I came across an interesting video about something I didn’t expect to see again: VHS tapes and DVDs becoming popular with younger generations.
Searches for VHS players are rising, vinyl sales continue to grow, and nearly half of people still watch DVDs or Blu-rays. One reason mentioned is streaming fatigue. With so many subscriptions and constantly changing catalogs, the movie you want often isn’t available.
Physical media solves that in a simple way: if you own it, you can watch it anytime.
It also seems like many people are rediscovering the appeal of more intentional, tangible tech experiences.
Curious what the Mudita Community thinks:
Do you still have DVDs, CDs, or even VHS tapes?
I still have DVDs
I also gave away my VHS tapes because the VCR used to “eat” them and then they were ruined
But I still have a whole shitload™ of CDs and DVDs (mostly music videos / live concerts and important movies). I never ever streamed anything. Although I do watch music videos on Youtube often. But if I want a complete album, I buy it in material form, not virtual.
We have a DVD player and older TV and so far we have been borrowing DVD from the library. I like this setup for how intentional it is, I did not care for streaming and was quite relieved when our smart TV broke.
I see VHS tapes at the thrift store and want to get a VHS player just to share this experience with my kids.
I started re-building my CD collection last year, and it’s already pretty sizable. I enjoy supporting the local music/book shops by purchasing used CDs, and I support new artists by purchasing their music files from bandcamp.
My city also has a DVD/VHS rental store that I just got a membership from. It’s donation based and a non-profit AND It’s cheaper than all our subscription streaming services combined for the year. It’s super fun just browsing for new films to watch (especially when I can’t just look them up on my Kompakt, everything new is a true suprise!). The only streaming service I personally subscribe to is PBS Passport here in the US. I am slowly trying to ween my husband away from streaming services, but he is finding the rental store very fun. I finally got to see the long lost Simpson’s episode “Stark Raving Dad” through the rental store, and that can’t be found streaming ANYWHERE!
