Quote from: Benoist;362191It reminds me of the way people were claiming paper was dead the day emails became popular in businesses. It just didn't happen. Why? People like to flip through a book. Like the smell of it. Like the tradition of it, too.

I don't see paper RPGs disappearing altogether. Sure, the electronic market will continue to grow, and that is a good thing, for sure, but the paper RPGs won't disappear, just like paper didn't disappear from businesses at the end of the 90s.

As for the doom of the hobby, people have been claiming the death of our hobby since the 80s, if not earlier. Still hasn't happen.

I'll agree that hobby stores will have to adapt, and some of them are already. Point is, you can't have a hobby store with a business based solely on RPGs anymore. It just isn't viable. But some survive. And will continue to survive, IMO.

I never made any claim about the doom of the hobby.

 I didn't believe CDs would replace cassettes either. I also scoffed at the idea that dvds would replace VHS, - and scoffed loudly I might add.
I worked in the book trade for almost a decade. The very best operations are marginal, and they certainly were not doing as well as record stores were before mp3 came along. Aside from Sam Goody I don't even know where to find a record store anymore. Mediums die. Nothing is forever.
Some people swear by vinyl too, and you can still get it sure, but isn't what it was and it never will be again.
I didn't believe those people when they said print was dead either. Now I think they were not so much wrong as premature.

Quote from: ggroy;362192No more Blockbusters nearby.  Can't think of any offhand which are still around in other parts of town.

The only "brick and mortar" video rental outlets nearby I can think of offhand, are kiosks in nearby grocery stores.  Other than that, it's easier to go to Wal-Mart and just buy the actual dvd if one really wants it for 10 bucks or less.

I don't even buy movies anymore. Netflix has everything, I just don't feel the need to own anymore, not wne I can get whatever I want in a couple of days. The "big" rental place here is near the univeristy, college kids are in more of hurry than i am, but with the advent of instant watch on netflix, I think even that is going to vanish soon.

Quote from: Aos;362188Eventually, though, what comes around goes around, netflix showed up and has pretty much wiped out Blockbuster in the RL.

Movie companies dumping inexpensive DVDs onto the market at places like Wal-Mart, Target, etc ... probably did most of the damage to Blockbuster, Hollywood video, etc ...

Quote from: Aos;362194I don't even buy movies anymore.

I rarely buy dvds these days.  Occasionally I'll pick up something for 2 or 3 bucks in the bargain bins.  Other than that, there isn't much which is impressive enough to buy for the most part.

I don't even bother with Netflix anymore.

Quote from: Aos;362193Mediums die. Nothing is forever.

That's an interesting idea. To what degree is gaming an interesting exercise, existing independently from its subject matter, and to what degree is the activity a pulp fantasy medium?

A couple more points, and i'll shut up, maybe.
90% of the time I go to the comic store looking for something- I leave dispappointed. It's closer to 100% at the FLGS, where they've still got copies of the orignal printing of True20, but none of the revised, which has been out for two fucking years.
If i were to go looking for a Jack Vance novel right now, I could drive around half the city and never find a copy of the one I'm looking for. I know this for certain, because I look and see which Vance books every store I go into has. Always. I don't know why; I just do.
Sure I like the feel of books, and I dig their smell- especially the old ace doubles, but more than the feel and the smell I like the motherfucking words.
Before the wandering star Conan books came out I spent the better part of decade hunting down the editions Karl Edward Wagoner put out. I spent a similar amount of time assembling my Vance collection. A. Fucking. Decade.
Ebooks have the potential to erase that kind of toil. Sure I had some fun on those quests, but I also had many an empty evening wishing for some Conan.  
Ebooks have the potential to circumvent that kind of shit; how many sales will brick and mortar stores lose in the process? Many.
Book hunting and reading are two different hobbies masquerading as one; soon, I think, they will be separated. For better or worse.

Quote from: ggroy;362195Movie companies dumping inexpensive DVDs onto the market at places like Wal-Mart, Target, etc ... probably did most of the damage to Blockbuster, Hollywood video, etc ...

