Physical VS Digital

[Alex]

Now that I've got that joke out the way I'll ask the genuine question.

Do you prefer your media to be physical or digital.

Obviously each one has pros and cons such as physical generally being more expensive and actually takes up space in a household that you might not be able to spare, but at the same time if your computer breaks (and providing you have a CD/DVD player) you can still enjoy your media instead of having everything in one place (which is an advantage as well).

Personally I'm more of a physical person. I like having a collection of CDs and DVDs/Blu Rays. I feel it's more impressive to go 'Look at my CD collection' than 'Look at my iTunes'

I will say digital has it's merits as well though. I've downloaded gigs/films that are either ridiculously hard to find or are out of print.

So which medium do you prefer?? And don't just say digital because you pirate everything please.

 

[Reflection]

In case of songs, movies and games, I prefer digital because it's quite a bit of a hassle to insert the disk each time (games), and once you copy-paste the files, the disk and cover are pretty much useless (songs and movies). These days, DVD players have a USB port as well, so one can simply make a back-up of their favourite songs on their pen drives. Plus, if you live with conservative people, buying/having physical porn DVD's can get you in a lot of trouble. Availability (everything, not just porn) is also an issue in a country like India.
However, as far as books are concerned, I prefer the physical variant, as the digital one puts a lot of stress on my eyes. Also, I find it easier to jump to a particular page in a book than an e-book. If physical books and original music CD's are seen as status symbols, then they beat the digital variant. e-book beats physical book if it contains adult fiction because of the same reason as adult DVD's. I don't know why the fuck I keep getting back into the erotica part, but I guess that's important too. Ahem... anyway, Tickets and Vouchers are better in pdf than in paper. The former wastes a lot of paper and the latter doesn't have any use unless your product is defective.

 

[Alex]

Something about books that my dad mentioned (which also can be said for films and music) is that not everything is digitised to it is sometimes better to have a physical copy because sometimes there isn't a digital version. Also yeah reading from a book is a lot less stressful on the eyes and I appreciate illustrations better in a physical version.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I prefer digital when it comes to actually listening to the music or watching the shows/movies. That being said, I do try to purchase the CD's and/or DVD's in hard copy form. The hard copies do not see much use, but they are around just in case I ever lose their digital counterparts. Thousands of songs that if I ever lose them from my iTunes, can simply just all be re-uploaded. Dozens of movies/shows that can be watched the old fashioned way if there are issues with Netflix or whatever other digital medium I tried to use to watch it. Last but not least, video games. If you legally own a copy of the cartridge/discs, by all means go grab the ROM if it's around. ROM's cannot get scratched and you can re-live so many classics that way without fear of it crashing due to the condition of the game's hard copy itself.

 

[Loveless]

Having a digital copy is fine but I pretty much insist on having physical media. Maybe it's because I'm paranoid, but I'm suspicious of not having something tangible to hold onto. I don't trust technology not to break and I don't trust digital rights holders not to rewrite the law, or prevent transfer, or technology becoming obsolete thus requiring a new purchase. Digital purchase is a house built on sand, you're reliant on someone not shaking the foundations.

 

[smizzy]

As far as music goes, I primarily use digital because it's a lot easier, efficient and accessible. However, if I really like an album, I will buy a physical copy. I do prefer physical copies over digital. It's a memento that goes along with the listening experience. I've accumulated a nice CD and record collection, something I take a lot of pride in. It's cool when friends come over and go through my record collection and are able to see the large album artwork instead of looking at it on their iPhone screen. A lot of my friends love Kendrick Lamar (birds of a feather ya know!) and it's neat for them to pull out my 'good kid mAAd city' record and spin it on my record player. It's a different, unique experience.

I don't put my CDs to use though. When I drive around, I use my iPod through auxiliary; just easier. I have everything I want right there without having to exchange discs, sometimes for just one song.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I used to be a physical-only guy and would only purchase movies, TV shows, games, music and books in their physical formats. However, as time went on, it became a matter of accessibility. I don't enjoy ordering things online because I hate waiting whereas if I went into a store and bought something, I would be able to enjoy that product that same day. That's where iTunes comes in. I searched stores for a physical copy of the movie "Trainspotting" and couldn't find a single one. When I searched for it on iTunes? It was there and I was immediately able to enjoy it upon purchase and download. This provides a lot of convenience for me. The same applies to TV shows, books and games. Sometimes there are exceptions though. Sometimes something won't be available digitally, but available physically (ex. the band Tool not being on iTunes was the reason why I bought their albums on CDs). While I understand that having a physical collection is something you can actually touch and bask in and appreciate the cover artwork/booklets (I personally don't have anyone to show off my physical collection to, so that reason doesn't apply to me), it's really the media content that is top priority for consumption. I like how I can carry all of my movies, books, and music on my iPod so that I can enjoy them anywhere outside of my home. That's better than having to carry around all my DVDs, CDs and books in a bag. That's digital convenience. Sure, the disadvantage for both physical and digital are that physical can break and digital can be erased, but chances of that happening are slim for me since I take care of my stuff and make extra backups. Plus, when it's physical, I have to track down the media again and buy it whereas for digital, I can just re-download whatever is tied to my account whether it's Steam/GOG for games or iTunes for music/movies/TV shows or Comixology for comic books. I guess the only real problem I had with digital was the strict DRM. For example, iTunes only allows its movies and TV shows to be played through its application on the computer or on QuickTime or on Apple devices. DVDs on the other hand can be played on any device that has a DVD player on it, which makes the options broader. But, that's still at the end of the day a small gripe since I just want to enjoy the content when it's all said and done, and I can.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Even though I have close to 9,000 songs on my iTunes (DAMN YOU APPLE GETTING RID OF THE IPOD CLASSIC!!), I much prefer buying the songs in physical CD form, than just via iTunes or any other MP3 website. I like holding the physical copy of the album, reading the notes and I am proud of my huge collection of CDs, which always gets alot of attention when people come round to my house- I think there's over 400 CDs on the shelves now.

