Is it just me, or have people forgotten the sheer joy of sticking a DVD on?
You remember it? When you’d spend 20 minutes having a mental battle with yourself about which film to watch before picking the one you’ve watched a million times, opening up the box, getting the disc out and giving it the obligatory dust with your t-shirt before placing it into the player. Then hearing the whirs of lasers reading the thing while waiting for the title screen to load.
Or what about using a CD player?
Where you’d turn it on, immediately turn it down because it was on the ridiculously loud radio setting, change the setting, pry open the door (which probably needed some WD40 or something), and put the CD on. Why was it so quiet? Because you’d just turned it down. So, volume back up again.
Those were the days!
In a growing digital world and the idea of one device to serve all, less and less people buy physical media. Instead, they opt for subscriptions to a multitude of platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Disney and that one that’s got Game of Thrones on. Oh, and there’s Spotify – every band in the world but not a single physical album cover.
Yes, vinyl has had a resurgence in popularity in recent years. But this is an exception to the rise of digital media rather than a trend. When it comes to TV, for instance, some 69.7% of UK homes now have at least one subscription video-on-demand service, according to Barb.
Yet these platforms give consumers so little control over what they can watch. Niche and mainstream films and television shows get removed regularly so the point of putting your trust (and £10.99 a month) into these billion-dollar corporations feels like such a gamble: will they even have the show you want when it comes to it?
That is why physical media is so important. You have that certainty. So, I acknowledge I sound like my old man, talking about how good we once had it but I’m convinced this is one thing that shouldn’t change: people should have their own mini museum of compact discs and DVDs.
My advice? Do consider popping into your local charity shop and picking up one for 50p (probably cheaper than the price of a Freddo). Start your collection, and keep physical media alive..
