I'll admit this is a rather silly question, but am I the only one that's kind of shocked that dual layer DVD-R's still cost a pretty penny?

I guess I was thinking with Blu Ray here to dethrone it the older tech would get cheaper. Is there a real reason that DL DVD-R's are pricey? I always assumed (in the early going) it was a way to discourage piracy, but to be honest I've never pirated a DVD because I never wanted to go through the hassle of doing it.

Of course, I'm not saying that to look squeaky clean, it's just that music was a lot easier to pirate than video back in the day.

Has anyone ever though about this or know why they've held their value?

Additionally, to others that use DL DVD, do you have trouble finding them for sale? Out of all the stores around my area the only store that carries them is Staples, which completely sucks because the damn things are already expensive and on top of that Staples charges out the wazzo for everything already.

Bought my current laptop there... never again...

I think they're just really niche.  As I see it, just about the only good reason to use them is if you need to author a video DVD that won't fit on a single layer.  Years ago when I got some to do so, I had to exchange the spindle several times in a row because the failure rate of the discs was > 50% and there's no excuse for that.

I have successfully burned a few DL DVD-Rs and, based on that experience, I would say it's more cost effective and certainly more time-efficient to simply buy the movie that you want on DVD. I was mainly copying them for co-workers to watch and I got to the point where I just let them borrow my originals because that was a lot easier (even if they lost one).