“C’mon, buy me! Please?”

The world seems to be moving more rapidly towards digital distribution models for all manner of media. Video games, movies, television shows, and music are at the forefront, and with valid reason: it’s cheaper for creators, as they don’t have to worry about packaging and the cost of physical media, and it’s more convenient for consumers, as with a few clicks or button presses, they’ve got their new media to play with almost immediately.

However, there’s an often-overlooked downside to this “digital revolution,” and it’s quite ugly. When you buy a DVD, CD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc., you’re getting a physical copy of the media. When you purchase a downloadable item, you’re getting a volatile set of data that’s easily erased. So, for the sake of convenience, you’re not really buying the actual item at all; just a license to download it.

If you buy a physical medium, you can bring the disc to anyone else’s house and just play the damn thing. Not so with downloads, most of which are heavily laden with digital rights management (DRM) and other methods specifically designed to prevent users from sharing. (This is understandably done to combat piracy, which is sadly running rampant.) Last but not least, downloadable materials have no resale value. This, of course, makes the producers of said material happy as pigs in shit, as they’ve long hated the used music/games/movies market. But for those of who enjoy finding great deals on used products, we’re screwed.

Now, some people may not care if their downloaded stuff gets erased or otherwise lost. “I’ll just sign back into [insert service name here], and re-download it!” But will you still be able to do that in five years? Ten? Twenty? I tend to doubt it. That means your hard-earned money has been completely wasted. I still have DVDs I bought over a decade ago, and CDs I bought nearly two decades ago. I can enjoy them on any hardware I want, wherever I want, whenever I want. The same can’t be said for a majority of downloadable media.

I know I’m a vocal minority in the face of “progress.” But it’s going to be a sad day indeed when entertainment’s nothing but disposable zeroes and ones.