I'm sure they played a role, maybe the biggest role, but read the netflix entry on Wikipedia for some additional perspective.

I make no claim to being right about anything, btw, I'm just sharing some shit i've been thinking about for quite some time.

Quote from: Aos;362200I'm sure they played a role, maybe the biggest role, but read the netflix entry on Wikipedia for some additional perspective.

I make no claim to being right about anything, btw, I'm just sharing some shit i've been thinking about for quite some time.

Here's some older articles about the falling out Blockbuster had with the movie companies back in 2001-2002, over DVDs.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2001/nf20010823_321.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2002/nf20021230_8432.htm

Quote from: Aos;36219990% of the time I go to the comic store looking for something- I leave dispappointed.

Same here.  Only thing I really look for these days at comic book stores, are old issues of Mad Magazine from the 1980's and earlier.

Quote from: Aos;362199Book hunting and reading are two different hobbies masquerading as one; soon, I think, they will be separated. For better or worse.

Sometimes I come across old interesting books at the Goodwill, like Vance, Moorcock, etc ... for a buck or two each.  Though at places like the Goodwill, it's very much hit and miss.

Quote from: ggroy;362203Here's some older articles about the falling out Blockbuster had with the movie companies back in 2001-2002, over DVDs.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2001/nf20010823_321.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2002/nf20021230_8432.htm

Fascinating. It reminds me of the whole debate over what killed the megafauna at the beginning of the holocene. Some say humans did it, others say the climate, but now we generally think it was the climate change that got the ball rolling and humans that finished the job.
It seems to me DVDs changed the climate and Netflix finished the job.
It seems almost inconceivable to me that VCRs were outselling DVD players 5 to 1 in 2001- wow, what a change.

BTW, with the right kind of TV (large HD) and sound system (speakers, soundbar thingy) blue ray can really revitalize your interest in movies- especially, if you are sensitive to color.  I was a s amazed by the upgrade as i was when I originally  switched from vhs to dvd, and I was amazed by my amazement both times too.

Quote from: Aos;362205BTW, with the right kind of TV (large HD) and sound system (speakers, soundbar thingy) blue ray can really revitalize your interest in movies- especially, if you are sensitive to color.  I was a s amazed by the upgrade as i was when I originally  switched from vhs to dvd, and I was amazed by my amazement both times too.

If I was to waste more cash on something like blu-ray, there would only be a small handful of titles for which it would be worthwhile, such as:  Star Wars, Blade Runner, Indiana Jones, etc ...

For most other titles, it would be largely a waste of money unless blu-ray discs become just as inexpensive as dvds are today (ie. less than 5 or 10 bucks for most movies older than 3 or 4 years).

I agree- i don't buy blue ray discs.  For the most part, really, I'm done buying discs (although I'm tempted to buy Watchmen). I prefer to rent; the variety is wider and I'm less likely to over-watch.

I'm also cheap.

Last I heard, the Star Wars blu-rays seem to be on indefinite hiatus.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2730-Star-Wars-Examiner~y2009m7d29-Star-Wars-on-Bluray

Quote from: Aos;362207I agree- i don't buy blue ray discs.  For the most part, really, I'm done buying discs (although I'm tempted to buy Watchmen). I prefer to rent; the variety is wider and I'm less likely to over-watch.

I'm also cheap.

I have an HD screen and audio system for it. Though I hardly ever use it.  Only really used it for watching movies.

Otherwise most of the time I end up watching some old 15 year old hunk of junk TV, mostly crappy tv shows and cnn.  CNN looks just as awful in HD.

EDIT:  Most other tv shows I watch look just as crappy in HD, like the CSI and Law & Order franchises in reruns.  Perhaps Star Trek may look better in HD, but I haven't seen any Star Trek stuff yet in HD.

Quote from: ggroy;362209Last I heard, the Star Wars blu-rays seem to be on indefinite hiatus.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2730-Star-Wars-Examiner~y2009m7d29-Star-Wars-on-Bluray

no surprise there. DVD was around for years before the original trilogy was released.