The last few weeks I've been ripping my DVDs and tossing them on my Mac. To do so, I use Handbrake to rip my DVDs to MP4 (using H.264 video and AAC audio). Handbrake makes things really quite smooth- just pop in a disc, select my importing preset, and click rip. I think on my iMac a typical rip takes about an hour and a half or so, which isn't that bad considering the quality (looks quite good). Feel free to take a look at a snippet of my settings- it works well enough for me for both iPhone and iMac:
It was primarily a way to simplify my life- as a college student, I end up toting my box of DVDs from dorm to apartment to wherever, and I'm hoping that once I get all of these digitized I can just store the old fashioned discs away and only grab them in the rare event that I need them (in other words, I can just send them home and just have less crap to have to deal with the next time I move).
There's a number of fringe benefits here, though. As you probably know, I enjoy my iPhone, and iTunes makes things pretty simple if I ever want to toss a movie on my iPhone. Since I'm ripping them in a codec that my iPhone likes, I don't have to convert anything before I sync it over. The same thing goes for my MacBook- right now I don't have an Apple TV (though that might change considering this new digital change for me), but I can just pop a quick movie over from my iMac to my MacBook and hook that up to our (pretty crappy) TV for movie viewing. I'm hoping Apple gets its rear into gear and releases those video out cables for the iPhone- that'll make this process much easier, too. (For those interested, Apple gave me a ship date of early October for that.)
How does all of this make me feel? Like I don't need HD discs. I still can't believe the screw-up the industry has done regarding next-gen disc technology. I could care less which eventually wins more market share down the line- HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I'll tell you who's going to win right now: online distribution. With iTunes, Netflix, and a number of other companies jumping into the ring, who needs an expensive player with expensive discs? Once iTunes goes HD, things are going to change. Apple TV will be a more lucrative buy, more people will opt for a nice HD download, and there's just going to be more options for both your TV and your computer.
It'll be interesting how they tackle the DRM aspect, though. You're seeing Amazon launching a new DRM-less store to compete with iTunes. They offer explicit iTunes support, too- download your Amazon MP3s and they send it straight into your iTunes library. If iTunes does make a foray into HD video, it'll be interesting to see if Amazon and Netflix try to push a non-DRM version of their movies onto Apple TV.
Regardless, some very interesting industry shifts will be happening in the next three years.