+160 Physical media is better than digital copies and streaming. amirite?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

The only disadvantage of physical media is that it takes up space; asides from that, it's superior to digital media in every other way. It's not even media alone, I find this to be true with books. I vastly prefer the feel of actual books to reading them on an ereader.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

what about the idea that physical things can be damaged and can be rendered useless.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

i also have my entire catalogue of everything with me at all times with digital.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

If talking about movies, how do you do that?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

For your own collection, there are solutions like Plex and other media servers.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I have a collection of purchased movies on my Vudu. I'll watch a movie on a streaming service if/when it's available there, and I'll rent a movie to my vudu if it's my first time watching, but my vudu collection now is a decently accurate showcase of my favorite movies of all time

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I used to be with the Op but with the Advent of streaming culture I don't even have to wait for movies to run through the theaters before finding them on the pirate sites. So I've come around; I love being able to find literally any movie or TV show the day after it comes out with like 10 letters typed in an address bar and for free. Having the stuff was cool but I have too much stuff, as is.. So now I have more with less and the companies themselves enable my instant gratification.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Streaming services

by Anonymous 10 months ago

That's true, but on the other hand; your digital products can be taken away if you break the companies rules. Also they might shut the servers down in the future and you won't be able to redownload your stuff.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

what about the idea that streaming relies on electricity and hardware that can also be damaged and rendered useless too?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Valid point, but if you primarily use digital media then you're probably smart enough to keep them in good condition. I also believe that most stores will give you a discount if you can provide the broken disk, but I may be wrong. Worst case scenario, you end up on the high seas. I'm already there anyways.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Ok but what happens wh your console is damaged what happens to those games and they Re all digital

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Your purchases are not only on the physical device… you just re-download them. It is literally no different than if you have physical games, and the console is destroyed.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Look up a phenemon called 'Disc Rot'

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I agree UNLESS you are able to get ahold of digital media files that aren't attached to anything (like digital media on PrimeVideo). Granted, you can only really do this by pirating. I remember being a teenager before digital media became what it is today and being excited about the possibility of buying digital copies of movies that I could just store on my hard drive, transfer from device to device, and keep forever.. like mp3 files. Didn't work out like that, unfortunately.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

with books i don't know anyone who prefers digital books, i understand why people prefer streaming but i will never understand people who read books digitally

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Books are nice like record players and boomboxes are nice. There's an experience that comes along with the media, but sometimes I'm on a plane, train, etc. and can't take my turntable (or books) with me. Also, e-readers are waterproof so safe for the tub, the beach, and the pool. Also, *also* I have access to hundreds of thousands of free and 99¢ books I can get on my kindle that I can't get at a bookstore.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I agree. I do all digital for video games, a split of physical/digital for movies and TV, and all physical for books. Ebooks do not appeal to me at all. I just hate looking at screens more than I already have to. You can't go screenless for video games, movies, or TV, regardless of whether it's in a physical or digital format. But you can for books, so I always take that option. People will say that you can carry so many more books around if they are all ebooks. But I only ever want to carry around one or two books at a time, so I've never really understood that point. Maybe on a long trip I'll take three or four. But still. That doesn't take up that much space in your luggage.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

For me, if it's on my phone, I'm more likely to read it when I'm bored. But if it's a book, it's likely at home. Which means less chance to read. I'm usually bored at work, in a waiting room, etc. so ebook is more likely to be used. And since I don't usually carry a purse or anything, ebook is easier.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

i much prefer digital books. people think that reading digital means using an ipad or similar, but an ereader is much closer to a real book than it is to an ipad. digital books are also easier to find, can be read instantly and you can switch books much easier. if you havent used a proper e-reader, then i recommend giving it a go before writing it off.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Digital books are more travel-friendly. If I want to read a book on a flight (I used to fly frequently), I can bring my Kindle and have access to whichever books I want to choose from my whole library, instead of having to pick one or two books to carry with me for that trip. That's the one big advantage I can think of. That, and it's easier to read in the dark.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I'm on the flipside, I don't know how anyone prefers physical books. The biggest claim I hear in support of physical books is that it just feels nice and classical to hold a physical book in your hands.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

