I have a pretty decent vinyl / VHS / cassette collection and I think actually owning media is going to be really important in the coming years. I have lots of thoughts on this.
1) I think it's a misconception that everything is digitized. There are certain albums and movies (especially movies) that are nearly impossible to find on the internet. There are lots of shows and movies that have been "remastered" or now being "upscaled" with AI that are completely changing the look and feel of the original work. (ex. Star Wars)
2) Having a physical relationship with your media changes the way you interact with it. Physically moving your body and going over to the shelf and having a finite number of tapes/records to look through is a completely different experience than the decision paralysis one can get from having unlimited choices. You also will have to dive into full albums instead of taking the weekly playlist.Ā
3) You donāt need the internet to access it. You buy it once and if you take care of it - you own it forever. I donāt want to assume that the internet / streaming services as we know it them will be around forever and I donāt like the idea of a paying for a perpetual service that I will never stop paying for. Not to mention that all of these services serve as massive corporate data collection agencies that are constantly spying on you and selling your information!
Itās fun to collect things and see that old technology still has utility and save it from the landfill. It can be a lot of work (moving is a nightmare), and take up a lot of space, and it might be completely impractical but I donāt think we are supposed to experience everything in life through a 2 dimensional screen for the sake of convenience.
Jan 22, 2025
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like many of the other responses to this post, I think that having physical copies of media ensures that there is some enduring access. Itās archival.
I would also add that having the physical copies enhances engagement with the media. This is of course a privilege bc physical media is usually more expensive than digital, but I do think that consuming Digital media is often more passive. Idk. I love my phone too (and Spotify and the internet archive and Gutenberg project). But after I started collecting CDs and physical books I became very interested in getting as much as possible out of them. listening to the same album in its entirety for weeks at a time. rereading a book (Seriously, I would rarely reread a book before).
Also lending the copies to friends is the best thing in the world. Like being able to share and then discus- or even just the sharing. Whether or not you get it back it just becomes a gift. Which is nice.
Anyways to blabber on this last point: I donāt think that you always have to personally own and keep forever all of the physical media you accrue. just going to a library does a lot of the same good (supporting local archiving + engaging with stuff my tangibly + media becoming communal). learning that many libraries still have VHS, CDs, and DVDs available to check out changed my life. ya.
3d ago
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streaming services are very cool and all, and they have definitely allowed me to discover artists that i probably wouldnāt have otherwise, but having a physical copy of music - an album, single, or a mix - is extremely important to me. i find comfort in knowing that no one can really ātakeā the music away from me in the event that spotify crashed or something. also, with vinyl, especially, having a physical copy of the music forces you to take care of it and pay attention to it. you canāt just mindlessly listen to a record because you have to get up and flip it over, and then carefully place it back into its sleeve. if you make a mixtape, you have to sit and think about what songs you want and what order you want them in. if you walk into a music shop, you canāt (or at least most of us canāt) just go in there and buy any album(s) on a whim - you have to be selective, because youāre spending money on it.
also, i just enjoy the experience of going to a record store. the smell of the old albums, sifting through all the bins and shelves, chatting with the owner - itās an experience that will always be so lovely to me, and one i would never have if i solely depended upon my phone for music.
i just believe that streaming services have allowed us to become mindless consumers of media. we take it all for granted and arenāt as intentional about any of it as we used to be. i suppose itās another form of overconsumption. once again, i am extremely glad of what the platforms have allowed me to find, and i donāt think theyāre evil, i just think many folks have lost sight of how music is supposed to be treated.
Oct 1, 2024
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While cleaning up the shed, my parents and I found some old cd's and a cd rack. We kind of have this idea that whataver is put on the internet will stay there and although, yes things can come back from the deepest or most abandont parts, just like all other things it somewhat decays.
So as of now, I got some cd's again (mostly secondhand). I'm not the type who then starts collecting and consuming for no reason. I'll probably get just enough for the rack to be filled. So my rec would be to think of your favourite genres or specific albums (or with any other media) and then get only those in physical media. Now whatever happens, you'll have it, while also not overspending or consuming <3
Dec 7, 2024
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to me this is one of lifeās most simple joys - especially during the winter.
The combination of not driving + the heat from the pie keeping your legs warm + direct pizza fumes provides a precious and rare sensory experience
Jan 22, 2025
Feat. Weird ceramic Superman and protein granola and yes I had a psychedelic experience watching Star Wars the other night when I was stoned
Feb 26, 2025
Not to beat a dead horse but google has now foisted integration of itās Gemini AI into basic gmail / drive functionality.
Donāt offload your critical faculties to a super computer. Write that email. Use your brain.
Every time you feed this thing it will get ābetterā and you are training it to replace you.
Jan 16, 2025