Physical Media is Back

A small piece of a large collection of CD’s and DVD’s

Those of us in our thirties and older should remember a different time. A time when your family wanted a in-home movie night, this would necessitate a trip to Blockbuster where you would browse the isles in order to rent out a VHS tape for a few days. There was this sticker on it that said, “be kind, please rewind.” It took about three minutes for a VHS tape to rewind. It was a major annoyance if you had settled in to watch your movie, only to find that it required the tape to be reset to the beginning. Those that worked at Blockbuster might recall that they had a machine that was made for the purpose of rewinding multiple tapes as quickly as possible. When you were done you would drop it in the deposit box at the store to avoid being charged a late fee. Many families might recall purchasing a thick block of plastic that housed the VHS tape.

As technology got better the introduction of the DVD changed the physical media landscape forever. Not only did you not need to rewind anymore but there was far more content available on the DVD and movement to a different scene was quick and effortless. Many families began investing in their favorite movies, T.V Shows and even music concerts as many were made available on DVD. It was not uncommon to go visit someone and see under the TV stand there could be a massive collection of DVD’s. Blockbuster and other companies quickly adapted to this new media landscape.

The same of course was true for video games. In the early days there were holders for floppy disks and it would take several to install a game onto the computer system. Even early CD based video games often required multiple CD’s to either install or access different chapters of the game. Video games came in huge boxes from the N64 box to PC Games, some PC game boxes that had covers that opened so you could get more information and see the graphics. Although some video games like the Gameboy had small cartridges, this limited the graphical and audio capability but made up for it in portability.

Who could forget music? My parents had a [pullout] holder for Cassette tapes and milk crates to hold their vinyl records. I still remember sorting through, popping in and listening to Ozzy Osborne, Meatloaf, The Moody Blues and others in an old cassette Walkman. Eventually [CDs] took over the medium and I owned a lot of [CDs], I had a disc Walkman with a cover that let you store an extra CD so I wasn’t limited to one while I was at school. Next, the advancement in Computer technology and the creation of peer-to-peer networking, lead to the enabling of piracy and the ripping of music. Re-writable cd players became a mainstay and it enabled people to make their own mixtapes.

The point is, when you purchased media back then, you owned it completely, it couldn’t be taken from you, edited or altered. You could view the media as long as you had the media player. However our society changed and convenience and instant gratification took over the landscape.

The Subscription Model

As technology improved and became faster the desire to have things instantly also grew. The IPod and similar devices were revolutionary in their own way because now you could have 100’s or even 1,000’s of songs available instantly. YouTube let people have access to independent video content with a few clicks. Technology also got faster so loading times rapidly diminished. What may have seemed unbearable in the 90’s waiting for a VHS tape to rewind would be downright intolerable for our instant gratification culture.

The decline of physical media hit a slope when streaming services were introduced. Apple Music eliminated the need for physical music media at all, just cue up your playlist from your purchased music and off you go. Same with movies, you could buy what you wanted and it was always available. Even games could be purchased online in the PlayStation Store or a game delivery platform that would let you download it. Games started to be purchased with a code inside that allowed to to download the game from the servers without a CD needed. Although you could still play games right out of the box with some updates if need be. This hybrid model would come crashing down as download/upload speeds became even quicker.

Soon there was a new model, what if you paid a low monthly price and had access to an entire catalogue of your favorite movies? The subscription model rose to prominence with people being able to binge watch their favorite shows, try new shows and watch where ever they could hook into a TV set with a Roku, PlayStation, etc… PlayStation introduced a subscription model that provided a free game at least once a month. Services came out that opened pretty much all music you could think of for a low monthly fee and no worries about malware from P2P networking.

As these subscription based models grew in popularity the isles in stores began to slowly reduce their offerings of physical media. Computer games available in stores are rare now, music has been reduced to a few small sections unless you go to specifically a music store. DVD purchasing is relegated to specialty stores and single isles in Walmart. DVD players are slowly becoming less common in stores and you have to pay extra to have a CD capability on a PlayStation Five. This is all to discourage you from the purchase of physical media and to move to purchasing online or a subscription based service as the market moves where the consumer directs. The other problem with the purchase of video games in store is that once you put them in the system several of them still require gigabytes of downloads to use anyways, it isn’t plug and play.

You’ll Own Nothing

And you’ll be happy, or so some of the powers that be say. In the classic commercial the viewer is informed that what you want you’ll rent and it will be delivered to you. In the realm of the digital this rental method is already here.

