Digital vs Tangible

[Anonymous Friend]

A couple years ago, I had someone break in and steal all of my anime, movies, video games and such.

What kind of a petty asshole does that? Usually break-ins are to find money or sell valuable stuff. They stole DVDs and video games? Seriously? That's just malicious against the person that you're stealing from. And if they're DB fans, then I guess we come in all forms: good and bad.

At least they left my Wii.

[KorgDTR2000]

Tangible for books, digital for video.

The experience of reading off a screen is very different from reading off a page, but there is no difference in the experience between watching something off of a DVD and watching it off of a hard drive except for the inconvenience of having to change discs. Long ago I ripped all of my DVDs onto my hard drive and I haven't looked back.

[ABED]

I prefer tangible all other things being equal. However, it's rarely equal. The cost of streaming shows on Netflix is a huge factor in why I'm not as enthusiastic about buying hard copies. However, I love physical books because they are smelly (Buffy reference).

[Ringworm128]

I would be lying if I said I didn't like streaming and digital downloads but for me having a physical copy of anything is far more attractive for me. When I own something physically, I actually feel like I own it. I can actually hold it in my hand. And putting a disc in a player and switching over to component, HDMI etc on your TV before sitting down and pressing play is a more rewarding experience to me than simply opening up a streaming service like a computer program. This is especially true for me when it comes to streaming. For me streaming is like borrowing off some friend who will let you have anything; sure you can keep borrowing the movie, but you never feel like you actually own it.

[Boo Machine]

I stream with NetFlex and purchase a majority of games digitally. Though I would much prefer Tangible. Digital never really feels like I own it. At any point my account could be hacked or go down for whatever reason and there go all my digital stuff. Or those moments where I don't have internet and I can't access any of MY stuff. Digital things can go anytime. If I have a physical copy I always have it.

Though digital does have the convenience going for it. But that's really about it.

[Ringworm128]

Also I find the "inconveniences" of physical media to be completely over exaggerated, It only takes about 30 seconds to change a disc and thin DVD and Blu Ray cases don't take up that much space. And if you have the cash to buy that much stuff you can probably also afford a second or third bookshelf.

[KorgDTR2000]

Also I find the "inconveniences" of physical media to be completely over exaggerated, It only takes about 30 seconds to change a disc and thin DVD and Blu Ray cases don't take up that much space. And if you have the cash to buy that much stuff you can probably also afford a second or third bookshelf.

It's just an unnecessary inconvenience at this point. Even if it only takes 30 seconds, why would I want to waste that 30 seconds when there is an option not to?

[ABED]

Special features can be a determining factor for me. For instance, I love The Office and Parks and Rec. Between those two shows, there are about 100 episodes worth of deleted scenes on the DVD's. Friends has the correct aspect ratio as well as the full length episodes, whereas Netflix seems to have the syndication length episodes. That's about 1-2 minutes less worth of footage per episode. Commentaries and behind the scenes features are a big factor. I'm so glad I got the Dragon Boxes because they are the only way I can watch the episodes as they were meant to be seen.

TV and movies are my one big hobby. I don't spend much on my car, I'm not into sports, so I might as well spend it on DVD's and Blu Rays.

[Robo4900]

Digital in all things, because it's just more convenient; if I own the manga digitally, I can just take my kindle with me wherever I go, and read it on a plane, on a bus, etc. Physical books are much more annoying to carry around. For the anime, I generally rip video to my PC anyway because of convenience, so having it actually set up from the get-go to not adhere to the limits of DVD or Blu-Ray is nice. And for both, it saves shelf space to own things digitally.

Unfortunately, they generally don't have as much special features on digital as compared to physical, but for Dragon Ball, special features are rarely anything special; with the only really cool stuff being interviews with the dub cast, which are plentiful online anyway, and Toriyama Q&As, which are generally all available here on Kanzenshuu anyway.

[ABED]

I love looking at my DVD/Blu Ray collection.

[Ringworm128]

Also I find the "inconveniences" of physical media to be completely over exaggerated, It only takes about 30 seconds to change a disc and thin DVD and Blu Ray cases don't take up that much space. And if you have the cash to buy that much stuff you can probably also afford a second or third bookshelf.

It's just an unnecessary inconvenience at this point. Even if it only takes 30 seconds, why would I want to waste that 30 seconds when there is an option not to?

