Do you still buy physical media?

[Grade]

Dust is the bane of my existence. I live in NYC and it is a really dusty, gritty, city! Even with my windows closed (or mostly closed) the dust and soot comes in and lands on my windowsills.

Totally agreed about storage space, living in an apartment. This is also why I prefer digital media (no physical copies) overall — both for reasons of space, as well as dust and cleaning. I also remember when a 28” TV was a large size! Before everything went flat LCD and format changed to 16:9. My 9 year old 43” TV (LCD) is probably the equivalent of an old 32” CRT from back in the day (turn of millennium).

I kid you not, but the last CRT my family had in my parent's bedroom, finally had its last curtain call in 2019.

The only thing I kinda blame myself for is having a lack of thought/imagination of thinking of maybe getting something smaller to the eventuality of getting a bigger TV. But let's go with a bigger bookshelf to accommodate more stuff.

Why in 2002 I didn't think more about details, especially how much this stuff needs cleaning.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

I kid you not, but the last CRT my family had in my parent's bedroom, finally had its last curtain call in 2019.

The only thing I kinda blame myself for is having a lack of thought/imagination of thinking of maybe getting something smaller to the eventuality of getting a bigger TV. But let's go with a bigger bookshelf to accommodate more stuff.

Why in 2002 I didn't think more about details, especially how much this stuff needs cleaning.

I never thought about how difficult furniture was to clean, or the colors that were better suited to my taste, as well as ease of maintenance, until I was nearly out of my 30s. Now I know that I prefer lighter woods (or at most medium darkish) and any kind of closed cabinet so as to keep dust off of things! Dark mirror-like surfaces need daily dusting or I can't stand it. So, yes on a vertical surface, and no on a horizontal one!

 

[HDFan]

it's usually in a really high quality format.

Streaming quality from all major services don't compare with the blu-ray equivalents, especially audio. Typically a 15 Mbps bitrate vs 4K optical which can top 100 Mbps.

but extracting good files from video is very difficult.

? MakeMkv is trivial to use. Just insert disk, run the program and it is done.

Buying movies digitally, in my case AppleTV, is far cheaper than buying them physically. A lot of times is a 10 to 15 euros difference.

In the U.S. you can purchase optical media with digital copy for the same price as just a digital copy during sale periods. The best discounts are around Thanksgiving. Purchased Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins [4K UHD] with digital copy for $8.74. Haven't had any issues purchasing media from Amazon.uk, assume it is the same in the other direction? If you rip then region issues don't seem to appear.

The biggest reason I stop buying physical media is the space available in my house.

Rip them and then sell them as used.

 

[Grade]

The major issue here in Portugal (where I live) is that the last film to be published was in January of last year.

Buying movies you have to buy them online (for example Amazon Spain or the UK) is the only way to go. Here we watch the movies in the original language, with Portuguese subtitles (the animated movies are the only ones that get translated). This means finding movies with Portuguese subtitles is hard since not all releases have them.

If it has English subtitles, I'm happy, but the issue is, if I want to share the movies with my parents that aren't as used to English as I am, it can be difficult for them to understand the movie.

 

[Phuz01]

I’ve definitely cut down on physical media consumption, but I still buy CDs if they’re not available on Apple Music because they’re from a specialty label or another country. I’ve purchased many (500+) movies to stream, but I recently upgraded to a 4K UHD TV with Dolby Vision, and I have a 7.1.2 Atmos sound system (Klipsch and Definitive). Many of the titles in Apple Movies are completely acceptable, but for some of my favorite movies (a) I bought a blu-ray and Apple didn’t automatically upgrade the digital copy to 4K/Atmos or (b) the physical media provide a noticeably richer experience, both audibly and visually. In those cases, I’ve upgraded to the 4K UHD discs; the Criterion release of Wall-E is exceptional.

 

[MarkC426]

Rip them and then sell them as used.

I know people don't care, but this is highly unethical...
It is basically piracy.

 

[HDFan]

this is highly unethical

How so?

