I warehouse old software, and run game server daemons on my homelab.

I dont watch movies much.

The way the US's DMCA is written though, hanging on to old disc media is the only 'legitimate' way to hold on to copies of affected media.

Thus, my opening post umbrage about silly laws. A sensible buyer would decrypt, then duplicate, their original discs onto a set of 'working' discs, and put the originals in a dark, dry, safe place. Make new working discs as needed to deal with media damage / loss.

Lawyers and lobbyists have seen fit to declare that illegal here, though.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2026-10-27, 23:16:

I clicked on this thread expecting to answer "kodachrome" but I see I misinterpreted the title

That's what I thought too!

I need to conduct a recount, but I'm definitely in the vicinity of 700 DVDs and Blu-rays. The balance has probably tipped in favour of the latter, though I've been buying DVDs again because they're super-cheap. Especially if it's a film I'm just casually interested in, and not willing to put a tenner down for those extra lines of definition.

On that subject, I was in CEX recently whilst waiting for the opticians to finish their lunch. Squatting down on the floor to check what they had stocked in the last few letters of the alphabet, I overheard in the next aisle a hipsterite conversation about how they're done with streaming and they're getting back to physical media. Given their age I assume by 'getting back to' they mean generally, not personally.

My brother is always trying to convince me to flog it all to Music Magpie like he did. In response, whenever I'm at his I always ask him to fire up Disney+ and put on S3E1 of The Simpsons. You can pry 'Lisa it's Your Birthday' from my dead hands, Al Jean.

I've not used actual tape in many years.

I still use DVDs sometimes (not very much lately)

I mostly have a server running PLEX and a bunch of big hard drives now.
A couple internal and a USB dock so I can easily swap in less often used drives.

I only have a modest collection of physical media for film. Around 90% Blu Ray and 10% DVD. I ended my streaming subscriptions years ago. The value just wasn't there. I have a NAS with 4×8TB storage in raid5 that runs a jellyfin server. And the source of media to fill it... I buy if possible. I rip my physical media, digitally I buy music off of BandCamp, but I don't know any platforms where I can buy movies and TV series DRM-free to archive them off-line so for those I have to rely on alternative sources.

RandomStranger wrote on Today, 08:03:

I only have a modest collection of physical media for film. Around 90% Blu Ray and 10% DVD. I ended my streaming subscriptions years ago. The value just wasn't there. I have a NAS with 4×8TB storage in raid5 that runs a jellyfin server. And the source of media to fill it... I buy if possible. I rip my physical media, digitally I buy music off of BandCamp, but I don't know any platforms where I can buy movies and TV series DRM-free to archive them off-line so for those I have to rely on alternative sources.

Do you remember the shaky blurry movie effect generated by silly people recording movies in cinemas on a video camera - DRM developers refer to that as the analog hole.

Our brains accept only analog content so the analog hole is entirely natural.

This is why we must outlaw brain implants because once they (e.g. Elon Musk) implement that, we won't be able to see content without subscribing!

wierd_w wrote on Yesterday, 18:29:

You dont *necessarily* need to use the extra capacity of blueray disc for more pixels.

A better use is 'more episodes per disc', especially for old shows that were never shot outside of 4:3 ratio *anyway*.

that's true, on capacity its really good for that

Big Pink wrote on Yesterday, 19:15:

On that subject, I was in CEX recently whilst waiting for the opticians to finish their lunch. Squatting down on the floor to check what they had stocked in the last few letters of the alphabet, I overheard in the next aisle a hipsterite conversation about how they're done with streaming and they're getting back to physical media. Given their age I assume by 'getting back to' they mean generally, not personally.

i hear that occasionally but the big numbers suggest streaming is the waterfall, physical media is the little splash that occasionally seems to be going upwards for a second or two

MattRocks wrote on Today, 10:01:

This is why we must outlaw brain implants because once they (e.g. Elon Musk) implement that, we won't be able to see content without subscribing!

the dystopia....

MattRocks wrote:

This is why we must outlaw brain implants because once they (e.g. Elon Musk) implement that, we won't be able to see content without subscribing!

If brain implants ever become a thing and can be used to remotely control and alter what the implantee perceives, being allowed or not to watch non subscription entertainment is really not that high up on the list of bad things that will result, IMHO.