In the last few years I have entirely accepted the ebook into my life, with a print book on standby for low battery times. I don't understand myself either.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Books are an entirely different story than video.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Digital also allows highlighting and bookmarking, so you have cliff notes of books you've read. It's also searchable, which is an immense improvement over physical. And BlueRay? How obnoxious is it that they implemented unskippable chapters? So you are forced to play through the same warning message every time and these days 2 minutes of studio animated logos. Streaming doesn't have that issue.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Books are media

by Anonymous 10 months ago

True

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Books I can understand. Anything else? No. Listening to music would just be an unnecessary hassle, not to mention playing it in the car. Movies? How am I supposed to watch a movie on an airplane or a long car ride if it's on a DVD?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

While I personally am a fan of holding comic books in my hand over digitally reading them… The value difference between digital and physical is insurmountable

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Physical media also degrades over time, unfortunately.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

>The only disadvantage of physical media is that it takes up space; It can break. That's worse. I had game copies break and no clue why, but as soon as it's a physical copy the support essentially is non existent in my experience.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I wish I could get physical books and dvds... problem is the housing crises that I feel I'm expected to move on the go on anytime something goes wrong (either rent increase or job loss). That's the main reason I have to go for digital media.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

As far as I know nobody is saying physical media Is bad it's just the convenience of digital media more often then not is far superior then physical. You do have a point with TV shows or movies being taken away from services like Netflix but at the same time I could very easily find these shows elsewhere

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I've got 480 songs and most of them are from random different albums. It would take a lot of money and a lot of CDs just to hold my current songs, and I add and remove songs a lot. For me streaming is a hell of a lot better. I can also get it on any device

by Anonymous 10 months ago

This is an example of a way physical media is superior: when you buy a physical album you get all of the songs in the order they're intended. A lot of albums were written to be listened to in a specific order as a larger piece of art. You're not getting what the artist intended, and you're missing a the experience of going through he journey of a whole album.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

....are you under the impression that streaming services put albums in random order? Lol

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Huh? They said they listen to songs from random different albums it's in th first sentence

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Yeah that is how they choose to do it, and you're response suggests you think they're doing that due to some restriction of streaming services that would be fixed by using physical media

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Dude you realize you can listen to albums on digital media too right lol

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I don't *want* to listen to the whole album. I want to have a list of all my favorite tracks from different albums. And if I for some reason do want to listen to an entire album, I can still do that with digital media. Physical media only takes away the option to choose.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

how is this an example of its superiority ? It seems more like a deliberate choice people make to consume a product rather than a consequence of digital. I think you can shuffle on CD's too ? Digital still gives you the choice of the original order and it's the default on the platforms. Sure, playlists play a very big role right now but I'd say that's a different conversation.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I get my favourite films on DVD and BLU RAY so that I can watch them even if they're not on streaming and don't wanna use pay per view. Music is another story as I have 605 songs on a playlist and no CD player but if I were to find one I'd do the same thing.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

And CDs and DVDs aren't dependent on a good Wi-Fi signal. There's also something about a full bookshelf of DVDs that tickles me.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

If you download music and shows online, then they are available offline too.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

DVDs and Blu-Rays and whatever all become obselete though.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

A Blu Ray looks and sounds better than anything on streaming. It isn't obsolete.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

UHD Blu-Ray has made regular Blu-Ray obselete. 4k > 1080p.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I agree 100 percent with you there.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

And that's the problem with collecting films physically. You're always going to have to re-do your collection. The smartest way to build a movie collection is digitally via the high seas. Anything else is prohibitively expensive if you want to always have the best.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

This, I just torrent the 4k HDR10 version of almost every movie i have in my drive.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Uncompressed CDs sound better than streaming MP3s Problem is, record companies control the CD market, resulting in limited choice Spotify has a FAR larger collection than any old-school record store. Most of what I like is not mainstream and would never be allowed into old record stores because sales would be way too low I would like to see streaming artists getting paid more, but without streaming, the only people who would ever have a chance to hear them would be people in their local area

by Anonymous 10 months ago

The future is now, old man!

