With the prevalence and ease of online streaming services, music, tv shows, and movies no longer are purchased in hard copies any more. In fact, devices that can play these are starting to become extinct, with the ending of production of VHS players in 2016 and with more computers moving away from even including a CD Drive.
I have always enjoyed having a hard copy of music and movies. I only started using music streaming services about a year and a half ago, and I only stopped buying cd's to import into my iTunes library because I had to get a new computer which does not have a disk drive. I still enjoy collecting records and re-watching old movies on VHS or even DVD now, but also love the ease of access of apple music
Most people would say that it is a waste of money to buy box sets of TV shows or even Blu Rays anymore, since you can buy the digital copy on some online platform or it will be available on Netflix or Hulu soon as a part of your paid subscription. But I feel that there are still many advantages to owning a DVD or a CD version of your favorite movie, TV show, or music. Here are 5 good reasons to still spend your money on them.
1. You never know what will be available
Netflix is always changing their content, and while their original shows might be up forever, not all TV shows and movies will. For example, Doctor Who, a show that I binged during one semester of undergrad and loved, was taken down and is available on other streaming sites. I am fortunate enough to have access to some of these, but the same thing could happen on those sites (Amazon Prime and Hulu), or you might not be able to pay for more than one streaming service and have to choose, inevitably having to lose access to some shows. The same applies to Spotify or other music services, where artists might back out and you'll lose all of those records once you do (like when Taylor Swift pulled out of Spotify).
2. ...or where you will be
Of course, this could be an argument for streaming services, as you can take all of your content with you and use it on any device, including a smart phone. But recently, I was at my parents house for the holidays and wanted to watch Band of Brothers in the living room. They don't have any devices in that room though that support HBO GO, so I was just going to choose another show to watch. Then I remembered that I have the series on DVD that I got for Christmas at least 6 years ago and that I could easily still watch it where I wanted to. Sure, I have to change out DVD's every few episodes instead of hitting a button on the remote to start the next episode. But at least I can be in the comfort of the couch instead of in the cold basement, the only other place that I could stream HBO in their house.
3. Sharing passwords is annoying
I love sharing the shows and music that I like with friends and family, but online content makes that very difficult. It is hard to share an album that you bought online, and near impossible to do without a lot of time and effort. It is easy to share a password to your Netflix account, but then that person has that password and can use your account endlessly.
This is fine if it is a close relative or friend, but when you are only paying for the cheapest option or very few screens, you have to limit the amount of people that have this password. Plus, what happens if you have a falling out with that person? How do you ask them to log out? This just creates a hassle for you because then you have to change your password and log back in on all of your devices and makes things awkward. With a hard copy set of a TV show or a season or music, you can let your friend borrow it without having to worry about what they will do with your password and who else they might give it to. Sure, you might have to haggle them to get the hard copy back, but I'd rather do that than have anxiety over the security of my account.
4. It's nice to have a tangible item
Call me old fashioned, but I still like having a physical item. Even though I know I can re-watch all of Mad Men on Netflix whenever I want, I still wand the series box set because it would just be nice to have. It's nice to own and also almost collect. Some people like to collect pop funko figurines or other items that just sit on a shelf, I like to have books, CD's, and box sets simply to say that I own them.
5. The experience of looking through a selection at the store
There is still something to be said about going to a store to look through the music selection they have, and randomly finding a CD or a record or a movie that you didn't think you wanted when you walked in, but you know you need after you see it. I know I'm too young to have any experience with the experience of going to a record store and hanging out there just to listen to music, so it's not a true music store experience. But I still enjoy going into FYE and browsing through their rows and rows of CD's to see what I might have missed that came out recently, or if there are any classics that I still don't own that I could pick up while there.
It's the same as liking hard copy books, and knowing that they are cheaper on Amazon than at a book store, but still wanting to go to the book store because you just want to browse and don't have a specific book you are interested in. Finding music and movies this way can be the same, but often feels useless and time consuming to many since everything is so easily available online in the comfort of our own homes. But making time for this experience can still be valuable, or at least I think it is.
So while watching Netflix or Hulu is useful and easy to watch TV Shows or movies, and Spotify or Apple music is conveniently on your phone, tablet, or computer, I still think that having hard copies of media can have some value, and still enjoy going to a store to browse through these collections. Plus, it might be my paranoia talking, but I have no clue if Neftlix will be around in twenty years, and what if I want to watch all of Dexter again? My box set of the entire series will come in handy then!
