At the end of 2008 I wrote that Blu-ray taking off was one expected story of the year which did not happen. One suggestion I made was that Blu-ray discs include a standard DVD version so that people who have Blu-ray players in part of the house but only standard DVD players elsewhere could have the flexibility of viewing purchased movies anywhere. I figure that it makes sense to have a Blu-ray player for the rooms where I have a large screen television, while upscaled DVD looks pretty much as good in the rooms where I have smaller 26″ and 32″ HD televisions.
It looks like some studios are taking my advice. Disney is releasing their movies in Combo Packs this year. Besides helping in the situation I mention above, this also benefits people who are waiting for Blu-ray players to get even cheaper. They can buy the Combo Pack and watch the DVD now, and won’t have to repurchase the movies when they do get a Blu-ray player.
Come to think of it, this is amazingly generous for Disney, which generally does not help consumers save money. After all, at Walt Disney World instead of having Dollar Stores they have Ten Dollar Stores.
This isn’t the only way in which the movie industry is starting to make it easier to purchase Blu-ray discs. Some discs are now being sold with digital copies which can be viewed on portable media players and PC’s.
In follow up of the previous post, as far as I know Girls Gone Wild movies are not available in either Combo Packs or with digital copies.