Yeah, but it's 30 seconds. Even if there's a quicker option it's not like it's some insufferable amount of time. Really what are you going to do with that time? Not to mention selecting a movie and waiting it to load would probably take a similar amount of time anyway.

[KorgDTR2000]

Yeah, but it's 30 seconds. Even if there's a quicker option it's not like it's some insufferable amount of time. Really what are you going to do with that time? Not to mention selecting a movie and waiting it to load would probably take a similar amount of time anyway.

No way do load times for digital media take 30 seconds. And even if they did, DVDs still have vanity plates and menus to get through on top of the actual disc selection. Why would I want that hassle at all?

I was staying at my cousin's place last summer and we were watching Seinfeld off his DVDs. It was such a pain in the ass because every episode we wanted to watch we had to find the disc it was on and boot it up. Whereas at home through my media server I can just select any episode I want with no fuss, or switch gears entirely and skip to a different show or a movie, all without having to leave my seat. Physical media is just archaic at this point, it's an obstruction.

[ABED]

Yeah, but it's 30 seconds. Even if there's a quicker option it's not like it's some insufferable amount of time. Really what are you going to do with that time? Not to mention selecting a movie and waiting it to load would probably take a similar amount of time anyway.

No way do load times for digital media take 30 seconds. And even if they did, DVDs still have vanity plates and menus to get through on top of the actual disc selection. Why would I want that hassle at all?

I was staying at my cousin's place last summer and we were watching Seinfeld off his DVDs. It was such a pain in the ass because every episode we wanted to watch we had to find the disc it was on and boot it up. Whereas at home through my media server I can just select any episode I want with no fuss, or switch gears entirely and skip to a different show or a movie, all without having to leave my seat. Physical media is just archaic at this point, it's an obstruction.

The DVD's are better and have special features and what are you watching that you don't have to go tracking down what episode you want in less time than it would take to find the episode on DVD? It also depends on what device you are using to stream. Through my Blu Ray player is a very different experience than through my parent's smart TV.

[Ringworm128]

Yeah, but it's 30 seconds. Even if there's a quicker option it's not like it's some insufferable amount of time. Really what are you going to do with that time? Not to mention selecting a movie and waiting it to load would probably take a similar amount of time anyway.

No way do load times for digital media take 30 seconds. And even if they did, DVDs still have vanity plates and menus to get through on top of the actual disc selection. Why would I want that hassle at all?

I was staying at my cousin's place last summer and we were watching Seinfeld off his DVDs. It was such a pain in the ass because every episode we wanted to watch we had to find the disc it was on and boot it up. Whereas at home through my media server I can just select any episode I want with no fuss, or switch gears entirely and skip to a different show or a movie, all without having to leave my seat. Physical media is just archaic at this point, it's an obstruction.

I can see where you're coming from, but personally I still think you're over playing the inconveniences. Remembering what episode is on what disc isn't that hard, and usually with boxsets you get a guide booklet anyway. And I was more talking about the time it takes you to open the app, type out what you want then wait for it to stream. Maybe not 30 seconds, but still not enough to make switching discs some insufferable pain. There's liking streamlined convenience and efficiency, and then there's being like this.

[KorgDTR2000]

I can see where you're coming from, but personally I still think you're over playing the inconveniences. Remembering what episode is on what disc isn't that hard, and usually with boxsets you get a guide booklet anyway. And I was more talking about the time it takes you to open the app, type out what you want then wait for it to stream. Maybe not 30 seconds, but still not enough to make switching discs some insufferable pain. There's liking streamlined convenience and efficiency, and then there's being like this.

Isn't that clip just proving my point though? Bender is complaining about a mild inconvenience, with the joke being that inconvenience aside it's still dramatically more convenient than the traditional alternative. Instead of having to get up, walk to the fridge, grab a beer and go back to the couch he can just get a beer from the couch. How is that different from having to get up, grab a DVD, put it in the machine and sit back down, versus doing it all from the couch? A media server is as convenient as having a machine pour beer in your mouth. DVDs went out with powdered wigs.

And the searching and menu argument makes no sense anyway because DVDs have the same crap, as well as vanity plates and previews that are often (unforgivably) unskippable. DVDs just make zero sense to me. I cannot comprehend how someone could prefer them. For distribution sure, I'm sure as hell not going to buy something digitally. But actually playing them? Dump them onto a hard drive and run it all through Plex.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

I don't like having anything in digital format unless I have a physical backup. For example, I usually just make MKV's out of all the video content I own, but I never get anything straight from digital. As for books of any kind, I despise reading them off of a screen, so physical it is for me.

