2010: The Year I Forgot About DVDs

As someone who loves to sit down in front of the television after a long day's work and watch a movie or television show, I typically spend some time each month heading down to Best Buy or browsing Amazon to find out what the latest entertainment releases are. It has become a habit that at least so far, I'm unwilling to give up.But over the past year, my buying decisions have changed, and I've officially ditched DVD in favor of Blu-ray or streaming services.[Image credit: John Ward]

Now, I know that some are probably wondering why it took so long. After all, Blu-ray has been around for quite some time, and the technology is being embraced in a big way to the detriment of DVD. But as I mentioned, I'm an entertainment addict. And far too many of my favorite films or television shows were still only available on DVD through 2009.

But this year, due mainly to my entertainment preferences, all that changed. Everything I wanted to buy was available on Blu-ray, which of course, prompted me to choose that copy. Moreover, much of the older content that I enjoy could be readily streamed through Netflix or other streaming services.

That resulted in a conscious decision on my part to stop buying DVDs. And at least for now, I just don't see myself buying a DVD version of a film or television show at any point in the future.

To some extent, that's a good feeling. DVD was ideal for me as I emerged from the darkness of the VHS days. But after I bought my first HDTV, became inundated with HD channels that made me cringe when I went back to SD content, and Blu-ray launched, it was becoming clear to me that DVD just couldn't do the job anymore. I needed to go with the new technologies. And I needed to do it quickly.

Although I've mostly accomplished that goal, I should note that DVDs aren't entirely gone from my life. Just last week I watched a few episodes from my series collection of The Sopranos, which I have on DVD. It was disappointing.

That said, I've spent the past year replacing much of my DVD content with Blu-ray versions of the titles. I already have a copy of The Godfather Trilogy on DVD, but I bought the Blu-ray version to round out my collection. I did the same with several other favorites, including Saving Private Ryan.

And all that fails to mention the times when I just don't feel like going to the collection of discs to find a particular film, so I simply stream it from Netflix.

Simply put, DVDs just aren't that big a part of my life any longer. They once ruled my entertainment experience. But like many others, I'm sure, they've quickly lost ground to the newer options that provide more quality and convenience.

And at least so far, I couldn't be happier about it.