I'm always worried about losing the songs on my iTunes, so although I occasionally back up all my data using external hard drives, I like knowing I have the actual CDs of most of the albums just incase the worse happens again- I did lose about 3,000 songs a few years ago and had to reupload everything.

With gig tickets, again I like having the actual ticket rather than just a printout of an e-ticket or something on my phone to scan. I've got a really nice display of gig tickets in a big photoframe on the wall next to my staircase at home, which looks cool.

I can appreciate why the majority of people are starting to move towards everything digital, streaming music etc, as it does save alot of space. I have a spare room in my house pretty much dedicated to nothing but racks of CDs and DVDs, and personally I like that...but I understand why alot of people wouldnt.

 

[Dave]

I go digital because I pirate everything. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Actually, up until about 3 years ago, I really did pirate everything. I remember having a disagreement with Sly on here because of it. Still, around that time, I kind of realised that I was being a bit of a cunt. And this happened when a friend of a friend of my friend finally got his break in music, I resented that people were illegally downloading his album. So I guess I got a taste of my own medicine in some regards.

But since then, I have been buying as much physical stuff as I can. The only negative thing that irks me about having physical copies is the room it takes. I guess that is the upshot of having digital copies. And yes, I am aware that I can still have digital copies of things on my PC but I don't like iTunes or similar sites.

However, I really like looking at my collection of DVD's and CD's. It's a weird thing to be proud of things that you have bought but it really works like that. I work hard to have money to do all of these things and it is nice to have a reminder of that.

So yeah, I like physical now.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Physical because I'm old fashioned and like holding stuff in my hands + I like looking at stuff like album booklets and all the stuff that comes with the physical versions of media.

But digital is definitely more convenient.

 

[PeterSellersSTL]

digital all the way - nothing beats it. ebooks cloud music and movies - I'll be glad when video games go the way of the cloud. ps4 and xbox one are the last consoles.

i used to miss album liners and the sort but wikipedia is a great alternative

 

[CyberPunk]

Both have their pros and cons. But in a country like India, digital is hassle. Internet speeds are nowhere close to what they should be. Case in point, I recently bought a game on origin and it took me almost 2 weeks to download because of download speeds and bugs in downloading client. I'd much rather purchase a physical copy.

On the other hand, keeping physical media is another headache. Where do I keep all rhe DVDs I own? I ran out of space a year ago and since then I had to switch to digital media. Quite a few DVDs had to be disposed to make space for other things.

 

[Alex]

I was in town trading in some old DVDs and it hit me. When it pertains to digital stuff (if you've bought it) you can't get a refund or trade in. So on the off chance that you've bought something you don't like/don't want you won't be able to get any money back on it. With physical you can (even if it's a really small amount) Heck if you so choose you can sell your old sets of media yourself on ebay etc. You can't really sell a game you downloaded to someone else really.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Physical, easily.

I'm old fashioned, I prefer the DVDs, and collecting DVDs is one of my hobbies I'm passionate about. I've lost count for the number of DVD stacks in my room, and it's something I never get tired of.

I'm into the irreplaceable feeling for having a physical collection, and I'm a big fan of collector's editions and box sets. The covers, the special features, the interviews, the documentaries, the little bonus additions or gifts (The Dark Knight trilogy box set comes with a behind the scenes booklet, and they throw in a replica of Jason's mask for the old Friday The 13th DVD box set). Sure, you could pick up the regular standard DVDs, and you probably won't notice a difference, but special or collector's editions are worth it, if you're a die hard fan of the films.

To name a few, I have a box set for A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday The 13th (the old DVD one with Jason's mask, not the more recent Blu-Ray release), The Dark Knight trilogy, and I plan on buying the new Halloween anthology Blu-Ray set some day. Also, I'm a sucker for collector's edition box cover art. A few of my favorites:

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The only time I go with digital is for older and rare horror favorites (Fright Night Part II '88, the Sleepaway Camp sequels), because they're out of print or impossible to find on DVD or VHS. That, and for movies I'm not too sure about, because I rarely use RedBox now a days, for shows I'm on the fence about, or online exclusives (i.e. Tom Holland's Twisted Tales).

I'm the same with CDs. I don't have an iPod, and there's a good chance I'll never have one, because I'm not into portable media players, and I know I'll stop using it for good after a month or two.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I'm a physical person. I love having a library of books, an entertainment center filled with DVDs, and what little video games I play should be lined up right next to my choice console. The only thing I lean digital towards is music. I don't believe in this day and age I should go out and buy a track when I can just glance at it on Youtube. I don't have to own it and play it over and over again like some probably do, I just need to listen to one song or so and move on to something else. With books and movies, I enjoy the visual appeal of taking a story to it's end. I'm not all that interested in listening to any musician's discography front to back.

 

[JamJam]

I think the only physical copy I like of things is DVDs. I plan to start a DVD collection once I've saved up some more. So if you guys can suggest some cool movie and tv shows to collect, that'd be great. But anyway, if it isn't a DVD, I'll probably get a digital copy of it. I enjoy books as much as the next guy but I bought a kindle for a reason. Even if the kindle is mostly for reading, it's a great tablet. It makes everything easier. I sometimes use it for reading textbooks for my college classes and that's a huge plus not having to carry books around. Actually, I guess I'd like physical copies of video games that I want as well. Everything else, digital it up baybay!