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Jen is loading DVD’s into a donation box. Admiral: Stop!! You can’t get rid of our DVD’s! What if the streaming sites go down?! - Admiral: What’ll we watch if there’s an apocalypse? The NEWS?! Jen: You’re right! DVD’s are essential for survival! - Admiral: We still have a DVD player, right? Jen: I mean… probably
USB DVD readers are still available if you look
And they’re basically free. I think I paid $20 for my last one, new.
I have two 5 1/4" drives in a PC, one doing Bluray XL and the other Bluray and HD-DVD (altough I couldn’t test that feature because nothing supports them anymore and a lot of HD-DVDs are dead from disc rot)
MakeMKV ftw
Bruh shut with the DVD player. Literally anything can play a dvd; pc, laptop, Xbox, PlayStation…
Those don’t come with disc drives anymore unless you’re willing to pay extra.
Bro.
Not everyone has ps5/xbox series x, the discless version .
Plenty of people have ps4/xbox series x (disc version), xbox one, Xbox 360/ps3 in the attic somewhere, an old laptop/desktop…need I go on?
Bro. You were the one acting like everyone has something that plays dvds.
My last few laptops haven’t had one either. And I’ve been seeing fewer options for DVD players when I build a new PC, I suspect they’re going absent there as well.
dvd disks degrading
I picked up a season 1 Metalocalypse from a thrift shop and it was dead. It’s such a gamble. Goodwill is getting really precious on their DVDs too - only really good deals if you find a season/box set that they haven’t broken up.
VHS seems more dependable, and VHS is dirt cheap. I got a pre-special edition Star Wars box set for $5, I got a season of MASH and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy for $1 each. Lots of my local shops have $0.49 VHS bins.
Finding a VHS player can be a challenge. DVD players are super available, but I spent a month or so hunting for my current player. (The rewinders though - everywhere.)
Vinyl can also be found for pennies, but most of the good stuff is picked up quickly. If you are okay with mid jazz, classical music, and “greatest hits” compilations, the vinyl stacks are good to poke through.
I do like that all of my analog media is mine. No worries about it being pulled from streaming or altered or copyright weirdness - I can go back to 1998 and watch my Star Wars.
Warner bros has entered the chat
That’s why a PS5 (or another console) is very useful. Sometimes a movie is not available on any streaming, so I get it it cheaply on blu ray or dvd to watch it. We don’t have any other disc player in the house, despite having a few laptops.
except dogma, that one is actually super expensive on dvd
Back them up in your computer, way safer.
I still have my ps3 mainly for this reason
If there’s an apocalypse you can try eating the CDs. Being able to use them will likely never be on the radar.
Something that people are missing with the whole physical media situation is that it being physical does not preclude it from internet connected DRM, server requirements, etc. It just so happens that around the turn of this century DVDs came along and lacked sophisticated/connected DRM implementations, but it is not inherent to their physical nature. Physical media also decays. DVDs generally have around 20-25 years before bitrot starts to set in. I love the concept, but you’re better served by a hard drive than a DVD.
Everyone arguing over DVD players or ripping discs and I’m like “Ooooo! M.A.S.H. collection!”
![[Admiral Wonderboat] Physical Media Forever](https://i.imgur.com/JYEFeNm.png){kind=link}