Why I'm Done With Streaming Services

Tradition is not the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire.

100%!!! Thank you for this video. I have felt this same way for a while now. Recently, I started collecting vintage PC technology and have actually built a Windows 98 PC for older games and a Windows XP PC to sort of recapture that magic I once knew as well as VHS tapes and other means of physical media. Additionally, do not say that your video isn't going to change minds or change hearts because it certainly will. Even if it changes ONE persons mind, then it's worth it.

I love physical media. My wife and I put off streaming services for YEARS and we never had cable. So we ended up with a ton of dvds that we never got rid of luckily. Once we had our kiddo, we bought a box of 100 Disney (and similar) VHS tapes for something like $20. I started buying vinyl records of the albums that mean a lot to me and I use film for family pictures and trips in a photo album. It will be nice to pass all this along to our kiddo rather than everything getting lost when a phone breaks. Plus who knows how long streaming services will last.

I never got into streaming; I always preferred physical media and ended up having that vindicated by the way these corporations splintered up the streaming, edited their products on the sly, or even just straight-up pulled stuff off the platform. My copies of Dumbo or Peter Pan doesn't have some "content warning" on it. Recently I got a converter so my VCR will work again. I've hooked up my DVD player near my computer so I can listen to my movies and shows. I've gotten a music player that plays everything from records to tapes to CDs. And yes, I've pirated shows that never got a proper release, not even on streaming. Some people might mock those of us who prefer cultivating these collections, but my collection is tailored to me, not them, and it's not dependent on a constant internet connection either.

As a person who actively collects VHS, laserdisc and DVDs my only complaint about VHS is that you end up watching most movies in “pan and scan” format. In this regard i think DVD is far superior due to the movies being presented in their proper widescreen format, but VHS tapes are still fun as hell to collect and watch

I am so glad this popped up on my homepage. This is an enjoyable listen while doing other stuff fr. (Like writing this comment. xD ) I could go on and on, but all I'll say is I saw the original Alien from 1979 for the first time when it was re-released in theatres a few months back for the 45th anniversary, all its glory on the big screen. Digged the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack (Which as a Trekkie, well, the likelihood was quite high that I would, yeah.), and now I found them all for dirt cheap on VHS at a sale and watch them on an ancient round screen TV. (Well, maybe. I think the first one will be my favourite, have not even seen the others. Though the fun thing about the franchise is they are kind of all standalone) Life is good. Gotta love it when you're luck enough to have many unlabeled tapes to explore. (Ah, brutalmoose, inspiration.)

I have an entire bookshelf in the basement of films. Ive been going through thise and have half abandoned most online services

That's why I watch movies for free on sketchy websites 😅😅

I don't understand people who don't own and have no interest in owning CDs. I've always hated listening to music on the radio because they choose the music, not the listener. And I have no interest in hearing "More than a Feeling" for the 1000th time or whatever Foreigner tune they pull out of their bin. I am constantly scouring thrift stores for CDs. $2. Give it a try. Brazilian music, Chinese classical music, some bizarre band that nobody's ever heard of. Choose an album based solely on the cover. But have Sirius XM choose the next song? Pay money to a streaming service so that I can hear the same music I've already got on CD? I will admit, however, that having a streaming service to watch some TV show or some movie that I'm never going to watch again is convenient. I liked watching "Bosch" and "Flying Circus" on Amazon or whatever because I just can't see owning the DVD. Shows and music aren't like music. There's only so many times I can watch something. Black Sabbath or Miles Davis is forever.

I detest them. Raising prices, adverts not only at the begining but during the movie, short episode runs, 2 year gaps between seasons, weekly episode releases, an attempt at abolishing binge watching, are all factors. If i wanted normal tv then id watch normal tv.

how do the vhs tapes look on an hdtv? last time I tried that years ago I remember it looking terrible. I have a crt now specifically for vintage gaming or the occasional vhs.

i would love to burn some dvds to keep.

The dream of the internet and streaming was the preservation and availability of everything everywhere but instead the mechanisms that inform what is available on streaming services has ruined them. Corporations / publishers using their "content" as bargaining chips in a ratrace to sell license packages to the highest bidder which only results in a terribly unpredictable supply for the consumer when the entire point of the model was ease of use and freedom of choice. So much old stuff isn't offered either, or they do offer them but it's some inferior version of the thing you want, or they only offer it partially. It's honestly horrific considering how much cultural momentum has been sucked out of the television and cinema industries, trying to watch certain old shows on streaming services is very hard to do and it almost feels like a deliberate move to obfuscate how crap some of the new stuff is by trying to hide the old stuff as best as possible. The absolute best way to get what you want it to just buy it physically.

Same here man I got like over a 100 vhs tapes

you should find the free streaming services and see if it is worth your time to watch for free instead of paying for streaming as there are several options out there

With streaming it’s only going to get worse and far more dystopian. If a platform doesn’t want to show a movie or film, it could just disappear into the ether of nothingness never to be seen again. I got my DVD collection and gaming collection, so I’m good.

I can't believe this isn't a joke or an RLM sketch. You sound like the old hipsters who used to swear that vinyl was the best way to listen to music, that the cracks and pops made it sound more authentic, the way it was meant to be heard, and all the technical hassles were worth it. You're got this adopted nostalgia for a time you missed out on and it's sad, you need to find ways to appreciate your own time. As for media, physical is sometimes worth it but only for special features and commentaries, anything else is so much better stored digitally. You didn't grow up with VHS so you didn't get to use its main function, making your own tapes from free sources or movie channels. That habit extended to some who would also make their own copies of tapes they rented, and then that would translate into the era f ripping dvd's. Sadly, no one thought to preserve all the features and extra people worked so hard to collect before disc rot claimed them, streaming services just have the title itself and you're lucky is the subtitles work correctly. Yes, collect and curate your own collection, but drop this silly love of the boxes and plastic cases and magnetic tape, all that is doomed to die out. Try to preserve value in your own collection, not monetary, but cultural and entertainment value, and for that the dvd era is your golden age. If you're going to be a physical collector, at least make plans to back it up digitally, trust me, you'll be glad you did later on. Dedication of any kind to VHS for any purpose other than making content or turning it into digital is pure vanity.

What got me back to collecting dvds was so i can rip them and try to make them 1080p with ai as a hobby Also failing at it too but gonna keep going and learning

As someone who spent most of my life in the pre-streaming days, I find you guys absolutely hilarious. $16/mo. for Spotify = access to most recordings ever made $16/mo. for new physical media = maybe one new CD per month (if you're lucky) What a deal! And VHS, seriously? It was a trash format when it was new, and it looks terrible on a non-CRT monitor. It's funny how none of us who lived through this era have almost no nostalgia for it, while you guys do? Your problem is not the format and convenience, it's managing your expectations that matters.