From physical to digital collecting

[ClassyCo]

Has anyone made this transition? I am considering doing it myself, but I don't want to re-purchase my sizable library of film and TV digitally just to downsize my collection. There are some TV shows and movies that I'd always want a physical copy of, even if I'd be okay with having a digital copy, too.

Any suggestions on how to do this? Is there some magical service I can utilize that automatically makes the movies and shows I already own show up in a digital form?

 

[Crimson]

Other than perhaps a few coffee table books, I haven't purchased physical media in over a decade. All of my TV shows, movies, and books are digital. I was happy to get rid of the clutter and have my entire collection available to me from my phone or tablet.

Depending on your technical prowess and willingness to use <ahem> alternate sources, your options range from converting your physical collection to digital (time consuming), downloading through legally nebulous means, or simply re-purchasing everything digitally.

 

[Rove]

I've kept my entire photo negative/print media. I'm not game enough to throw out my cassette/vinyl record collection as they're making a comeback and I dare not discard my VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray collection. My reasoning is because I've invested quite a bit of money in this.

That said I rarely purchase new media in any physical form. Just yesterday when I sat down for lunch I rented The Lost City starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt from Amazon for $2.99 Australian. The movie was crap and a complete waste of 112 minutes but at $2.99 I don't think I've ripped myself off as in the past I would have purchased this on physical media at full price.

I live in hope Warner Bros will release Dallas on Blu-Ray because this will be a rare physical purchase...and possibly my last.

 

[The First Noele]

Ive recently - last 6 weeks - bought 2 shows from Amazon prime

Homeland - final season and Feud - Bette and Joan, but im old fashioned and if they were released on DVD i would have bought them

Im not sure why I have got all my old Dallas and everything associated with the show and cast still on VHS as I havent had a VHS player for over a decade but i m reluctant to part with them, Id love to as they take up so much space and seems rather pointless keeping them but its nostalgia - same goes for 1980s Top of the pops!!

 

[Treeviewer]

I have no plans to get rid of any DVDs I already own and there are still some titles that the collector in me still wants to be able to look at on the shelf, but I have begun purchasing-to-stream some which I want the security of ownership that I don't necessarily think are worth taking up the space.

 

[Crimson]

but I have begun purchasing-to-stream some which I want the security of ownership that I don't necessarily think are worth taking up the space.

If security of ownership is your intention, be cautious with purchasing streaming videos. This may vary between services, but typically you are not purchasing a copy of the video; you are only purchasing the right to access the service's copy of the video. If that service shuts down, you will lose your collection. Worse, those companies can simply remove access to the videos with no refund or recourse.

That's why most of my collection was converted from my own physical media. They're my files and as long as I don't suffer hardware failure, they can't be lost.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

I always love to browse other people's book/dvd/cd shelves (minimal touching, of course).
Good stuff, bad stuff, guilty pleasures, it's all in the open in physical format.

Another issue I have with digital stuff is that I wouldn't be able to remember what I have.
Anything can be lost but I don't think that should be the reason to do it one way or another. We already know that we're not going to have it forever.

 

[bchristmastree9]

That said I rarely purchase new media in any physical form. Just yesterday when I sat down for lunch I rented The Lost City starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt from Amazon for $2.99 Australian. The movie was crap and a complete waste of 112 minutes but at $2.99 I don't think I've ripped myself off as in the past I would have purchased this on physical media at full price.

It's a good thing you rented it to test-drive, else you'd been out a lot of money for something you didn't really enjoy if you got it physically.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Madonna versus Olivia, I'm a material girl who likes to get physical.

 

[TaranofPrydain]

I've been using a lot of streaming the last few years, but I'm not getting rid of DVDs. The only digital series I bought was due to not having any other buying options: The Practice, which was barely released on DVD.

 

[Treeviewer]

If security of ownership is your intention, be cautious with purchasing streaming videos. This may vary between services, but typically you are not purchasing a copy of the video; you are only purchasing the right to access the service's copy of the video. If that service shuts down, you will lose your collection. Worse, those companies can simply remove access to the videos with no refund or recourse.

So far it's only YouTube. I think they'll be around a while, but I am conscious that it may be a tenuous thing.

 

[bchristmastree9]

If security of ownership is your intention, be cautious with purchasing streaming videos. This may vary between services, but typically you are not purchasing a copy of the video; you are only purchasing the right to access the service's copy of the video. If that service shuts down, you will lose your collection. Worse, those companies can simply remove access to the videos with no refund or recourse.

That's why many videos on YouTube extol the advantages of physical (not that there aren't disadvantages).