 

[MarkC426]

How so?

Without getting into a debate over copying media....
Legally speaking if you have ripped/copied a disk to your computer then sold it, it is piracy.
It's similar to the 'old days' of renting dvd's and copying before returning to the store.

But let's not go there....

This is just my personal feeling on the subject.
I appreciate the hard work that goes into making films/tv/music.

 

[WebHead]

Without getting into a debate over copying media....
Legally speaking if you have ripped/copied a disk to your computer then sold it, it is piracy.
It's similar to the 'old days' of renting dvd's and copying before returning to the store.

But let's not go there....

This is just my personal feeling on the subject.
I appreciate the hard work that goes into making films/tv/music.

But equally, studios expect you to buy the same movie multiple times in different formats. And make things harder for paying customers than pirates.

Which leads me to why I now buy content digitally via Apple - because they offer free 4K upgrades!

 

[MarkC426]

But equally, studios expect you to buy the same movie multiple times in different formats. And make things harder for paying customers than pirates.

If people decide to keep re-buying every time the format changes, then more fool them....🤪
This is why I have Laserdiscs/DVD/BR/iTunes etc, no reason to keep populating my collection.

 

[jollydogfellow]

But equally, studios expect you to buy the same movie multiple times in different formats.

How, why, how, why, how?
I mean, they won't upgrade your old perfectly watchable DVD to BD and then BD 4K for free, but if you have suddenly upgraded your TV to a 70" model that makes the DVD unwatchable even with a good upscaler, well...
...either live with it or buy the 4K, but don't blame the studio.

Blame the studio for everything else, like...

And make things harder for paying customers than pirates.

...this. I still remember "copy-protected" CDs that wouldn't play in my car or DVDs with unskippable, unending, overlong piracy ads that play for longer than it takes to start streaming an episode via torrent with WebTorrent.

 

[WebHead]

How, why, how, why, how?
I mean, they won't upgrade your old perfectly watchable DVD to BD and then BD 4K for free, but if you have suddenly upgraded your TV to a 70" model that makes the DVD unwatchable even with a good upscaler, well...
...either live with it or buy the 4K, but don't blame the studio.

Well, technically even with physical media you're only licensing the movie, not owning it. So shouldn't that cover all future formats?

(Obviously this is impractical with physical media, but the principle remains. Also, you could argue that with digital codes and Apple's free 4K upgrades it's already possible.)

 

[HDFan]

Without getting into a debate over copying media....
Legally speaking if you have ripped/copied a disk to your computer then sold it, it is piracy.
It's similar to the 'old days' of renting dvd's and copying before returning to the store.

But let's not go there....

This is just my personal feeling on the subject.
I appreciate the hard work that goes into making films/tv/music.

Don't necessarily disagree. Studios want complete control of the media in all forms, physical and digital. They dictate how to watch their content - via a optical player, MoviesAnywhere, iTunes, etc. I want to see the original quality, not crippled content in the player that works best for me, Plex. They aren't providing the options I need and would gladly pay for.

I have spend thousands of dollars supporting the studios via the media I have purchased - VHS, Laser, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K. Have never sold any of my optical media - have always given it away even that probably doesn't make any difference in an ethical discussion.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I personally don’t buy music or films in physical form anymore. I gave all my DVD’s and Blu-Rays to a charity shop a couple of years ago. I have kept my CD collection but these are collecting dust in boxes in my loft. I can’t stand clutter and not one of these people that has shelves in my home full of movies and CD’s as for me it looks awful.

Movies are streamed or downloaded and all my music is also streamed through Amazon Music these days. It’s got to be over a decade since I last bought a DVD or CD.

 

[okkibs]

I buy physical solely to support the artist and because vinyl records make for good art to put up. I could play them but don't bother because the manufacturing for these records is usually cheap and there is no point in listening to a worse quality version. Not sure what to vote for, I don't buy DVD/BR and don't have a player for that either.

