[aerotwelve]

I hate to be that guy, but there's a reason I have a closet full of CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and physical games for modern consoles.

Digital downloads weren't ready ten years ago, and the author's post is a great reminder of why they still aren't ready. Buy physical media; opt-out of this vendor-lock-in-masquerading-as-copyright-enforcement scam.

[bo1024]

I totally agree with you, but the author's post is film-specific. For other mediums the situation is much brighter (but a long way to go), for example:

- bandcamp.com - once purchased, download music anywhere in any format you choose FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, etc.

- GOG.com - purchase and download completely DRM-free, offline playable games.

- Some e-book publishers now sell DRM-free e-books, including Tor books

[thirdsun]

While Bandcamp is indeed the best music purchasing option in my opinion, I'd like to add that music is available without DRM pretty much anywhere these days, regardless of which store you use. It's not something limited to Bandcamp, but an industry-wide common practice.

[bo1024]

Thanks, great point.

[Pfhreak]

To present an equally valid but totally opposite viewpoint:

Digital downloads were ready 20 years ago, and they are still the best choice for consoles and pcs.

Spend your money on games (they've never been cheaper) with the understanding that hey, maybe 40 years from now you won't be able to dig them up. But by then we'll have 40 years of more games, and the current titles will get scooped up into museums, vintage shops, and other platforms.

Or they won't, and you'll lose them forever, which is ok. Accept the impermanence, enjoy the experiences you are having today. Don't let the past be an anchor, find new things that give you joy and play them then set them down.

[0815test]

> they've never been cheaper

But that's the thing. They're not "cheaper" when you account for the fact that you're basically renting them from an unreliable platform that may go down at any time or perhaps deny you "availability" for unknown reasons. And games are actually one of the best cases since DRM-free platforms are reasonably well-established. Other sorts of media are a lot worse off from that POV.

[Pfhreak]

You are right that the games I buy have an N year shelf life. I estimate N to be 'longer than I'm likely to care about a game'.

I don't want NES cartridges around my house despite growing up with one. Nor an SNES or PS2 discs. Every year there's more fantastic media produced than I have time to enjoy, why lock myself into the past when I can pick up a pile of cool indie games and the occasional AAA title every year and just enjoy those experiences?

Who knows, maybe I'll be eating my words someday. I've been buying games for the better part of 30 years and it hasn't happened yet, but maybe you'll be right in the end. I don't spend a lot of mental energy worrying about it.

[test6554]

Imagine if home depot went out of business and all the lumber and nails and screws and tools you purchased from them instantly stopped working.

Or if JcPenney's went out of business and all of your older outfits disappeared.

Sure, things wear out and break over time, but it should not be dependent on the store who sold you the goods.

[andyguzman]

> Accept the impermanence

I think this is key no matter what formats you decide to go with. Don’t fool yourself into believing your Blu-Ray movies are going to bring you joy for the rest of your life just because you retain a physical copy.

My childhood VHS collection isn’t of any value to me. Even if VHS looked good on modern TVs the tapes have degraded. My DVD collection looked OK up until 4K TVs, but even they look pretty rough now and DVD players won’t be made forever. Surely we’ll see a shift where Blu-Ray doesn’t have a place in a modern entertainment center at some point.

[Zarath]

Worry not, physical media will be a thing of the past soon enough I'm sure. That being said, I do a lot of shopping at old record stores for cheap 2 for $1 CDs