misc People going back to physical media.

:thumbsup: I bought a bigger house so that I wouldn't have to get rid of my books, vinyl records and DVDs. I also have a tiny collection of Super8. The author or the article makes several points that resonate with me, most notably the problem that online streaming services are nowhere near as comprehensive as they like to pretend. Over the last few years, I've had two Netflix free trials (must be due for another one soon ... 🤪 ) and two Amazon Prime freebies. Netflix was "satisfactory" for recent releases, and there was just about enough material to keep me amused for 30 days; Amazon, though ... on both occasions, I gave up after two weeks.

The "end of trial" questionnaires that I filled in definitely made it seem like streaming services are intended to cater for an audience with a short attention span and a desperate desire to move on to something new. Not for old fogies like me, that'll watch a 20-year-old movie a dozen times over ...
 
I think that if you're looking at the younger generation (which to me is anyone under 30), it's a streaming world, although there will always be a few outliers.

We gave away all of our books and DVD's when we moved - they were just collecting dust.
When my mom sold her house, it was a struggle to find organizations to take her terrific library of (mostly hardcover) books.
 
Excellent article. Every time "they" see the demise of something "we" surprise them.

I have Netflix, Prime and Disney+ and I often wonder why. I guess it's for some of
the originals rather than for a deep collection of interesting movies and TV. But I'm
an older consumer so hard copies are deep in my soul. Books, VHS, Laser Disc,
vinyl...

CR - I love that you have some super8; I have a pretty big collection of super8 movies
from all the stuff Disney released in the 70's to some features. I cherish my 16 minutes
of "Star Wars" both B&W and color.

I know quite a number of under 30's who are going back to Blu-Ray for movies and
vinyl for music. Here in Los Angeles theaters that show movies on film (35 and 70) are
huge - selling out many shows.
 
I think that if you're looking at the younger generation (which to me is anyone under 30), it's a streaming world, although there will always be a few outliers.

We must have a disproportionate number of outliers in our family! :wait: The 20-somethings love going through my collection of "singles" most of which were passed on to me by my mother. One nephew had his mind blown when he found an original Chuck Berry that my mother had borrowed from her flat-mate and never returned. He just couldn't reconcile the image of his very grandmotherly granny listening to Chuck Berry! :woohoo: I think that's where physical media's power really lies: whether it's a scratched record, a tatty book cover or a grainy Super8, there's so much more bundled up in the experience than just stimulating the audio-visual part of your brain.
 
We must have a disproportionate number of outliers in our family!

That may be true :)
I simply don't know of a case where the under 30 (even under 40) members of my extended family buy DVDs, blu rays, or vinyl EXCEPT the occasional children's movie. And even that has pretty much stopped because they are all available streaming.

They might look at one and listen/watch if it's in front of them. But they won't spend money on it, while they WILL spend money for streaming services.
 
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I literally live between two record stores that only sell vinyl, they are each a block away.
 
My wife and I are both senior citizens, so we are definitely "old school" if there ever was such a thing. There was (and is) something special about being able to TOUCH a record or a book....a dictionary, an encyclopedia, an address book. We still play vinyl records on a daily basis, and search the local flea markets for VHS tapes. (Average price is 10-cents). Many of the VHS titles were never even recorded to DVD if they did poorly in the boxoffice. (Making them super rare). And let's not forget 8-track, cassette, and reel-to-reel audio tapes. (Yep, we have those). We also have regular 8mm, super 8, and even 16mm movies (with a Bell & Howel 179 projector). I love splicing and editing movie film.

We have NEVER paid to watch an online movie...we've never had Netflix, Hulu, or any other "paid" service, yet we watch an average of 200 movies a year. (We DO go to a regular movie theatre once a week, however). Also, we have never had cable TV...we have an old school TV antenna in our backyard, and we get 68 channels...all free. (A lot of people don't know that you can do this!)

Our walls are full of movie posters, "lobby cards", scene stills, and autographs. We also have quite a few original rock music posters from the 1960s-70s. (such as Bill Graham/San Francisco). And we have several volumes of personal photos printed on paper...remember those? ("smile").
If you have ever had a computer crash, you know how valuable all of the above items can be...

That's what us old folks do.
 
I simply don't know of a case where the under 30 (even under 40) members of my extended family buy DVDs, blu rays, or vinyl

My 19-year old daughter buys vinyl ... it's really quite a big thing on this side of the Atlantic! I bought a CD on Saturday - does that count as retro? Lots of the young'uns were buying them too ... :cool:

Mind you, I tend to hang out with people who wear pencils in their hair and make earrings out of dried vegetables! :abduct:
 
I'm also disappointed by Netflix - yes, it held my interest for a month or so, but I almost never use it now, though my sister does. As for physical media, I like the idea of something I can hold in my hand, which is why I still buy books, as opposed to using Kindle.
 
I am most definitely a tactile person. As a musician I much preferred knobs, dials and sliders to play with on my synthesizers. I miss mixing music on a physical console, again, lots of knobs, dials and sliders. I miss the "randomness" and warmth of analog when creating sounds.

I like CDs and DVDs. I buy them at the local GoodWill store and other places, $1 or $2 for CDs and $2 or $3 for DVDs. My local library is very well stocked as well. I like real books. And call me paranoid, but what happens when the site hosting all of your music and movies and other data gets hacked, or goes bankrupt, or just decides to screw you over with more fees?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a luddite; digital technology is a boon in many situations, but it can also have a negative affect on your life if not kept under control.
 
I love physical media, but I understand why so many are moving away from it. For us filmmakers, what does our physical media offer over digital? The extras! But most people don't care about those. We need to give people a reason to buy ours, but I can't think of anything that will entice most people. In fact, for myself and my family, I have barely bought any physical media the last few years due to having small children. Most of what I have bought is all second hand at a huge discount. A collection of Halloween episodes of Paw Patrol, absolutely. A well crafted film that appeals to both my wife and I (extremely rare, by the way), we are likely to keep that money in our pockets and then quickly spend it on our kids.
 
One thing that I really like about physical media - proper, old-style analog physical media - is that you can see the creativity. On a reel of film, you can marvel at the movement of a car or a hand across individual frames; on a vinyl disc, you can "read" the music straight off the grooves.

Because it's "real" it's much easier to restore too. I'm in the (very slow) process of trying to save/salvage old software and digital video and audio recordings, and I've been struck by how resistant the analog versions are compared to what was saved direct to disk. In some cases, all that's left of the former is a note on the label describing what used to be there!
 
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