[Ringworm128]

I can see where you're coming from, but personally I still think you're over playing the inconveniences. Remembering what episode is on what disc isn't that hard, and usually with boxsets you get a guide booklet anyway. And I was more talking about the time it takes you to open the app, type out what you want then wait for it to stream. Maybe not 30 seconds, but still not enough to make switching discs some insufferable pain. There's liking streamlined convenience and efficiency, and then there's being like this.

Isn't that clip just proving my point though? Bender is complaining about a mild inconvenience, with the joke being that inconvenience aside it's still dramatically more convenient than the traditional alternative. Instead of having to get up, walk to the fridge, grab a beer and go back to the couch he can just get a beer from the couch. How is that different from having to get up, grab a DVD, put it in the machine and sit back down, versus doing it all from the couch? A media server is as convenient as having a machine pour beer in your mouth. DVDs went out with powdered wigs.

And the searching and menu argument makes no sense anyway because DVDs have the same crap, as well as vanity plates and previews that are often (unforgivably) unskippable. DVDs just make zero sense to me. I cannot comprehend how someone could prefer them. For distribution sure, I'm sure as hell not going to buy something digitally. But actually playing them? Dump them onto a hard drive and run it all through Plex.

I was using the clip to make my point. And isn't the joke that he's so insanely lazy that something that shouldn't even be an issue is a huge inconvenience to him? And I've never come across unskippable menus; I've come across ones where you can't fast forward, but all you have to do is press the menu button. And as said before many people like DVD just for the fact it's physical, something you can hold and actually enjoy the experience of changing discs, opening the tray etc. But it just comes down to personal taste.

[rereboy]

Also I find the "inconveniences" of physical media to be completely over exaggerated, It only takes about 30 seconds to change a disc and thin DVD and Blu Ray cases don't take up that much space. And if you have the cash to buy that much stuff you can probably also afford a second or third bookshelf.

Houses don't "grow". Dozens and dozens of blurays, for example, quickly become a storage problem. We can't put bookshelves anywhere.

And you didn't mention perhaps the most convenient aspect: the price. Almost all the inconveniences of the digital format don't matter of the price is right. Worries like losing the access to them become minimal if, compared to the price of their physical counterparts, we can get the digital versions several times over because, even if we did lose access to them, we could just get them again and it would still be cheaper than the physical format.

I prefer physical if the the price is right and if I don't have space issues. I prefer it because I have a collector's streak in me, because I like to hold physically the product, because the quality is generally better and because it usually has special features. However, I'm not blind to the advantages of the digital format and if the price is right it's very advantageous.

DVDs just make zero sense to me. I cannot comprehend how someone could prefer them.

It makes sense for someone:

- who likes to actually collect;
- who appreciates specials features (digital releases still don't have any of that and I hope that changes);
- who wants the highest quality possible;
- if the price is right.

Also, someone with physical Blurays can just make digital copies and still have the convenience of not having to pick up the blurays, if that really bothers him.

[ABED]

Rereboy and I are in complete agreement. I like to collect, storage can be an issue (though mitigated by the fact that I don't collect anything else), and price is a huge contributing factor. There are also other specific issues like episode length and aspect ratio which can tip the scales.

[thejeremymenace]

Physical. Every time.

Streaming picture quality just isn't capable of matching Blu-ray yet; they're cramming the same video information into something like 1/5 the bitrate. More importantly, these services are ethereal, they could take down these series at anytime. With a disc, you have it forever.

That said...

There are some shows for which I've made lossless JP disc rips and added my own subtitles or done other modifications because I was unhappy with the US releases (or there wasn't one). Dragon Ball, Evangelion, and Zeta Gundam are notable examples. So in these cases, I lean towards digital. It's still a permanent copy, and has the same quality as the disc.

For a long time I toyed with the idea of burning my Dragon Ball episodes to disc, but DVD is too limited to handle the combined bitrate Dragon Box video & audio + another two audio tracks & subtitles without re-encoding. I tried with Blu-ray too, but it's much too cumbersome to author a BD with freeware tools. A collection of MKV files ended up being the easiest and most convenient solution, even if I can't have them on the shelf. And if I notice a mistake it's far easier to edit an MKV than to re-burn an entire disc.