by Anonymous 10 months ago

CD sound quality is much better than most streaming IMO

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I'm going digital with films. But I get that the digital versions don't have as good a picture and sound quality as physical copies due to the compression. However, I expect that to change in the coming years.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

If you think CD sound quality is good, my friend you'd probably like LPs (vinyl records). They have a much fuller sound, higher treble, deeper bass and aren't compressed the way most CDs are

by Anonymous 10 months ago

🙄

by Anonymous 10 months ago

> CDs have sound quality which is just as good as streaming services No they don't

by Anonymous 10 months ago

they do, unless youve only ever listened to CDs as mp3 files then there is no reason to think CDs are worse than streaming

by Anonymous 10 months ago

4K BluRays are better than any 4K stream you'll find, too. You're not wrong and people who know the difference agree with you. I don't think physical media lost on anything other than convenience of clicking to start a stream as opposed to getting up and loading the physical media.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Testify! Preach it! I still buy music on CD (shoot, I bought two today!)... been collecting them since 1991 and I'm too old and set in my ways to change formats now. You can have my CDs when you pry them from my cold dead fingers!

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Fair enough, I'm youngish and still have a bunch myself.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

physical media is expensive and inconvenient, i'm loving the transition to digital everything

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Your going to be the first person to bitch hen your favorite movie leaves Netflix.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Depending on the streaming service, you have to pay for the show and stuff too.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

still cheaper than physical media

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I really like physical media because I feel it can be more accessible rather than digital. With digital media a lot of the time you need WiFi or just a strong signal in general and as someone who often travels and needs the physical copy I like being able to pop a CD in my car or have a physical book to read. Totally agree.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Uhuh. I buy my songs through bandcamp, which allows me to download the mp3/flac file itself directly to my phone or any other device. Then I simply buetooth connect my phone to the car stereo. Doesn't that sound much easier? Also genuine question, how many CDs do you have in your car?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I have an older car so I use an FM adapter for my Bluetooth but that's pretty hit or miss so I have many CDs in my car 😂

by Anonymous 10 months ago

FM adapter bruhhhhh Yeahhh CDs make more sense in your case 😅

by Anonymous 10 months ago

CDs actually have much better sound quality than streaming. Even ripped mp3s usually are much better than streaming in terms of sound quality.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Good point

by Anonymous 10 months ago

At some point in my life I want this to not be unpopular

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Convenience an Accessibility. You can buy a high quality tv and have every movie be high quality.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

DVD-A unfortunately didn't take off, it can support 24/96 and almost 9gb of storage, and most consumer DVD players have optical out for those who would want to hook up to external DACs.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

You're also leaving out the big one - my physical collection won't suddenly disappear from my house so that a company can avoid paying royalties or claim a tax write off

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Do you seriously think that the only way the artist makes money is if you buy a physical copy? Do you think that the streaming services don't pay them for the use of their property? I think you should do a little more research before putting out such a naive opinion.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

WGA says hi.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Buying a physical copy of a movie is no different than purchasing a digital copy. I'm not arguing that the artists are getting ripped off, but it makes no difference whether you buy a movie made by Warner Bros on DVD or a digital copy.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

True I guess

by Anonymous 10 months ago

DVDs and CDs take up a lot of space. Plus they can break. Recently moved with over 100 dvds, 200 or so cds and like 50 records, and it was an absolute pain in the butt. That's not even mentioning my books and the shelves to store the stuff. It's nice for things you really like, but not practical at all. It's all essentially worthless now too and the only way I can keep my collection of media is to bring it with me every time I move or store it. I also had to go through my CDs to make sure they work, and I'll tell you what it's a pain in the butt to listen to a specific song.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I too miss my walkman and how every step I took caused the track to skip.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Yes!

