Current Events > Physical media sells out in a flash with internet down after hurricane.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/RyanSilberman/status/1840905331691647256

A reminder at how limited streaming is if the internet goes out...damn.

With AI on the rise and weather getting worse every year the Internet is gonna be an awful solution for most people that actually wanna use their media.

Wow it's almost like the all digital future isn't as convenient as corporations want you to think it is

While I havent minded making digital purchases for gaming Im still firmly a physical guy for books, music, and movies. Outside gamefaqs I honestly dont use the Internet much.

My issue with movies isnt even availability, but as a home theatre junkie its quality. Ill take the disc every time. From a video and audio perspective so far what we typically get I find streaming quality to be compressed and lower quality. Ill keep my physical for that alone.

Plus the other extras that come on discs, behind the scenes stuff, making of, interviews, gag reels, directory/actor commentary where I learn a lot. I like that stuff.

But rare stuff like outages are a factor. A few months ago we had a bad storm knock out cable/Internet for like 36 hours. I just rewatched some favorite blu-ray movies. No big deal.

Gotta admit, DVDs were pretty low on the list of things I was expecting a hurricane to cause a shortage of.

I actually went back to buying CDs for all my music just like a month ago. AT&T 4G is way too shitty to stream audio over, and even that is out if I were ok with paying a subscription since Google doesn't let you buy anymore.

Funny how that works, isn't it? They wait long enough for the idea to become normal then they turn it predatory. Well, I'm out. I'll be the weirdo who still buys CDs.

archizzy posted...

My issue with movies isnt even availability, but as a home theatre junkie its quality. Ill take the disc every time. From a video and audio perspective so far what we typically get I find streaming quality to be compressed and lower quality. Ill keep my physical for that alone.

I don't get why streaming services haven't offered a higher-tier plan that gives higher quality. A gigabit fiber connection, which is fairly available to the kinds of people who'd use such a plan, could easily handle streaming at or even above blu-ray quality. A 100 megabit connection could handle DVD quality.

I'm super worried about the loss of physical media for video games, but I feel like people who live in places prone to natural disasters should be even more worried than I am, and yet they're not.

saspa posted...

I'm super worried about the loss of physical media for video games, but I feel like people who live in places prone to natural disasters should be even more worried than I am, and yet they're not.

It's because the Internet is so ingrained in everything that people don't think the world just kinda stops when they don't have it these days. Even if you have power via generator or otherwise, you still have little you can actually do in a disaster, especially if it lasts multiple days.

if i lost internet access id only have like a few dozen games to play on my pc. just realized this

I haven't seen a DVD in years, you still get them? Even the pawn shop had none.

Maybe the hurricane blew it all away

TMOG posted...

Wow it's almost like the all digital future isn't as convenient as corporations want you to think it is

Nah. Digital is mad convenient. Its literally its only selling point. The word you want is reliable. Because that, it certainly is not.

do physical media nowadays come in usb form

Physical Media = ownership

Digital = renting

Would you rather own a house rent it? Why do we hate landlords again?
Corps pushing to phase out phyaical media are just landlords for games etc

angeleyes94 posted...

I haven't seen a DVD in years, you still get them? Even the pawn shop had none.

Where do you live that you haven't seen a DVD in years?

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Funny how that works, isn't it? They wait long enough for the idea to become normal then they turn it predatory. Well, I'm out. I'll be the weirdo who still buys CDs.

That is the landlord way

Get the renters in. Jackup the price. Rinse and repeat every year. Oh they no longer have a choice cause buying is now unaffordable? Exactly as planned

I still have 2 stand alone blu ray players and a few blu rays. I dont buy a ton, but yeah if the internet went out wed have enough to keep us occupied.

Bruh you can download digital movies before a hurricane how hard is it to prepare for something

orangefire25 posted...

Bruh you can download digital movies before a hurricane how hard is it to prepare for something

Look man

People who have known tax day 2025 was coming for literally 60+ years are still going to wait until 9PM on 4/15 to get started.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

Look man

People who have known tax day 2025 was coming for literally 60+ years are still going to wait until 9PM on 4/15 to get started.

And that's digital medias fucking fault, that people can't can't get their shit together? Nah fam

orangefire25 posted...

And that's digital medias fucking fault, that people can't can't get their shit together? Nah fam

lolno, it's because people are lazy and procrastinate.

Most streaming services have offline viewing options.

And you can use your phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot. The storm didn't destroy cell towers, did it?

I agree with you. I just don't like how so many in this thread are acting like this is a gotcha against digital media, which is a great development for media in general. It has its pros and cons just like anything, but using these examples just ain't it

Orosuke posted...

Nah. Digital is mad convenient. Its literally its only selling point. The word you want is reliable. Because that, it certainly is not.

If you rely on streaming it's probably not. In the event of an outage I can still play my non-online multiplayer Steam games and my digital music/media collection just fine.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

Most streaming services have offline viewing options.

And you can use your phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot. The storm didn't destroy cell towers, did it?

Cell service was knocked out in a lot of the areas where the storm hit.

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2024/09/29/cell-power-outage-north-carolina-helene-att-verizon-tmobile/75441408007/

I'm of the opinion that physical media should still be an option.

StarSpangled posted...

I'm of the opinion that physical media should still be an option.

Honestly, I would even be okay at this point if after purchasing a digital version, you were given the option to buy a physical one for some amount of money after for digital exclusives.