The Romance Of Physical Media

Lately I’ve been noticing physical media everywhere again. On social media especially, people are building collections of CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, and even cassettes. At first it seems a little random, why would people suddenly go back to formats that many consider outdated? But the more I thought about it, the more it actually started to make sense even in my own life.

One of the biggest reasons is that streaming doesn’t really mean ownership. Even though we pay for these services every month, we don’t actually own any of the content we’re consuming. Shows, movies, and songs can disappear at any moment because of licensing changes. On top of that, streaming platforms aren’t always reliable either. Think about how many times Spotify has crashed when a popular artist releases a new album because so many people are trying to listen at once. Or when a huge show comes out and everyone rushes to watch it. I remember reading that Netflix even increased their bandwidth before releasing the latest season of Stranger Things, yet people were still having loading issues. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it - you’re paying for access, but you can’t always rely on it.

Another thing is how overstimulating digital media has become. We’re constantly surrounded by screens, notifications, and algorithms pushing more content at us. Even platforms we already pay for are starting to include ads. Amazon Prime is a good example of this - you’re already paying for the subscription, yet movies and shows now have 1–2 minute ads unless you pay extra to remove them. It starts to feel like you’re paying twice just to watch something without interruptions. With physical media, none of that exists. If you own the DVD or CD, it’s yours. There are no ads popping up, no buffering, and nothing can suddenly be taken away.

I’ve actually noticed myself starting to meet somewhere in the middle with this. My career path is heavily based around technology and I wouldn’t trade that for anything, but I’ve been leaning more toward physical things in certain areas of my life. For example, I don’t even remember the last time I took a picture on my phone since getting my Canon PowerShot digital camera. Using a record player has also become one of my favorite ways to listen to music. Something about the slight scratchy sound of vinyl just makes everything feel better and more real. And books are another one - I’ve definitely been buying more physical copies because I like actually holding them and seeing them slowly fill my shelves.

I don’t think physical media is replacing digital anytime soon, but it feels like people are starting to realize that convenience isn’t everything. There’s something about owning something tangible and experiencing media in a slower, more intentional way that streaming just can’t replicate.