Do you still buy digital media such as movies, music, games, books, etc

[VaqueroTD]

It seems like most streaming or rental services are offering low-priced streaming services with so much variety that almost negate needing to purchase digital media now. Just curious what services you use? The thing about digital purchases, is I know I have to stay with the same provider, and in the back of my head, there is always that fear that the service will go out of business, especially now with tech companies struggling. If a service goes out of business, did we forever waste our money on these hard digital copies?

Movies - I still purchase movies. Most of them offer a purchase before the rental if you're willing to pay more, and I've purchased several blockbuster movies I wanted to see instead of waiting for them to rent or stream. My worry is that I have all my movies on the Vudu service. They offer a lot of random deals I took advantage of. At one time this app was owned by Walmart and was rumored to be their Amazon Prime competitor. Then they sold it to Fandango, a company I'm not too sure about. I also notice that Vudu continues to drop in the rankings for downloaded movie apps. Wishing at this point I had stayed with Apple or Amazon for my purchased moves and TV shows.

Music - I don't buy music anymore. I just rent Apple Music and seems like everything is available. Pandora is not a bad option either in how it lets you make a channel for just about everything. I don't think I have purchased any songs in several years. Probably own a thousand Apple music downloads which I feel secure will last, but regretting spending this much on digital music with so many options now available.

Games - I used to purchase computer games and was once burned in the early days. If you remember the website Gamespy, they were one of the first to offer PC games digitally, until Steam took over. But now, I'm not even sure Steam is 100% guaranteed with so many companies forming their own service. Now I just get the newest Playstation and their best streaming package which offers hundreds of games, and they now make most strategy games for consoles too which is what I enjoy the most. The twitch games are a young man's hobby. Even the newest Madden and NBA2K are eventually included in their streaming service if you're willing to wait a few months after release, which I am.

Books - Still have my original Kindle account with plenty of book purchases. I have yet to find a rental service for digital books that gives me the same choices as a regular purchase. I feel safe with Amazon anything until someone dethrones them.

 

[CouchCoach]

I still buy 4k/BluRay of films for my collection. But I find myself accessing it less than I used to because of streaming.

Same goes for music, use Apple and get all I need. Use Sirius/XM as well.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I think media will be all straight to home streaming in the next 8-10 years. Movie theaters will only be a novelty.

 

[triplets_93]

I still buy discs for Legacy films that I really appreciate. Particularly if there is a good 4K Remaster available.
Like:
Alien
2001
The Silence of the Lambs
A Few Good Men
Etc.

 

[DanteEXT]

For movies, I sometimes buy digital, and sometimes I buy a physical copy. I have a Movies Anywhere account to watch digital purchases on several different services.

I only buy digital music if that is the only option for purchase. Otherwise, when I do buy music, it is usually vinyl. A lot of the stuff I listen to comes with a digital copy, so that is nice. For the stuff that doesn't, my YT Premium comes with YouTube music, so I can usually get it there to have on the go.

I only occasionally buy games for the Switch. I am fairly sure the last physical game I bought still required a massive download to install on the system.

I prefer physical books even though I have a Kindle Paperwhite (which is nice). I prefer a physical book because it doesn't disappear if you forget to charge the device.

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

Books only, but I still average a book a week on my Kindle.

 

[Aikmaniac]

I have a whole rack of blu-rays that I haven't touched in almost a year. Probably will end up selling most of them except for my series collections.

Only physical games I buy are for my son's Switch. Haven't bought one for me in at least 5-7 years.

As far as music, I use the Spotify app.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I buy movies from Google Play.
You can buy the same movies on Youtube.

These movies play and are stored on youtube. I doubt it goes away anytime soon.

A few years ago Google Play would occasionally have free movies, and full music albums, you can "purchase".

They have not done that in years. They also no longer sell music. To buy movies I have to do it on my laptop in google play as it does not show up in the app unless I want to use youtube or google tv to buy them. They will occasionally have some good deals on movies. Some of their bundle packs are good when on sale like the older star trek movies and the underworld movies.

Youtube also has free movies you can watch but not keep and if you have the youtube premium service you will have no adds even in the free movies.

Normally I just keep Youtube Premium and Netflix as my regular services.

For the others I will sometimes rotate every other month with paramount, Disney and hbo/max. I did hulu once and just did not see the value in it.

Currently I ordered some things from amazon and added amazon prime service in order to get free delivery but I have been watching a ton of movies and shows on there even though you have a few ads.

 

[SlammedZero]

Yup, I still buy 4K Blu-rays. I'm convinced they still look better than streaming 4k movies (most of the time), plus I just enjoy having some physical copies. You never know when you want to watch a movie and it's not available on any streaming services.

 

[Doomsday]

I have a network attached storage with about 1300 movies and 200 tv series that I stream using Plex. They are 1080p, my eyesight isn't great so I can't tell the difference with the upscaling on my tv between 1080p and 4k and files are much smaller.

I haven't bought many movies recently as most of what has come out in the last 5 years has been pretty bad.

I don't buy many games these days, but enjoy the Souls style games like Sekiro, Elden Ring, Star Wars Fallen Order and Survivor.

 

[jwitten82]

I think media will be all straight to home streaming in the next 8-10 years. Movie theaters will only be a novelty.

Honestly, that would suck. The movie going experience is pretty cool

 

[gtb1943]

Honestly, that would suck. The movie going experience is pretty cool

The great action movies and sci fi are so much better on a huge screen and sound in a big theater and of course the IMAX experience is great

I did home theater before it was even called that; and enjoyed myself with setups that pretty much duplicated the standard theater. But even then I loved to see Star Wars and Indiana Jones and movies like that in IMAX.

I cannot understand people watching videos on their phone or even a small computer monitor. That is such a comedown. I have a 65" OLED and excellent speakers with subwoofers. SO I love watching older action movies and the TOS Star Trek Movies and the original Star Wars movies on Blue Ray.
The one problem with that is watching old DVDs on that set up; the defects in the product are very obvious. But I still get Blue Ray DVDs of the movies I want to watch over and over again; and some TV series as well. The upgraded ones especially