Many people who talk about and discuss things like video games, movies and TV shows online have all probably had the same thought once or twice; "Why is this thing I like not on any streaming service?", truly it is a question that perplexes many. Companies are taking shows and movies off of streaming for... really no real reason and some things are just being put onto some random and unnecessary service for again, no real reason. The amount of streaming services has just made what was once a convenient alternative become the very thing it was the alternative to; Streaming is the new cable. This annoying disregard for consumer convenience and poor treatment of popular shows and movies has made people reminisce about the days of physical media, which all begs the question, can it come back?
Physical media refers mostly to releases of media on physical formats, most notably CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays, also this 4K Ultra stuff, I dunno what that's about, and vinyl records, those have made a comeback. Of course, Physical media has its limitations, discs of any kind are fragile, prone to scratching and degrade over time. That all being said, I remember back in the day you would have a lot of really cool things on DVDs. I remember being just as transfixed on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory DVD menu, watching a chocolate bar go through the factory being made and tested by the oompa-loompas, or going through the menus on the Red Dwarf DVDs to find the Easter Eggs. Now a-days, DVD menus are just sad, a singular splash image that is usually just a stock image or the DVD cover image and if you're lucky it will have some music. When I watched Wonder Park for my review, I was taken aback by the fact it had an animated intro for the main menu, you just don't see that anymore.
Menus weren't the only cool thing on DVDs though, you also had commentary tracks, sometimes they put interactive games on there, or even other cool bonuses, with some of my favourites including seeing a Red Dwarf episode reversed, as the gimmick was that the crew were stranded on an Earth that was going backwards in time, and on a Fraggle Rock DVD if you answered every question correctly on a quiz you got some bonus episodes of the Fraggle Rock Animated Series... okay that prize was not worth it but it was still cool. These are the kind of things that a lot of people miss about physical media, that and the fact that when you buy it you actually own it outright, which a lot of digital distribution store-fronts are really bad with, treating their services more like online rental shops where the return date is "Vaguely in the future".
So with all of this in mind, is there a place for physical media to come back? I think the answer is... no, because it never really went anywhere. Yes, most people are using digital storefronts and streaming services instead of buying physical media, however, physical media isn't dead. You will still find DVDs and Blu-rays out in stores, a new format was released nine years ago in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and again, vinyl records have made a comeback. The question really is not if there is a place for physical media to come back, the question is if there is a place for physical media to become as big as it used to be, and the answer to that I think is... maybe.
The big problem is that, of course, media of any kind is expensive. You would probably think that something on a digital storefront would be cheaper, and in some cases it is, but I'm sorry, 50 dollars is a lot to spend on a game on Steam, I mean it's a lot to spend on one game in general, but especially on Steam where you don't have to make-up material costs of making a disc, game case and game manual, even if games no longer come with manuals anymore. The reality is that spending a monthly fee for nearly unlimited access to movies and TV Shows sounds like a better deal that buying a hundred dollar piece of hardware and a 20-40 dollar DVD or Blu-ray of one movie or 100 dollars or more for a boxset of one TV show. Physical media also takes up physical space, and as someone who has a lot of video tapes, DVDs and music CDs, it can add up over time, which is a benefit of only having digital stuff as it only takes up digital space.
Of course, there is also piracy, but I would never (Wink) recommend my readers (wink) to pirate their media (wink). In all seriousness, piracy has become a major problem in the streaming era, well "problem" in quotation marks it really only effects the CEOs and shareholders, largely because of the unpredictability of streaming. This show or movie you love could be taken down from the streaming service you have any day and placed on a streaming service you don't have and don't want to pay for, if it comes back to streaming at all. Look, I don't care what Disney says, Prop Culture was one of the best docuseries on Disney+ and taking it down with no plans to put it back was was a terrible thing to do. Nobody wants to admit that the best way to deal with piracy is to make media easier to access, because that would imply that investing in D.R.M.s and SecuROM nonsense would be a waste of money.
That all being said, I think the main thing that keeps people on streaming services is just the simple fact that for the most-part, they don't want that extra content. Most people don't want DVD commentaries, or bonus games or fully-animated menu screens, they want the movie and the option to change the language and subtitles, everything else is not a bonus, it's unnecessary, like a rug on a carpet. So, how do we rectify this? The short answer is I don't know, streaming has completely changed the way we watch movies and especially TV Shows now, to the point where I really don't think that physical media will ever really be as big as it used to be. That all being said and done, it's not like there aren't people who still want physical media, if only for the ability to actually own something you purchase instead of having your ownership of a product decided by a corporation, and collectors are always looking for things to add to their collections. I think the best solution is that, if you prefer physical media you should go out and buy it if you can, and don't be afraid to cancel your subscriptions to any streaming service, missing out on something does not have to be a bad thing. Physical media never went anywhere, it just stopped being as popular as it used to be.
Also if anyone knows where I can find a Video copy of the 1977 Raggedy Ann & Andy movie I would be really happy, I think it would look great next to my other Raggedy Ann VHS Tapes.
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