 

[Grade]

I try to support studios, via physical or digital. When it doesn't exist, well, I have the patience to show up on one of those cable tv movie channels or other means.

 

[MarkC426]

I could play them but don't bother because the manufacturing for these records is usually cheap and there is no point in listening to a worse quality version.

This is a whole other subject....which many would argue Vinyl is the superior format...

Personally 75% of my vast vinyl collection is unavailable on CD or digital (white labels / dj promo copies etc).
So this is a work in progress recording into my Mac, more for ease of listening to.

 

[AL2TEACH]

The major issue here in Portugal (where I live) is that the last film to be published was in January of last year.

Buying movies you have to buy them online (for example Amazon Spain or the UK) is the only way to go. Here we watch the movies in the original language, with Portuguese subtitles (the animated movies are the only ones that get translated). This means finding movies with Portuguese subtitles is hard since not all releases have them.

If it has English subtitles, I'm happy, but the issue is, if I want to share the movies with my parents that aren't as used to English as I am, it can be difficult for them to understand the movie.

subtitles for movies free download in the search bar and there will be lots of places for subtitles.

 

[max2]

subtitles for movies free download in the search bar and there will be lots of places for subtitles.

Bingo.

 

[max2]

No physical media anymore for me. Use to but mainly to have pretty custom movie covers. (Yes there a site for custom covers lol)

I would save the original movie cover and replace it with a custom cover.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

Well, technically even with physical media you're only licensing the movie, not owning it. So shouldn't that cover all future formats?

(Obviously this is impractical with physical media, but the principle remains. Also, you could argue that with digital codes and Apple's free 4K upgrades it's already possible.)

The studio legal defense here is that you are buying a single licensed copy of the movie/media. So what you or I own is only what’s on the disc. And of course, when studios managed to get the Millennium copyright act passed, even taking the copy you have and changing the format for yourself (via ripping the file into something portable, like an MP4) became ‘illegal.‘

Whereas, previously, with purchased media like books and records, they were yours to do with as you please. If I were to scan a copy of a book I purchased to create a digital copy, would that be illegal? Probably. But, if the copy were to be only for my own use, I would have no ethical problem with that. Not that I have done this, it’s way too much effort and would probably ruin the physical book copy.

 

[Gator5000e]

I rarely buy movies anymore. But once in a while I will. I was considering buying Avatar: The Way of Water from Apple but then read that a review of the digital presentation will be coming to The Digital Bits in the near future. I will wait for the review. The Digital Bits also said that Jon Landau has confirmed that Avatar (2009), The Abyss (1989), True Lies (1994), and Titanic (1997) should be out later in the year. I will likely buy Avatar in 4K just to see how it looks.

 

[EuroChilli]

The only physical media I still buy are vinyl records, and new pressings often come with a free digital download. The rest of the time it's Apple Music and Prime. I somehow think vinyls never went away, they just went quiet for a while. Now here in Europe they seem to have come back, with a vengeance. Mega stores in many places. I think it's safe to say though that physical media like VHS and audio cassettes are mostly dead, but I do still have a few of both lying around, for nostalgic sake.

 

[AL2TEACH]

I will likely buy Avatar in 4K just to see how it looks.

Disc will look better than the movie theater.

 

[DPL145$]

Hell yes. But fewer (fewer releases of stuff I want to buy especially post Coivd). I have films (and documentaries) that have never been released on streaming (sorry to the young'ns but not every piece of music, movie, tv show, or book is available on the internet; not by a long shot). If I am in the mood to watch X, I want to watch X, or a specific scene from X. Lots of 'on demand' movies/tv shows have disappeared over time as rights expire. And yeah, I have players that are totally region free. Some 15 yrs ago I just loved an architectural documentary series. It played in England and Discovery HD in the US for a short period of time but never released on DVD nor streaming. For some bizarre reason with wasn't shown 'on air' in Australia but released there on dvd (region 4)... I tracked it down and I believe I have the only legal (not home burned) copy of the series in the US. So yeah, I like my original media.