Not only do we own our media when we collect it, but we are preserving it. There are some movies that you canāt stream, and without physical media to rent or even purchase, itās become increasingly difficult to access movies and shows. A recent and resonant example is the film ā28 Days Laterāāthere was a period about a year ago where it wasnāt streaming anywhere. Just poof šØ gone. And physical copies of the movie are super hard to find.
We are losing the recipes if we donāt collect, keep, and treasure our media. I got into the mix with VHS tapes and have also begun to rebuild my DVD collection. And my goodness, what a treat it is to watch the era-specific trailers when I pop a tape on. The whole viewing experience becomes an event.
All of this is to say, renting my media digitally no longer works for me. I donāt trust media companies and big corporations to not fumble the bag with our art, our culture, our history. We owe it to ourselves to be the stewards of what we love and care about, because thereās no guarantee Spotify will have that song tomorrow.
Addendum: As of last month, the oldest title on Netflix streaming is from 1973. Now imagine if Netflix was the only platform you used to stream, how would you even come into contact with something earlier than 1973? Where and how would you access earlier media?