I would argue that owning things like CDs, DVDs and other physical carriers is like a backup for streaming services; the latter can take down content whenever they want. Or, make you pay too much,...
I would argue that owning things like CDs, DVDs and other physical carriers is like a backup for streaming services; the latter can take down content whenever they want. Or, make you pay too much, or negatively alter the content (like Disney's awkwardly cropped Simpsons series).
I'd guess the tangibility and "ritualistic interaction" is paramount for most people but also agree with you that issues relating to DRM could be the motivating factor. Out of curiosity, what...
I'd guess the tangibility and "ritualistic interaction" is paramount for most people but also agree with you that issues relating to DRM could be the motivating factor. Out of curiosity, what happened with the Simpsons cropping?
Afaik most episodes are cropped which means you lose bits of the images on top and bottom. Some visual gags suffer from that. https://twitter.com/TristanACooper/status/1194298167824650240?s=20...
Thanks for the link. That's a shame, Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all coming from the same pipeline is a good one :) For those interested, I came across this short video about the strange world of...
Thanks for the link. That's a shame, Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all coming from the same pipeline is a good one :) For those interested, I came across this short video about the strange world of Simpsons fan fiction recently. Really interesting I thought. I particularly liked Scenic Simpsons. A quite beautiful and eerie take on the unoccupied moments of Springfield.
I really don't think DVDs are "retro". They, and the equipment to play them, have been continuously produced and readily available in mainstream retail outlets since originally introduced....
I really don't think DVDs are "retro". They, and the equipment to play them, have been continuously produced and readily available in mainstream retail outlets since originally introduced.
Consequently, I think this article is describing two very distinct trends. The resurgence of walkmans (walkmen? There's a product name you couldn't launch with in 2019…) shows every sign of being typically nostalgia-driven. Most modern or recent digital music players are equivalent or superior on every meaningful technical front; people like walkmans because they're now uncommon, they were made in the styles of their childhood (though as someone who grew up in the '90s, I will be perfectly fine if BRIGHT GREEN and BRIGHT PURPLE ZIGZAGS and POLKA DOTS never come back), they make satisfying clunking and whirring noises, they're unreliable in a faintly endearing manner.
On the other hand, the popularity of DVDs (and CDs, for that matter—and I'm not sure either has really had a "resurgence" so much as "hasn't dwindled as much as publishers would like") is because they're not technically equivalent to streaming services, in a fairly profound way: publishers (or anyone else, for that matter) cannot decide it's no longer sufficiently profitable for me to keep playing my DVD (or whatever baldfaced lie of an excuse they come up with) and prevent me from doing so. I imagine nearly everyone who's made more than cursory use of streaming services has experienced something they'd like to watch being removed from a service. Continued popularity of physical media isn't retro being alluring; it's a reaction to companies shifting from selling products to customers to companies selling bait to eyeballs which they can further sell to advertisers.
I would argue that owning things like CDs, DVDs and other physical carriers is like a backup for streaming services; the latter can take down content whenever they want. Or, make you pay too much, or negatively alter the content (like Disney's awkwardly cropped Simpsons series).
I'd guess the tangibility and "ritualistic interaction" is paramount for most people but also agree with you that issues relating to DRM could be the motivating factor. Out of curiosity, what happened with the Simpsons cropping?
Afaik most episodes are cropped which means you lose bits of the images on top and bottom. Some visual gags suffer from that. https://twitter.com/TristanACooper/status/1194298167824650240?s=20
They're supposedly fixing this in 2020 though.
Thanks for the link. That's a shame, Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all coming from the same pipeline is a good one :) For those interested, I came across this short video about the strange world of Simpsons fan fiction recently. Really interesting I thought. I particularly liked Scenic Simpsons. A quite beautiful and eerie take on the unoccupied moments of Springfield.
I really don't think DVDs are "retro". They, and the equipment to play them, have been continuously produced and readily available in mainstream retail outlets since originally introduced.
Consequently, I think this article is describing two very distinct trends. The resurgence of walkmans (walkmen? There's a product name you couldn't launch with in 2019…) shows every sign of being typically nostalgia-driven. Most modern or recent digital music players are equivalent or superior on every meaningful technical front; people like walkmans because they're now uncommon, they were made in the styles of their childhood (though as someone who grew up in the '90s, I will be perfectly fine if BRIGHT GREEN and BRIGHT PURPLE ZIGZAGS and POLKA DOTS never come back), they make satisfying clunking and whirring noises, they're unreliable in a faintly endearing manner.
On the other hand, the popularity of DVDs (and CDs, for that matter—and I'm not sure either has really had a "resurgence" so much as "hasn't dwindled as much as publishers would like") is because they're not technically equivalent to streaming services, in a fairly profound way: publishers (or anyone else, for that matter) cannot decide it's no longer sufficiently profitable for me to keep playing my DVD (or whatever baldfaced lie of an excuse they come up with) and prevent me from doing so. I imagine nearly everyone who's made more than cursory use of streaming services has experienced something they'd like to watch being removed from a service. Continued popularity of physical media isn't retro being alluring; it's a reaction to companies shifting from selling products to customers to companies selling bait to eyeballs which they can further sell to advertisers.