Owning DVD’s

I remember when I used to own a lot of records. I don’t have any of them anymore. I may have transferred some to cassette tapes, but I don’t even have a way to play cassette tapes anymore.

I still have a lot of DVD’s, but I can’t remember the last time I played one all the way through.

(Today, I made sure that my new computer could still use a SuperDrive to play DVD’s, but it was just a test.)

Here’s the thing. I still like the idea of owning DVD’s. I still like the idea of owning songs. I know… I’m hopelessly old-fashioned.

Here’s the problem with streaming. There’s no guarantee that any specific bit of content you like is going to be available in the future. Every year, Netflix gets rid of a lot of good movies. And it’s not just Netflix.

While I don’t mind watching new shows that are just OK, sometimes I would rather re-watch a movie that I know is good. There’s a decent chance that I can stream my favorite movies from somewhere. But I may need to sign up for a new streaming service, or I may need to “buy the right” to watch something I’ve already purchased before.

In a significant way, we are defined by the content that we consume. Streaming services mostly don’t care about how we define ourselves. They just want us to keep paying a monthly fee.

For a time, you could get a “free” digital version of a movie when you purchased a DVD. But it was with a specific service that may or may not even be in business anymore.

In my ideal world, you could purchase a digital version of any movie or song and own it forever. While Apple allows you to purchase movies and songs, the company could go out of business. Because your movies and songs exist on a server that could be shut down, you don’t really own these movies and songs. Not in the same way that you own DVD’s and CD’s.

Hard drive space is getting cheaper. That’s no longer a limitation.

Remember that streaming can fail. Your internet service provider can provide poor service for a time. Your router may not let you stream to any room in your house. We rely so much on being connected!

While I’m not a survivalist who wants to be able to live off the grid, I would like to be able watch “my movies” at any time. And I would like to be able to share “my movies” with my friends.