There has never not been a time where physical media mattered in my life or for those who are collectors as well. From music to movies, books and magazines, artwork and just about any other type of ephemera that have value both culturally and historically. My beginnings with physical media began during the 1970’s as a kid with buying comic books, collecting movie posters, cassette tapes, records and by the late 1970’s video game cartridges which most of those things still in my collection from that time with of course adding on throughout the years. During the early part of the 1980’s is when we got our first VCR and that began an entirely new thing to collect with not only recording television series and movies direct from TV and cable but also with buying original factory recorded movies and anime. Over the last 30+ years I’ve gotten more serious about adding to the collection and preserving items that otherwise have disappeared from eyesight, whether it be TV shows and movies that are no longer found on streaming services, books and records that are out of print and paper items such as flyers which provide historical value and information for later years.
Fast forward to the present and streaming seems to be all the rage, mainly for convenience but also for variety but what happens when things that you enjoy viewing or listening to suddenly becomes unavailable? Do you just forget it and move on to something else? Well what happens that becomes unavailable as well? We’re living in a digital age where topics are suddenly coming up that the average person has never given thought to but suddenly are realizing that they are no longer in control of their content and even the streaming service themselves are licensing content so when that license is up, so is your opportunity to watch or listen to it. The other thing that most people didn’t realize is that when they “buy” a movie or series from a streaming service, you aren’t actually buying it. Yes, you have access to watch it whenever you want, but what happens when that server goes down, that license expires of that company is bought and sold to another company? The non physical thing that you thought you bought wasn’t really bought. You don’t truly own media or content unless it’s actually in your physical possession.
I remember about 10 or so years back, a good friend and fellow DJ here in Philly sent me a message that one of our favorite anime series from the 1970’s was streaming and that he was watching them. I told him that I already had the servies on both, VHS and DVD and him being the new technology guy that he is said, but it’s so much more convenient to stream it which I totally agree. But I said what happens when they take it down which of course he never thought of. Fast forward to not even a few months later and Star Blazers was nowhere to be found on any streaming service. My point was quickly proven and of course I had to throw that out there to him. Of recent years, we’ve seen more and more video game consoles and companies taking away their physical discs and opting for the downloading of their games. The same can be said about laptops that no longer have cd / dvd drives attached and their software is now to be downloaded and most times a single download. Most recently, Sony announced that customers would be losing 551 movies and tv shows that customers digitally bought from the PlayStation Store effective September 1, 2026 with no refunds or compensation. Movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Total Recall, From Dusk Til Dawn, Evil Dead and many more will essentially go bye bye. There are no mention of refunds, so players will not be compensated for losing access to films/shows they paid for. PlayStation ceased the sale and rental of movies/TV shows in 2021, so while players have been unable to buy or rent such media for years now, they could still access previously purchased content. However, as noted by Video Games Chronicle, PlayStation’s End User Agreement, as with most digital storefronts, states that users purchase licenses to view content, which can be removed upon the expiry of licensing agreements. Rock Star Games recently announced that their upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto will be sold digitally only with no physical disc. There is an option to buy the clamshell case but it will not include a physical disc so essentially you’re buying packaging with nothing included, no disc and no instruction booklet. At this point, I don’t know why people even still support these companies. If you can’t physically touch it, then you don’t actually own it. We wen’t from chipped up cable boxes to get free movies and pay per view to recording our media on VHS to in the end, recording to DVR to now not having access whenever we want. Bootlegging and piracy should be the norm at this point but so many have been sold the illusion via convenience. But those who understand the system and know better will get out fix by any means possible.
Every year there are statistics saying physical media (vinyl, DVD / Blu-Ray and book) sales are up which may be true, but for many of us, we never stopped buying them. There are still camera companies who supply film reels for those who prefer to shoot film over digital, DVD and Blu-Ray companies have reached a similar era of the golden era of VHS and DVD rentals with release both obscure and common titles of all genres and there are even a few new video rental shops opening up and adding on to those that have continued to be in business for years. For us, physical media will never not be essential which is why when the switch is turned off, we’ll still be enjoying our favorite movies, TV shows and music.