Why KMart is foolish for axing DVDs and CDs

You may or may not be aware that KMart has decided to stop selling DVDs and CDs. Basically as soon as the existing stock is gone they're exiting out of that market. I'm not someone who shops at KMart myself so this won't affect me, but there was quite a bit of outrage online following their announcement. I couldn't tell you if VHS videos and cassette tapes were phased out or if there was a big deal made when stores stopped selling them. I do recall when I started buying CDs and DVDs though. It would have been around the year 2000 and it was because it was the shiny new technology and I wanted to be on trend.

Well the thing is, the alternatives to DVDs and CDs are as follows:

• Streaming through Spotify, Netflix, Stan or other streaming services.
• iTunes 
• Google Play

I want to talk about the faults with each of those, but before I do I'll start by saying that I never actually stopped buying DVDs. I have bought some digital versions of TV shows though, but typically I've always bought DVDs and still buy the odd CD. Incidentally I have actually started buying them more frequently.

Streaming services

Everyone seems to think that "Netflix and chill" is awesome and that you can download a show whenever you want. That's true, you can. But the big issue is that you're forced to pay a monthly subscription fee which is subject to change at any time. The fee itself could change or the stock could change. Often Netflix only has current shows. They don't bother with a back catalogue and nor do other providers. This means you may want to watch something more than once but find it's suddenly not there. Spotify can do the same thing and it happened with Taylor Swift's catalogue. She refused to release it on Spotify though now it's on the service. Netflix has also removed TV shows so if you want to watch something, sorry, you're fresh out of luck.

iTunes

I must be one of the only people around who actually likes iTunes and would be gutted if it ceased to exist. iTunes is great and like DVDs and CDs you own the product. There's no redownloading or being subjected to silly subscription fees at whim of the company. It's yours once it's on your device. The downside though is that like the other services, there's a limited catalogue so you may not be able to get what you want.

Google Play

This is similar to iTunes and has problems for the same reason. The catalogue is limited and could change at anytime.

When you own a CD or DVD you own it. It's yours forever and so long as you keep your DVD player you ca play it whenever you want. People may prefer things on their devices but each device has limited storage and though you can back it up to the cloud, it does still require redownloading so potentially you could lose it.

I am in favour of new technologies but axing DVDs and CDs is a very dumb move and not helpful for consumers who want to know that their music, TV and movie library won't change at whim of some programming executive.

I hope that CDs and DVDs are around for many years to come and I bought two DVDs today as a matter of fact. I collect music tour DVDs and old TV shows. I don't want to be forced to pay a subscription fee and told what I can and can't watch. It reduces my freedom.

KMart has made a mistake and they are alienating a portion of their market but luckily there are still other retailers like JB Hi Fi and Sanity Music (I favour Sanity Music).