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Come on grandma, lets get you to bed.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

One thing I'm not seeing anyone point out is that your physical media storage has a lifespan. Most estimates put DVD, CD, and Blue Ray storage at a lifespan of 10-20 years maximum. For reference, Amazon Prime Video (a platform people frequently purchase movies from) came out in 2015, meaning that if you bought a digital movie from them when they first started streaming, your movie will probably outlast someone's physical copy if it was purchased at the same time. Music is the same way. Nothing lasts forever, and while people complain about the "terms and conditions" and such, realistically most people will never face anything like that happening with streaming, and at the end of the day, your digital version will probably outlast someone's physical copy of a movie, song, etc.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Strong disagree. Streaming is more convenient. Streaming is overall way better, IMHO

by Anonymous 10 months ago

This is wrong for everything besides books.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

music, yes. movies and shows, no

by Anonymous 10 months ago

True. In my case, a lack of storage space is a killer.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I still really do like cds and my old cd player (probably due to nostalgia), but streaming is my favorite thing! It's so convenient, and I don't have to worry about scratches making the picture freeze or finding the dvd/vcr remote. I really don't need cases to show off my collection of movies. No one's ever cared anyway.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Guess I'm weird because I prefer digital since I won't have so much clutter

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I'm good. As far as I'm concerned it's all a waste of plastic. I'll buy the digital version of games, movies, music, etc. No need to buy it and waste a bunch of space.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

i have a nintendo switch ..if i buy the game physically i have to have that cartridge in to play it ..if i want to play something else i have to switch to that one ..but if i instead buy the game digitally i can load them all on the device and i never have to worry about which game i have on me..seems like a win for digital copies for me.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

As someone with unreliable internet (a.k.a. Comcast), I agree with this opinion. Usually buffering and error messages make what should be an enjoyable experience into something that's a bit more frustrating than it should be, so I find myself often previewing a movie via streaming, and then if I like what I've seen enough, I'll buy a physical copy. It's a shame that the rest of society has apparently moved on to streaming to the point to the point that physical media is dying (or so we're told).

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I still listen to music on vinyl cause I think it sounds better.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I've recently threw in the towel. I've collected nes games for a few years. (I have all the Playstations). I have a 3 disc changing stereo ordered and then I'm buying cds. I miss them.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Agreed, nothing quite like having an entire room dedicated to my DVD collection...said no one ever!

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I 100% agree with you, I go out of my way to obtain physical copies of games and try to avoid digital copies. it also doesn't help that digital copies are often just as expensive as physical copies which makes zero sense.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

That's just factually not true

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Do you think streaming services don't support the artist? The artist wouldn't have it there if they didn't get paid

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Huh... I wonder if it's an age thing. I love digital media... I was carting sh*t around forever. CD swapping in the car or at a party, same for films or carrying around a 900page book in a bag (looooooooove Kindles!). It's a pain. I salute your unpopular and impractical opinion!

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Apple Music pays artists for their streaming numbers so I don't get why so many of you are parroting the same dumb talking points

by Anonymous 10 months ago

My only dislike towards physical media is the accessibility of instantly listening to a song I'm into regardless of owning it or having it near me. I can't pack the probably 2000 albums I have saved on my phone in my car (I probably could but it would be silly). Other than that, this isn't a take I think many people really disagree with, but rather it's the convenience they enjoy of steaming

by Anonymous 10 months ago

my black ops 3 cd scratched and now i hate disc copies

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Streaming music literally DOES support the artist you nimrod lmaooo

by Anonymous 10 months ago

"buy a digital copy which can be taken away" How do they take a digital copy from you?

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I miss collecting DVDs and Blu-rays, but the convenience of streaming won me over. One click and it's on.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I do not think ANYONE claims Blue Rays, DVDs or CDs are "lower quality' than streaming. They might be even higher quality, depending on the streaming service. The problem is that physical media takes up physical space, it has a cost, it degrades over time, etc... The advantage is that if you have a physical copy, you are not a "hostage" of the streaming service.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

You can't listen to playlists if buy cd

by Anonymous 10 months ago

That's nice if you have the room to store boxes of CDs. I don't have the space, so I prefer digital media. I prefer to purchase it, though, as opposed to streaming.

by Anonymous 10 months ago

Agreed. I collect a lot of physical media. Blu-rays, DVDs, VHS, record vinyls, CDs, cassette tapes. I remember when my internet went out over a long weekend and it didn't really effect me much at all

by Anonymous 10 months ago

I like vhs in that sense. I like making my own box art and putting my videos out like that

by Anonymous 10 months ago