Will Aoi-chan be banned next? The way things are going, it’s a real possibility!
We all remember when Netflix first burst onto the scene. Gone were the days of cumbersome and expensive DVD box-sets; now uncountable episodes of our favorite classic and current shows were available at our fingertips. Rentals became unnecessary, and old Blockbuster shuffled off this mortal coil unmourned and unlamented. No longer were we tied to the timetables of broadcast and cable networks, for any show could be watched anywhere at any time. It had reached the point where new laptops don’t even bother to include optical drives anymore. The future was here, and it was all digital.
Then reality struck back.
Licensing disputes led to entire shows being bounced around an infinite number of paid services. Political controversies led to episodes, films, and whole shows being cancelled, removed, or altered. Video games are regularly approved, then pulled later for arbitrary reasons.
And all of this is due to the false convenience of digital distribution.
In an ideal world, the practice of digital distribution works well. When platforms respect liberty and free expression, digital distribution saves consumers time and money and makes it easier for them to take in the stories they treasure and enjoy.
We do not live in an ideal world.
When the stream of a show or film you like is either taken down entirely or heavily altered, there’s no way to retrieve it. When your digital copy of a game or novel is “updated” to remove “problematic” content, you’re out of luck. When a song you like is pulled from any and all streaming services (as well as YouTube), you have to make do without.
Assuming, of course, that your Wi-Fi signal is strong enough.
Physical media eliminates all of these problems. Once you have it, you have it. Getting disappeared on your fave streaming service will not affect your ability to watch. Neither Amazon nor anyone else has developed technology to remotely alter your dead-tree books. The music on your CD will continue to play no matter how many people whine on Twitter.
Is it true that online platforms can pull physical products from sale? Absolutely, and they have in many cases. However, they cannot pull physical products from your home, no matter how problematic some activist finds it. It gives you all the more reason to pick up your favorite anime/novel/movie right now — so you have that hard copy that they will have to pry from your cold, dead hands.
There is no guarantee at all that a show or film you like will remain available on whatever platform you’re paying for. Don’t take that work for granted; buy yourself a copy you can keep.
Disc Rot. Paper Deterioration. Hard Drive Corruption. A storm dropping a tree in your gaming/viewing room. Robbery. A factory recall from severe production defect.
Physical media is an obstacle to digital button-press corporate censorship, but it’s hardly eternal or truly “anti-fragile.”
This isn’t to disagree with your statement, and I recognize I’m possibly quibbling over semantics/detracting from the main point, but it’s a concern that should be considered: what‘s the plan of action for preserving, for example, last century classics that are long out of circulation (short of retroactively having the industry print everything on cartridges and other famously anti-degradation mediums, and make a dozen personal burned copies to store in a pneumatically-sealed safe), and how to secure those copies that still float around in second-hand markets with rapidly-vanishing rarity?
It’s a fair objection — I never said physical media was indestructible or couldn’t be stolen. I just see it as a way to keep a title available more reliably than relying on streaming alone.
As for how to preserve everything? I don’t know, but perhaps there are people more knowledgeable about this issue than me.
Fair enough. I realize after further consideration that the subject of preservation on a macro-level (in terms of either time or mass) is beyond any one man’s power to guarantee, so it was probably unfair of me to put you on that spot.
Let me try a hopefully more manageable line of thought: Creating and distributing physical media is resource-gluttonous and laborious, and as such incredibly expensive, exponentially so if you’re trying to serve a wide audience and don’t have a corporate publisher at your back.
90% of “Dissident” Entertainers would not be able to operate without relying on a primarily, if not purely, digital platform, so how do we go about making physical a feasible/cost-effective arena? Beyond just keeping master copies of your book ever on hand and using crowd-funding to make periodic print runs? Or is that just gonna have to be the go-to business strategy?
Let me try a hopefully more manageable line of thought: Creating and distributing physical media is resource-gluttonous and laborious, and as such incredibly expensive, exponentially so if you’re trying to serve a wide audience and don’t have a corporate publisher at your back.
This is true; thus, electronic distribution is a key part of the indie-pub strategy. I do not suggest abandoning it.
However, I was merely speaking in terms of books, films, or shows that people may like and want to keep, just in case some political mania threatens to remove them from circulation.
90% of “Dissident” Entertainers would not be able to operate without relying on a primarily, if not purely, digital platform, so how do we go about making physical a feasible/cost-effective arena? Beyond just keeping master copies of your book ever on hand and using crowd-funding to make periodic print runs? Or is that just gonna have to be the go-to business strategy?
I genuinely have no idea.
“Spend money with Big Media before they corrupt the content you love” or “use a VPN and don’t spend a dime with Big Media”. I have made my choice a long time ago.
“Spend money with Big Media before they corrupt the content you love”
To get around that issue, buy secondhand.
“use a VPN and don’t spend a dime with Big Media”.
I don’t blame you at all. I do not object to those who want to exclude all big media from their consumption schedule, including the earlier “good stuff” from before companies went all-in on woke messaging.
I second your recommendation. I realize that nothing lasts forever and I agree whole-heartedly with the principle that you shouldn’t give money to you someone who hates you; even so, there are certain items for which I want a physical backup.
And I am old enough that I still like the feel, sight or sound of something that is MINE.
True that; nothing like having a physical copy of something. Plus, you can buy physical media secondhand so that you don’t have to give money to companies you don’t like.