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Forums > Home› Ten Forward

Physical media vs. Streaming

scorcher27ascorcher27a Member Posts: 15 Arc User
in Ten Forward
We're in the day and age where most people have abandoned physical media (VHS, DVD and Blu-ray) for movies and TV series in favor of the convenience of streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) or buying them digitally through services like Amazon. Which is your choice?
Two wrongs don't make a right... but three rights make a left!

Physical media vs. Streaming 12 votes

Physical Media
91%
hawku001xrattler2captan2er0theanothernameshevetwarmonger360scorcher27asmokebaileysthe91phoenixc#0738granitia4380#7320 11 votes
Streaming & Digital Purchases
8%
evilmark444 1 vote

Comments

  • theanothernametheanothername Member Posts: 1,504 Arc User
    Physical Media
    If I like and value it in any form = physical. Its not that I don't watch streamed stuff; it just matters less for me. I'd rather pay 10 bucks for a bluray and wait till delivery than 5 bucks for an unlimited license use of a movie on amazon (or whatever service).
  • scorcher27ascorcher27a Member Posts: 15 Arc User
    Physical Media
    I personally believe that physical media can be better than streaming or digital (if one takes good care of it) for the following reasons.

    1. The bonus material (cast and crew interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, deleted scenes, gag reels). Streaming never has that.
    2. Some movies have a special version (a director's cut) that a streaming service almost never has.
    3. If something is available on a service, it won't always be there.
    4. If one purchases a movie or TV show digitally, there is literally no guarantee that it's yours to keep no matter what.
    5. You can't stream when your internet is down.
    Two wrongs don't make a right... but three rights make a left!
  • shevetshevet Member Posts: 1,667 Arc User
    Physical Media
    I use both, but if I have to pick one, it's physical.
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  • phoenixc#0738 phoenixc
    phoenixc#0738
         Member Posts: 5,497 Arc User
    edited May 2020
    Physical Media
    My thoughts on it are the same as Scorcher's list above. Especially true is the fact that services do not not always carry something you "buy" for long, and in my area at least the internet and power both tend to be a bit wonky (winter and spring especially) and physical media can be played on battery power in a pinch without any outside connection.
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,177 Arc User
    Should be an option for both. Physical tends to have better sound and higher quality video. TV shows I tend to stream while films are still physical.
  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    For convenience, it has to be streaming since you can always misplace a physical copy. However for the future of humanity, it has to be physical copies. If there is World War III or IV or a virus that destroys the internet, then any news, games, music, or video that is only available through streaming would cease to exist. This could be the reason why Star Trek only references 20th Century videos and music and not early 21st Century videos and music.
  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 58,008 Community Moderator
    Physical Media
    Problem with that is that WW3 and the Eugenics Wars have changed times several times. Back in TOS it was apparently in the 1990s. Voyager didn't show anything like that, and First Contact had Cochrane's famous launch in 2063, after WW3. So WW3 could have been anywhere between the 1990s and 2063.
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    Yang Xiao Long wrote:
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • theraven2378theraven2378 Member Posts: 5,985 Arc User
    Both, some movies I cannot find on streaming services
    NMXb2ph.png
      "The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
      -Lord Commander Solar Macharius
    • evilmark444evilmark444 Member Posts: 6,950 Arc User
      Streaming & Digital Purchases
      I'm a bit late to this, but I haven't purchased a physical movie or game in at least 6 years. I consider digital to be far superior for several reasons:

      1) I can't misplace something I purchased digitally (I'm VERY good at losing things).
      2) My kids can't scratch or break a digital movie or game (they have AMAZING skills when it comes to destruction).
      3) I don't need to worry about storage for all my movies and games if they are all digital.

      I try to stick to Prime Video for my movie purchases, but thanks to Movies Anywhere it's not really a problem if I decide to buy on a different platform, unless it's a movie from one of the few studios that don't support Movies Anywhere.
      Lifetime Subscriber since Beta
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    • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
      evilmark444 wrote: »
      I'm a bit late to this, but I haven't purchased a physical movie or game in at least 6 years. I consider digital to be far superior for several reasons:

      1) I can't misplace something I purchased digitally (I'm VERY good at losing things).
      2) My kids can't scratch or break a digital movie or game (they have AMAZING skills when it comes to destruction).
      3) I don't need to worry about storage for all my movies and games if they are all digital.

      I try to stick to Prime Video for my movie purchases, but thanks to Movies Anywhere it's not really a problem if I decide to buy on a different platform, unless it's a movie from one of the few studios that don't support Movies Anywhere.

      Then there is Stadia and GeForce Now which doesn't require you to upgrade your hardware constantly and it allows the games to be played on almost any computer, tablet, or smart phone that you own. Having everything accessible through streaming services where we don't own the hardware or software is likely the future.
    • captan2er0captan2er0 Member Posts: 836 Arc User
      Physical Media
      I still prefer physical to digital/streaming. Many years of living in an area with a lackluster infrastructure to download anything digitally, let alone stream something, that's prone to go out during storms has me skeptical of an all digital age. That coupled with a lot of the older series and such that I enjoy watching actually aren't available on streaming services kinda has my hands tied into physical media where ever possible. It's also easier to let a friend try a console game they may be on the fence on their own schedule when I can lend them the disc when I'm either not playing or already finished with the game.
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