A LOT of people that only use 1-2 streaming services, don't need (or can't have) yet another extra device in the mix, and want to play a disc once in awhile.

Really, you & Mac need to get off the high horse on this. Not everyone's setup is going to be exactly the way you want it in your own house. People have different needs & desires. If you are not listening to what your customer's want/need, then you are doing a serious disservice.

There are many situations where doing a single bluray player makes sense for the customer. If Sony is discontinuing a lot of popular streaming services on their devices, this is going to create extra costs and complexity to some of the more niche setups.

My 6 year old Roku 3 still works with prime video. I haven't received an email telling me i couldn't continue to use it. I think i paid $80 for it. How much time will you and your client spend dealing with this fiasco? Who is paying for that time?


So usher your clients into 2019 and ditch the Blu-ray players and install Rokus.

i would never use a blu-ray player for streaming apps. i am a professional and my clients trust my opinion and advice because i do this for a living. im sure they are all glad they did seeing they will not be purchasing anything further and paying for $180 truck roll minimum.

Up until now, this has never been an issue for Sony blurays. They have never dropped key services before. Only more niche ones.

Ed - "I am a professional". So if your favorite streaming box dropped a key service tomorrow, are we going to pull your 'professional' card? Should no one ever use a small streaming box again, because a service might get pulled from it they want? NO, that would be ridiculous. There is none of us that can predict the future, when it comes to electronics.
Hell, Cisco was just in the news for an unforgivably grievous security vulnerability, that they knew about for 4+ years. And still sold the product/service and lied to customers. Should any dealer that sold that solution now be called an idiot by association.

Mac. If this comes to pass, then yes customer is going to have to get a Roku. Along with a $500 control system now for the bedroom, since the 1 OEM remote (that could easily control everything) is no longer going to be able to do so. He """HAS""" to have the disc player for his huge collection of documentaries he loves to watch.
This customer (out of frustration) is probably going to say f^ it and do nothing. Benefiting no one. He will learn to live without those streaming services in the bedroom until something else comes along or ponies up for the big upgrade.

In addition to hulu leaving the sony bluray player, earlier this year the sony's, TiVo's and sure other brands lost mlb.tv app. Nothing's replacing these apps.

I seem to recall Netflix dropping service on disc players about 7 years ago (foggy memory thinks it was Netflix).
Their reason made perfect sense; a very small percentage of people used disc players for streaming. It wasn't worth their time to manage all of programming and issues for multiple manufacturers players.
I switched to an ATV (Roku and Firestick in other rooms) and haven't looked back

This is similar to those that scream "never use an AVR for anything other than surround sound! Never use zone 2 or 3!" That is just not accurate for 100% of installs! There are small installs where an AVR is a great solution for a living room and patio. Chops down the legs of some high horses.

Netflix still works on my old Sony BluRay.


I'm with Brad on this. There are people using a Sony for streaming, just like there are people using a smart TV for streaming, and I know most of you think using a smart TV for anything other than a display believe that's just stupid.

I have a Sony at the beach house simply because I had it, and visitors like to go rent a movie now and then. I see this same thing with many of the rentals here at the beach. People do rent movies. See all those RedBox things in front of the grocery store with people standing in front of them? What do you suppose they're doing?


I also have (well had) a Roku and Firestick at the beach, all running through a matrix, but honestly, that's just me. Most here would be perfectly content with a Blu Ray.

Might not be to your liking, but who cares?

A Roku costs about $50. If your customers can afford you, they can afford $50. Physical media is dead. Samsung has already said they aren’t selling Disc players in North America any more. Do the right thing.

I've only jumped into this discussion right here at this post, so I have to ask: what DO you use for streaming apps?

If your clients needs are being met with Blu-ray player apps, great.
Some people can still get by with an ISP router.

But, I've had more calls then they're worth, and the tech is old, and more clients don't even want a disc player, "yeah, I guess stick one in the rack in the basement just in case".

Same with smart TVs; constant updates, cluttered interfaces, this app works fine with the IP interface, that app doesn't, privacy concerns, store logins, different on every brand TV and sometimes model, no thanks.

Want it supported, we suggest Roku Ultra or accept the AppleTV if you're in their ecosystem.

My guess is that hes using one of these 2 reliable/controllable products.

[Link: roku.com]

[Link: apple.com]

Physical media is dead?

Tell that to the thousand and thousands of people getting a disc out of a Red Box.

The poor, uninformed, non technical fools, are just throwing away their money....

let me clarify, i never said not to use a bluray player. i sell at least 1 in most projects. just for the "in case someone has a disc" moments. what i said was, i would never use them for app streaming!!! we would always use a purpose built app streamer. obviously AppleTV is at the top of that list but we do use Roku too.

Some people were still used blockbuster up until the last one shut the doors. I used redbox for a while, but couldn’t tell you the last time I used one. There are several articles online about how redbox has a short life left.