I aim for a compromise of both physical and digital, where what I consider to be my 'desert island' media is always physical everything else digital.
Why? Because in some (not all) cases, having a physical version of something is just more enjoyable. I think of them as treats.
Sometimes it is a memory, like a specific video game cartridge or a VHS tape. But for content I watch/listen to, there has to be some sensibility.
Case in point: 4K UHDs. I'm a latecomer to 4K TVs and have enjoyed 1080p content even when it's just upscaled, and have found that streamed movies are perfectly suitable for my needs. But there are just some movies that I treasure and I want to see and hear in the absolute best possible way; which is why I justified spending on a 4K UHD player.
Now, is everyone going to be bothered by the differences between a streamed 4K and disc 4K? Most likely not. Even I shouldn't be, I mean I watched mini VHS tapes from a camcorder on a small CRT TV (if you can watch this you can watch anything) but it matters to me, and from what I can tell a streamed 4K movie is about the equivalent of a good regular Blu-ray Disc. Fine for most needs. And I will say that iTunes Movies are a very good stream quality.
Where I own a movie digitally, it's purely a 'nice to have' and I don't care too much about aesthetics. But for something like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien, Blade Runner, I had to own the disc and I don't regret them. The cost was going from around £4 a movie to £18, but again it's a treat.
With music, my logic is different. Roughly 2/3 of my library are iTunes purchases and I'm very happy with them - particularly that it's all backed up on an external drive, in case the songs are removed from iTunes. I can justify this because to spend £10 p.m. on Apple Music, I would need to buy 10 songs a month, which I won't do.
Digital music makes up 95% of my owned music, the 5% being vinyl records. Again, why? In this case, I just love the sound and experience of analogue output. It takes me back to when I was young and we had no choice but to use patience to sit and experience an album the way it was intended. Because new vinyls are so expensive now - anywhere between £20-30 - I only buy my desert island albums that I love from start to finish.
In some cases, physical media can become rare. In others, it’s a matter of specificity: for instance a movie may have a really good master one year, but then years later the studio messes things up. That digital version you once loved is now gone and replaced with a worse version (cough… Terminator 2…)
Then there are releases that may only be available on physical media or in a special format. For instance, WB will soon release a Tom and Jerry Complete Collection, the first of its kind uncut with every original episode. A fan simply isn’t going to pass up that opportunity - like me! - to own childhood memories in a great format that they can proudly have on their shelf and possibly pass down to my own children.
I've enjoyed this thread and can appreciate many thoughts. I grew up with the likes of cassettes, vinyls, VHS tapes and radios, and whilst I am sentimental towards them, I also recognise there is a danger of believing they are better just because you can hold them and own them. In reality, much like when I last hooked up my old Super Nintendo, I realised what I missed wasn't simply the console or the games, but the life that I was in when I played them.
