this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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The key words here being "left with a library". Your media, now and forever, at no additional cost, available whenever you want. I could not go back to netflix etc.
Then sell it on ebay. Used dvd box sets still go for ~80% of new.
There's just so few things that people actually watch multiple times. The things that people actually watch multiple times tend to be the same handful of movies and shows that rotates over the years. To do that you only need a very small library. Having a large media library is mostly just waste of space, even if it's digital is wasted because you're unlikely to watch 90% of it after the first time.
But, for me at least, not only having media when I'm at home is the real benefit. Not everyone wants to manage their own media server with remote access and the eventual debugging that follows with it.
I agree that a lot of shows and movies, especially the more recent ones, have little rewatchability. You could always replace those with an armful of whatever is current and on your watchlist after you are done though.
And personally i have a couple of evergreens and classics i enjoy watching again now and then, and it is nice to know i always have something to watch even if i cant afford the subscription any more / the stuff i like gets region locked / fucking licensing pulls the rug. It also feels a little empowering to have my own stuff that really is just mine and nobody can revoke my viewing permissions, in the face of endless enshittification.
As for the media server, i am not tech savvy enough myself to run one so i just bought a large ass external drive. When i am away from home i just bring that thing and can watch my stuff on any computer and generally also tv i plug it into.
I think if you're someone who really enjoys watching movies and likes watching multiple times then buying media is absolutely the way to go. But most people turn their brain off and just zone out to whatever.
For music I'd there is way more of a case for buying media to be the dominant way to consume music since your always listening to music over and over.