As we move into a digital sphere, media that you have purchased isn’t really yours. It is subject to licensing agreements and the whim of the company that you purchased it from. For example in December 2023, Sony announced that they ended the licensing agreements with Discovery, Sony wrote that purchased content will be unavailable and included a title list that was quite lengthy. This isn’t the first time this has happened either with Sony. So at this point you can purchase content but only a license to view the content. You don’t actually own any of it. When companies pull the plug the modern person simply goes without the content or is forced to pay for it again on another platform.

The rise of movie/T.V alternative platforms themselves have become a bane. No better then cable was. The whole point was to pull the plug from cable and its obnoxious advertising. Advertisements were always brighter, louder and usually annoying. At one point in the past people used a special box (TIVO) to record their shows so they could watch them later or skip the ads. As these digital platforms grew the need to monetize them also grew. Most platforms that are “free” have unskippable ads now but these ads are generally even more ridiculous then the advertisements of old. Even platforms that people pay for have tiered levels now where ads can only be taken away by paying even more.

But wait there’s more!

The subscription model has become so popular that it has spread to other areas not related to music, video or games. A good example is Microsoft Word. At one point you purchased a single license for Word products per account. Now it is a yearly subscription model that they claim is needed to stay competitive and innovative. I refuse to participate in this predatory model so I opt for LibreOffice instead, yes it is a little clunkier but this open source software gets better and better over time and does everything Word does.

Another personal example is HP Printers. Ink for printers has long been a scam where the cartridge rarely holds even a quarter of the ink that could actually fit in there. However what is more insidious is that all of their cartridges are barcoded now and must come from HP or a licensed retailer to work and if your yellow cartridge runs out, it won’t let you print anything or copy anything until you replace it, even in black and white. The most insidious behavior however is that I ran a network update on my 2015 printer and now they have a similar model to the pay per sheet that Xerox business printing has, for a home based printer. They want you to make an account, select how many sheets you print a month and you can sign up for a plan. If you go over the plan then you pay extra. Don’t pay? Your Printer is bricked.

Your car is going subscription based in the future. Enjoying your remote start, heated seats, air conditioner, back up camera and more? These features will most likely be going to a subscription based model in the future. Some companies are already experimenting with this and are testing to see how consumers react to bricking features in vehicles behind a paywall. As cars become more electronic focused it is inevitable that those creature comforts will become paywall locked and eventually other features may become locked in an effort to squeeze as many dollars out of your pocket as possible. When buying a new vehicle ensure you are ensuring that you aren’t paying more for something you already purchased.

The key take away from all of this is that when you don’t own a physical copy of the item then you don’t own it. It is available at the grace and whim of the company, subject to agreements you have no say in and in the future it may also be based on your social standing. Post something a little too spicy online? Get locked out of your purchased content.

Support Individuals, not Companies

At the end of the day I am not against all subscription based models. I subscribe to several Podcasts, Substack publications, Patreons and one Twitter Subscription. I do this because the content brings me value and I want to encourage my favorite creators to keep going. Sometimes this means I may also get some exclusive perks as well. I do think it is important to support individual creators because usually much of their content is free and people who produce good content should be rewarded for that.

For companies that apply predatory subscription models for services that previously were single purchases I encourage people to find alternatives. Starve the beasts until they relent. Yes the alternatives may be a little more clunky or have a bit of a higher upfront cost but in the end it is up to us as consumers to make the choices that best align with our values and expectations and the market will follow the tolerance level.

Physical copies of products are becoming more and more expensive but you don’t have to always purchase brand new. I recently went to a few garage sales and picked up Bat Out of hell and Falling Down for $4. Now they belong to me and I can play them whenever I want. I have a huge collection of movies and music CD's that I own and I add to it from pawn shops and garage sales all the time. I own a Playstation three which is fully backwards compatible so I can play PS1 and PS2 games on it as well instead of paying Playstation a monthly fee. I even own a Gameboy and assortment of games for it instead of paying Nintendo a monthly fee.

I won't ever be served with a trigger warning or modified scenes or problematic content removed due to modern sensitivities. Which is also a problem that is starting to become apparent as media is dynamically modified to fit the narrative pushed onto us and the belief that modern people cannot handle older ideas and viewpoints that may not meet the progressive narratives of the current year.

In the end we all have to take the measures that we feel are necessary not only for the preservation of the ability to consume our purchased content but also the preservation of content itself. What content do you physically own and do you find that it is increasingly important to have those physical copies? Are you considering switching to a key in vehicle with minimal electronics? Are you using more open source software? Let me know your thoughts.

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