New Year 2019 Top 3 Requests

[cinelife]

Sorry for hijacking the thread!


Jim

 

[JohnJ]

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.

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.

I don’t know how the Loan Program works outside the US but here you do not always have to pay the $10/disc fee - it probably depends on how mainstream the title is.

If it is a major irritant, I always reach out to K to see what can be done and usually they have come through. That’s just me though.

John

 

[AlienW]

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.

 

[djjfive]

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.

 

[cinelife]

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.

Absolutely! K is still selling the 1U+, and other Premiere related components, and they work great. Obviously the main advantage to Strato is 4K, for those that can support it (display).

Yes, of course they will continue to support the products they sell, certainly up to and including any existing warranty in place. There are still many, many Premiere owners, and K is aware there is still a market to be supported, I was only pointing out the obvious that someday this will change.
I'm certainly NOT saying Premiere is dead, far from it, I personally continue to invest (loose term) in Premiere, and will likely do so going forward, so I also support and agree with those looking for software corrections and improvements for these systems, and as pointed out, some of these are still planned, or are already being worked on, they just don't comment as to timing.

Jim

 

[cinelife]

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.

All good points, and valid IMO. You might have noticed I didn't mention anything about software support declining for Premiere, because it isn't. My
comments are derived from my clients and friends with 5U's, 1U's and 3U's that were not under warranty when a problem occurred, and unlike the days when it could be returned for a repair, the only options now are Upgrade, exchange it for a discounted remanufactured unit, or toss it.

Jim

 

[djjfive]

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

I can only agree with this.
I think this is a testament to how much more people see K as a lifelong and integral part of their home entertainment.
It really is more than just another piece of technology, I don't care if any of the other components that make up my system go out of date or break as they are all replaceable.
What K does is allows us to build a collection that is irreplaceable.
I personally see it as a way to preserve some of the rare, unusual and obscure titles that may never be aired again and will likely be lost to future generations. While I'm building my library, I'm often doing this with all kinds of different thoughts and reasons behind why, for example I may be thinking, I'll never watch this again, but I'll enjoy showing my grandchildren this in the future (who are yet to be even born) or I bet my Dad would remember this and I'll put it on when he's over next....so it goes a lot deeper and more personal than any other piece of technology I can think of does. I think this is where the passion and frustration comes into it.
My collection has grown to the point where it would be near impossible to go through the huge boxfuls of discs that I'm sure most of us have gathering dust in the garage to be able to do this and K has worked wonders for this and made it all accessible again, brilliantly and near perfectly.
There is so much more to K than being just another piece of technology which is why there is more at stake for people than just the box of electronics it is, it's become more than the sum of it's parts. I certainly wouldn't be as vocal or care if any other part of my system appeared to being phased out or no longer supported.
I think this plays a large part, certainly for myself in how important the assured future of the system is and there is certainly some degree of fear that perhaps K don't see it in the same way and all the work that's been put in by both K and the users into their systems will eventually be redundant, obsolete and ultimately pointless. I really hope this is not the case but it certainly is the main factor in my concerns.
Apologies for going off topic but my top 3 features remain the same, but if I'm honest they amount to the assured continuation of the Premier system to work and be supported alongside the new system going forward. The Co-Star is very encouraging that this has been thought of by K however the cataloging and support side still seems up in the air. I understand they are a business and they need to look to the future but I would hope they will totally future proof the Premier rather than make it obsolete as it seems it could go either way at the moment.
I believe it needs to be kept alive and preserved as a part of the future of K for the reasons above along with hundreds more I haven't listed.

 

[cinelife]

Well stated, and you're not alone. I even remember my wife reminding me over the years, as I was constantly changing products, "get rid of whatever you want, but don't touch the K System!" (not that I ever would)


Jim

 

[Drhemi]

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

 

[JohnJ]

Thanks Wayne! I knew someone on this forum would have something!

John

 

[djjfive]

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

Thank you for that, thats very helpful. It's a shame K can't have this automatically added this when putting in artwork for Blu-Rays. I will try this out. Now if only we could add more than one disc to a title?
I would happily let K go through my whole collection and use what I've completed myself. If we all had this option, it could be something along the lines of the barcode gets imputed and a screen could pop up saying something like 17 other users have this barcode, pick one that is the closest match. I think if something like that were a possibility, we would as a community have almost everything covered.

 

[JohnJ]

To add some positive news: I had purchased “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert: Encore (2010-2013)” and of course since it was a new release it did not have any bookmarks (which I had expected since I had the same experience with the 2014-2017 Hall of Fame release). The previous version I put on my list of discs to send in to get bookmarked and finally did. This one I did the same - put it in my collection to evemtually send off to get bookmarked.

However, today I look and all the bookmarks have been added along with all the songs marked!

So either some nice K owner sent this title in to be bookmarked or K obtained the discs and bookmarked it. Whomever this was a hearty Thank You from me!

If anyone else is interested, these are really good concerts from Time/Life. As far as I can tell there have been three released so far:

25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concerts (2009-2010) (5 hoirs 30 minutes)
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert (2014-2017) (11 hours 14 minutes)
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert: Encore (2010-2013) (8 hours 1 minute)

I have listed then in order of best to last but all of them are terrific - and all of them have been bookmarked!

John