[Osmium]

> The thing is, the fansubbed product is better.

For those not in the know, the difference is incredible. Contrast a DVD release with crappy bitmapped, two-colour subtitles with interlaced video to a file with nice anti-aliased subs, often more contextual information/better translations, and in a small file size (thanks to a modern codec[1]) and a mobile-device-ready format to boot. There really is no contest.

To put it another way, it wouldn't surprise me if many people end up watching fansubbed versions of shows they already own just because it's better and more convenient.

[1]For proof of this just see VLC's release notes for all the improvements we have thanks to anime fans pushing adoption of modern technologies.

[lmm]

I know many anime fans who have rows of shrinkwrapped DVDs on their walls - they'll buy them to support the creators, but the fansub quality is much better.