Besides the psychological pleasures of ownership I think there are some films worth buying for practical reasons...they may be retroactively edited by new corporate owners to align with modern shibboleths, or they may disappear and be hard to find later, or only be available with ads on janky streaming services. I buy Peter Greenaway films for that reason. Always interesting to me too that the director’s commentary, always touted as a benefit of DVDs, died quietly in the age of streaming. Seems not too many folk want those extra features.
Dec 21, 2023·edited Dec 21, 2023Liked by Daniel Parris
I'm right there with you. It feels great. I've been buying used CDs and Blu-rays of music and movies I love so I can OWN them again. Nostalgic. Both Blu-rays and CDs also provide really great quality. And some movies and music ARE disappearing from streaming services. It feels great to own the physical items. It's fun to look at the cases.
I'm with you except for the DVD part. Blu-ray and 4K UHD all the way. I've been steadily replacing my DVD collection with Blu-rays and 4Ks because DVDs practically look like VHS on modern TVs. I only keep a DVD if there's no Blu-ray or 4K version available.
If I cannot hold it in my hand, or worse, Amazon or some other retailer can modify or just disappear whatever I “own” from whatever digital storage I have, which has happened to others, do I actually have but a long term rental? Even more, do I have any privacy if I need to rent it? Public libraries in theory protect your record, but corporations do not as well. Finally, physical media is harder to disrupt or lose. After all, I have books more than a century old that merely need sunshine to read and music and movies that will exist long after I’m dead.
I surely had no sympathy only a few decades ago for the “music industry” which boldly abandoned the vinyl format to embrace CDs overnight ; likewise one can be wholly disgusted of movie corporate world now declaring DVDs dead. It all sounds too much like WEF speak: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
I’d be very curious to compare DVDs to vinyl indexed at their peak. Vinyl is higher quality than streaming and is also making a comeback. DVDs do not have that quality factor, only nostalgia.
The movies I want to watch I can't find streaming now, let alone being concerned about them disappearing in the future. That means buying physical media and a region free player, or sometimes downloading an electronic copy. Streaming is about convenience and the convenience of watching what is available at a any given moment. The average viewer prioritizes that convenience. If your interests lie outside regular viewing habits streaming really offers inadequate choices. It is interesting how many people are getting into collecting movies these day, along with all the interesting content being released. It definitely seems to be on the rise. My first criterion was a laser disc, so I've been at it awhile.
Besides the psychological pleasures of ownership I think there are some films worth buying for practical reasons...they may be retroactively edited by new corporate owners to align with modern shibboleths, or they may disappear and be hard to find later, or only be available with ads on janky streaming services. I buy Peter Greenaway films for that reason. Always interesting to me too that the director’s commentary, always touted as a benefit of DVDs, died quietly in the age of streaming. Seems not too many folk want those extra features.
I'm right there with you. It feels great. I've been buying used CDs and Blu-rays of music and movies I love so I can OWN them again. Nostalgic. Both Blu-rays and CDs also provide really great quality. And some movies and music ARE disappearing from streaming services. It feels great to own the physical items. It's fun to look at the cases.
I'm with you except for the DVD part. Blu-ray and 4K UHD all the way. I've been steadily replacing my DVD collection with Blu-rays and 4Ks because DVDs practically look like VHS on modern TVs. I only keep a DVD if there's no Blu-ray or 4K version available.
I still buy DVDs of my favorite, especially those with extra goodies, like the ones from Criterion Classics
If I cannot hold it in my hand, or worse, Amazon or some other retailer can modify or just disappear whatever I “own” from whatever digital storage I have, which has happened to others, do I actually have but a long term rental? Even more, do I have any privacy if I need to rent it? Public libraries in theory protect your record, but corporations do not as well. Finally, physical media is harder to disrupt or lose. After all, I have books more than a century old that merely need sunshine to read and music and movies that will exist long after I’m dead.
I surely had no sympathy only a few decades ago for the “music industry” which boldly abandoned the vinyl format to embrace CDs overnight ; likewise one can be wholly disgusted of movie corporate world now declaring DVDs dead. It all sounds too much like WEF speak: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
I’d be very curious to compare DVDs to vinyl indexed at their peak. Vinyl is higher quality than streaming and is also making a comeback. DVDs do not have that quality factor, only nostalgia.
Your article are so well written. The data analysis is sot on and you manage to hook us with your words!
Well done!
The movies I want to watch I can't find streaming now, let alone being concerned about them disappearing in the future. That means buying physical media and a region free player, or sometimes downloading an electronic copy. Streaming is about convenience and the convenience of watching what is available at a any given moment. The average viewer prioritizes that convenience. If your interests lie outside regular viewing habits streaming really offers inadequate choices. It is interesting how many people are getting into collecting movies these day, along with all the interesting content being released. It definitely seems to be on the rise. My first criterion was a laser disc, so I've been at it awhile.
It always amazed me there was never any real competition for Netflix's DVD-by-mail business, which makes it a great example of a natural monopoly:
https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/netflix-natural-monopoly