Again IMHO, that specific concern would be maybe slightly more significant than worrying about the health and appearance of the petunias in one's garden at the onset of a global thermonuclear conflict.

EDIT: On a semi-related note, I think it's safe to assume the Borg do not fuss much about whether they have access to a curated list of Seinfeld or Coronation Street episodes only after having reached their assimilation quota.

MattRocks wrote on Today, 10:01:

Do you remember the shaky blurry movie effect generated by silly people recording movies in cinemas on a video camera - DRM deve […]
Show full quote

RandomStranger wrote on Today, 08:03:

I only have a modest collection of physical media for film. Around 90% Blu Ray and 10% DVD. I ended my streaming subscriptions years ago. The value just wasn't there. I have a NAS with 4×8TB storage in raid5 that runs a jellyfin server. And the source of media to fill it... I buy if possible. I rip my physical media, digitally I buy music off of BandCamp, but I don't know any platforms where I can buy movies and TV series DRM-free to archive them off-line so for those I have to rely on alternative sources.

Do you remember the shaky blurry movie effect generated by silly people recording movies in cinemas on a video camera - DRM developers refer to that as the analog hole.

Our brains accept only analog content so the analog hole is entirely natural.

This is why we must outlaw brain implants because once they (e.g. Elon Musk) implement that, we won't be able to see content without subscribing!

CAM, TS, TC releases.... Yeah no dont remember them 😀

darry wrote on Today, 12:17:

If brain implants ever become a thing and can be used to remotely control and alter what the implantee perceives, being allowed […]
Show full quote

MattRocks wrote:

This is why we must outlaw brain implants because once they (e.g. Elon Musk) implement that, we won't be able to see content without subscribing!

If brain implants ever become a thing and can be used to remotely control and alter what the implantee perceives, being allowed or not to watch non subscription entertainment is really not that high up on the list of bad things that will result, IMHO.

Again IMHO, that specific concern would be maybe slightly more significant than worrying about the health and appearance of the petunias in one's garden at the onset of a global thermonuclear conflict.

EDIT: On a semi-related note, I think it's safe to assume the Borg do not fuss much about whether they have access to a curated list of Seinfeld or Coronation Street episodes only after having reached their assimilation quota.

If the thought of being puppeted by AI directed nanobots keeps you up at night DO NOT read this sci-fi piece from... near 20 years ago I think it was written, has been in a few anthologies, this is just the legal online version... https://www.technologyreview.com/2007/10/15/2 … 46/steve-fever/

Also makes me wonder if that's how we get "Planet of the Apes" ... they take over research primates instead of lab rats.

I go for DVDs and Blu-rays, to be honest I find fun on the thrill of the hunt.

Found a great looking B grade Sci-Fi called Cybertracker that I'm looking forward to watching. Tons of stuff you just can't find on online streaming.

These all then go on the NAS to be made available to my devices with Jellyfin.

Couple of cheesy sci fi faves, unsure if they made it to DVD "Damnation Alley", "Runaway".

Over the past 25 years, I have built a substantial DVD collection, sticking to my absolute favorite movies and TV shows.

A couple of years ago, I discovered that a not insignificant number of my dvd's succumbed to disc rot.

That's when I decided I would create an ISO backup of every dvd I owned. If my dvd was ruined, I borrowed a copy from my library system to make the rip.

All my dvds are now stored in a cool dry place, and I view the ISOs on my home server. I have cold backups as well.

I have graduated to blu-ray for my absolute absolute favorites. For the most part, this is impossible for some of my favorite TV shows, but I do have Star Trek TNG and Miami Vice on Blu-ray. I went through the painstaking exercise of ripping each individual episode of each show to MKVs.

I have a very limited collection of 4K UHD for my absolute absolute absolute (!) favorites. They live on my HTPC data drive as MKVs and are viewed on my 55" 4K TV (not impressive, I know...but until I got it, I was watching movies exclusively on a 27" PC monitor). If I lose those files, I still have the discs. I have 2 Pioneer blu-ray optical drives that are flashed to read 4k UHD discs. I realize they are not being manufactured anymore so I guard and preserve them with all my might. It is not a nice mindspace to be in, knowing that if/when those drives fail, I'm pretty much dead in the water. Secondary market 4K UHD-capable drives are ridiculously priced.