Also, being outside of the states somewhat changes the math, doesn’t it? I can do Zip.ca here in Canada (it’s a Netflix equivalent), but we don’t have the Movie rentals here, nor even the ability to buy movies — we have about nine tv shows to choose from, which we only got access to in December — and most of the online offerings are US-specific.

A last point: people reading this blog are ahead of the curve: most people in the rest of the world are happy to buy a DVD if they want to, and aren’t savvy enough to know or care about the other options. Frankly, keeping yourselves informed about the numerous options is a very time-intensive affair, and most people would say they have better things to do, and that buying a disc, rather than working out the math on how much a rental would cost long-term, is quick enough and easy enough for them.

Other than providing a diversion for the kiddies rasing the stature of regular DVD buyers to “collectors” is sad. Okay, maybe you want to have the Two-Disc Special Edition of ’300′ for sentimental reasons but the fact that movie studios have convinced consumers that buying DVDs is a Good Thing, when you can rent them endlessly for pennys on the dollar from The Library (aka Netflix), ranks up there with bottled water and magnetic braclets.

And if history tells us anything about format wars it’s that any wins are short lived. Betamax begat VHS begat LaserDics begat DVDs begat HD-DVD/Blue-ray — and I’m leaving some out — and all these “collections” end up in embarrasing heaps at the corner garage sale because something “better” comes along.

I’ve seen the future and it’s not The Keanu Reeves Retrospective 3-Disc Box in [insert soon to obsolete physical video format here].