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Thanks for the reply, I'm aware of the loan program however I don't live in the US and the price is $10 per disc for processing.
For a boxset containing 20+ discs this becomes more expensive than the discs themselves to send in and get processed. While it is great this is still an option, it's just not a viable one if you're outside the US and there could be a much simpler solution to this by allowing us to have the ability to combine discs under one cover and put artwork with the blue banner on it.
Even if it were a send barcode+ feature that was subscription based. I would happily pay a little every month to know the unrecognised discs will eventually be processed but this can't cost more than the discs themselves.
All this talk of moving away from discs and support of the premiere system fails to consider that the premiere line is still being sold right now. And it had a hardware refresh (the 1u+) just over a year ago.
If I bought a whole new system today, I feel like it should be supported for at least 5 years given the cost factors discussed above. So the concerns surrounding scene marking and metadata updates from K are very valid IMO.
I totally agree that one day discs will be gone and download/streaming services will be the future. That said there are certain titles that will very likely be casualties of this transition. There will be some obscure titles that most likely won’t ever make it to the 4K streaming/download world.
By this time there will no doubt many services that will rival the K store for new content.
The thing that will set K apart in this case is the ability to keep and still add all this old and obscure content alongside the new with the excellent idea that is Co-Star. I really think the inclusion of the Premier system is vital to this for them as a business and will without doubt will keep K as a market leader in the download market of the future.
Without the continued support of the Premier system, K will become just another one of the many download services.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask for at least some of the original functionality we bought into, when it’s something most of us have spent tens of thousands on both financial terms and in time.
Understood, thanks for sharing!
I know others have voiced similar feelings in this regard (Premiere support), and given the cost of these products, especially for those that "joined the club" back in the day at significant cost, it can be frustrating.
A few months back I gave some thought to the anger and frustration I was seeing and hearing from some Premiere owners. I found their comments a little "over the top" considering we were talking about a piece of electronic gear, so I spent some time considering why we allow ourselves to get to that level of frustration. Like most folks that hang around the AV world regularly, I'd seen all kinds of high-end products come and go, some with long lives, some with very short lived. I'd owned many of these, and certainly lost my share of value as companies withdrew from the market, or changed products so drastically that what I'd just bought 18 months earlier was now obsolete, or worse yet, closed the company. I was always "bothered" by these changes, but never felt compelled to voice that to anyone. I just looked at it as a combination of changing business interests, or the natural advancement we see in technology just about every year. In other words, I was bothered, but quickly moved on to the next new thing.
So why does it feel different with Kaleidescape? I think it's because of the following (just my opinion).
1. We pay a lot for these systems.
2. Unlike most AV products, Kaleidescape systems are very interactive.
3. We tend to identify more with interactive things because of our direct involvement in the process. (All of my other AV gear is "setup and forget," i.e. Projectors, screens, audio processors, video processors, speakers, etc.,)
4. The "collecting" aspect. We collect movies, that's what we're really doing when we own these systems. Collectors don't want anyone, or anything, interfering in their collections. For many of us, we've put YEARS into building our libraries, and the thought that something could come along and end that ability, or worse yet, not support our continuing access to these libraries, is not acceptable.
5. Others with a interest. For many of us, our families are just as involved with K as we are, they've got their own content in those libraries, and guess who gets the heat when the system is down.
For these, and other reasons, Kaleidescape has a different level of involvement in our lives, and it's very noticeable when something is wrong in the system. So now we face the certainty (yes, it will happen) that someday discs will be gone, and at some point, like it or not, our Premiere systems will be outdated. K obviously knows this, and with limited resources the strategic plan was modified to account for this transition. Unfortunately, that means as priorities shifted, some items are still sitting on the table, waiting to be resolved.
Jim
Someone a few years ago, posted the Blue Banners for use in making their own cover art. It was in relation to Star Wars: The Complte Saga release. I tired to do a quick search but couldn’t find it. Hopefully, someone on this forum will remember or find the post. Then you can update the cover art to match. It doesn’t fix any of your other problems.
John
I have used the attached for my artwork for the last year or two. At least I have a cover on the display. I also enter the other data in the movie details section. It does not help recognize the disc or consolidate discs in a set, but at least there is something to look at. Currently I have about 100 unrecognized discs (some over a year since entered) and about 500 without bookmarks. It is just too cost prohibitive to send all these in for processing. I used to do that with all my unrecognized discs (a number of which were more esoteric, less mainstream), but it is no longer an option for me. I do wish additional user-friendly editing options were available. As I am retired, I have even volunteered to do some processing on K's behalf, if that was possible.
Wayne