My favourite video store is closing at the end of this month; I'm in mourning.

That may seem like an extreme reaction. But I like video stores, in the same way that I like bookshops and those quaint places where people used to buy CDs. Sometimes it's hard not to feel on the wrong side of history. CDs are, of course, a thing of the past. Or so we are told. We were told that about vinyl more than a decade ago, which makes it hard to explain the constantly increasing section of records at JB Hi-Fi. I still enjoy an hour browsing through Tracs. As far as bookshops go I can easily lose an afternoon in Book A Plenty.

Closing down
If I heard that any of those were closing down it would bother me. Just like sex, despite the ease – and often economy – of doing it online, nothing quite compares to physical contact.

But the closing of Video Ezy in Brookfield, the store that for many years supplied DVDs for review here at the Sun, has got me thinking in broader terms. And the picture I get of a possible future is not a happy one.

Not that it's a surprise. We've been told for a while that with the rise of downloading – legal or not – sales and rental of DVDs/blu-rays would suffer. So it's not hard to imagine an eventual future in which there are no video stores after it becomes uneconomical to compete with 'convenient” online content.

With the prospective disappearance of video stores – and I'm not suggesting they're going to vanish overnight; this is more yer crystal ball gazing – two big questions arise for movie buffs: How are you going to know about movies being released in New Zealand? And how are you going to watch them in decent quality? This is particularly a concern for more obscure movies, 'festival” fare, foreign films, art-house stuff.

These are not films widely trumpeted; often you only know they are available by seeing them on a video store shelf. They are also not films that are promoted (or valued) by TV services, be they terrestrial or online. And to find them the question becomes: which TV service has the rights?

Because the online TV market looks set to become a nightmare.

Online nightmare
What was promised to be a thing of vast consumer choice offering everything you ever wanted, seems to be enacting an audiovisual train wreck of burgeoning cost and inconvenience.

In the near future you will have several online services – TVNZ on Demand, 3Now, Lightbox, Netflix – all of which have rights to different programmes. So, if you want to watch your favourite programmes you'll have to dig around several services to find them. For movies, as far as I can tell, you'll need at least two monthly subscriptions plus SKY and its not inexpensive movie channels. That will mean pricey movies – if you can find them, wherever they are.

High definition
Then there's the next problem.

Us film fanatics like to watch films in pristine high definition, blu-ray quality. Even SKY does that – HD, albeit of a lower quality – on movie and other channels. But the problem with downloading your movies (or TV) in HD is that it takes a lot of bandwidth.

This is okay if you live close to the centre of town, can access high-speed broadband and have an unlimited data plan. That does not apply to many many people in the Tauranga area. We have caps; crap connections; and Tauranga's broadband coverage is generally disgraceful.

But check this: one hour a day of hi-definition content will use 70gb per month. One measly hour. That's a lower level hi-def than blu-ray. (You won't, in fact, be able to get blu-ray quality, even if you have the bandwidth).

If you're a film buff I hardly need to explain the ramifications of this. No video stores means no obscure movies, no more DVD/blu-ray extras, director's commentaries, deleted scenes, no blu-ray quality hi-def movies. You're stuffed.

In the meantime, Video Ezy Brookfield is selling off their stock before February 28. I wish everyone there my sincere best. Goodbye and thanks for the fish.