting to see if Walmart somehow cheapens the service, maybe to the detriment of the quality that I originally chose it for (I have the original BX100 standalone box, not one of the newer streaming TVs or other players).

Obsolescence is possible with anything, though; I own movies I purchased on VHS; I don't watch them much anymore. I own music on vinyl and cassette (no 8-track though). And on CD. And movies on DVD, though I now have a BluRay player. It seems like pretty much any technology eventually becomes obsolete, even physical media that seems like it should last forever. Right now it doesn't seem possible that BluRay will become obsolete, but someday, it may (if it does, my guess would be online access might be what replaces it). Lots of people buy online music; there's also the possibility that could become unplayable someday (for example, if you don't have the right player anymore).

Very good points made here.....I too wonder sometimes what the future holds for VUDU...The low price vs high quality issue may have been resolved prior to Walmart making their move.....All I know is since the beginning and since the acquisition, there have been great improvements in the service....First and foremost migrating the BX100 from P2P to a streaming model....It is good when a company keeps a legacy product in the loop, IMO.

I get the feeling content distribution is going more and more online, with physical disks taking the hit....Sure, it's a small segment of the market now, but as gas goes to 4-5 dollars a gallon, more people will want to watch films more at home.....It will be interesting to see if the hybrid Amazon model(VOD, electronic sell-thru and subscription) is in VUDU's future vision....I think the studios want this migration to the internet to happen, otherwise why would some of the biggest players in the game join forces to create DECE and Ultraviolet?

I know about being an early adopter, I was part of the Blu-ray-HD-DVD war.....I opted for HD-DVD because IMO it was a better product, but Blu ended up winning and that was that.....As I see it I think Walmart has supported the service well so far, and hope they continue to provide enough value for me to continue supporting VUDU.....

[Audiman]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Well .. that may be true the biggest retailer but not necessarily the smartest. Having your Video content dictated by a Mormon run Company is death.. Look what VUDU did to Adult content ! And look at there ridiculous new UI . I bought the VUDU box in 2007 and loved the quick UI and snappy response with looking for movies. Now it is slow and a big mess, I now have apple TV and use that primarily and love it. Hardly touch my VUDU and as years go by I am sure I will shut it down. Good luck and may I suggest Apple TV.
Thanks VUDU for selling to WALLMART ... NOT - big mistake
Audiman

[canadien37]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Interesting.....Well a retailer doesn't get to Walmart's status by being dumb......Mormon?? What does that have to do with anything? O well......

[aaronwt]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Well .. that may be true the biggest retailer but not necessarily the smartest. Having your Video content dictated by a Mormon run Company is death.. Look what VUDU did to Adult content ! And look at there ridiculous new UI . I bought the VUDU box in 2007 and loved the quick UI and snappy response with looking for movies. Now it is slow and a big mess, I now have apple TV and use that primarily and love it. Hardly touch my VUDU and as years go by I am sure I will shut it down. Good luck and may I suggest Apple TV.
Thanks VUDU for selling to WALLMART ... NOT - big mistake
Audiman

The New UI is superfast for me on my Boxee Boxes. Much better than the old interface. And as far as adult content, I didn't use it so I don't miss it.

If Walmart had not purchased VUDU, then BestBuy would have probably bought it. Either way adult content would have been yanked.

Although Best Buy would have probably been a better fit.

[tcfish19]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

The New UI is superfast for me on my Boxee Boxes. Much better than the old interface. And as far as adult content, I didn't use it so I don't miss it.

If Walmart had not purchased VUDU, then BestBuy would have probably bought it. Either way adult content would have been yanked.

Although Best Buy would have probably been a better fit.

Best Buy better fit??? I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that after the getting asked after every rental if you'd like to purchase the extended warranty for $4.99 for that rental.

[aaronwt]

Re: what happens if I buy a movie and Vuvu goes out of business?

Best Buy better fit??? I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that after the getting asked after every rental if you'd like to purchase the extended warranty for $4.99 for that rental.

But at BestBuy they only ask you. You say no and they move on. They never try to pressure you into extended warranties. Although I do purchase them with many of my devices I buy from them depending on the cost of the extended warranty and the cost of the item.