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So I was out at Target yesterday (class was cancelled for the 2nd week in a row and I decided to stop at the mall on my way home from my school) and as I was looking around at the store, I noticed something very peculiar. All of their DVDs and Blu-Rays were gone. As in there were literally no discs sitting on the shelves near the books. I was sort of stunned upon seeing rows of books taking the place of their home movies and television shows in that part of the store. I was annoyed as I was walking by not being able to at least look at what's on DVD that I may even be interested in purchasing someday.
For unrelated reasons, I then decided to take the bus down to a nearby city and decided to take a look around the CVS that was over there, even contemplating taking a burned CD or DVD with photos from my digicam uploaded to my personal laptop to the Kodak photo printing area in the near future when I thought I'd look around for some more blank Maxell CDs/DVDs. To my surprise, I couldn't find any blank discs there even though I've purchased some blank discs from that particular location not too long ago. I then started panicking over the future of optical media and what my observations seem to serve as a warning to for the near future.
Perhaps this is the major sign pointing to a bleak future where optical discs finally become discontinued and hard or even impossible to find. Perhaps this is what they mean by "you will own nothing and be happy". A future controlled by the billionaires running the subscription industry milking you for your hard earned cash every month being forced into subscription hell if you want to listen to any media at all, be it audio or video, or whatever, and being able to randomly delete or censor content on a whim (a great example of this is what happened to the 2003 SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mid-Life Crustacean" in March 2021). Their end goal here is to make their pockets even fatter than they already are, even if it's to the complete detriment of us working class citizens.
If that doesn't scare you as a reader of my blog, then it should, particularly if you are a physical media collector like I am. Hell, even Best Buy announced that they would stop selling optical discs entirely as of this year. I'm highly concerned about other stores following suit in the near future.
To my relief, at least I know that Staples still sells blank CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray discs and jewel cases for them. But it's good to act fast and to start acting now if you haven't already, as you never know how much longer they will be available for purchase in the near future (at least not without forking out ridiculous amounts of money). And maybe if enough people are willing to purchase blank optical discs now, there may be some hope of being able to reverse or at the very least slow down the dark path that we're on in terms of being able to own content, a lifetime license to it if you will (speaking of which, lifetime licenses to digital software is slowly disappearing as well). Maybe even considering purchasing the 50 or 100 pack spindles for when you might need them.
We are the ones voting with our dollars, and it's time that we put those dollars into long term investments (in this case, purchasing optical discs) to show these conglomerates that there is still indeed a demand for physical media out there and perhaps give some of these said conglomerates some incentive to continue producing these important discs.
The day where streaming becomes your ONLY option is the day where humanity will have truly failed ourselves as a species.
As a physical media collector myself, I feel obliged to spread the word and encourage others to take action before it's too late here. Reject streaming services and if you do stream something online, do it for free, matey. DON'T pay these billionaires a single penny for this as it will only encourage them to keep fucking us over solely for their gains. The future as we all know it is at stake for optical discs, and just physical media in general for that matter.
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✮⋆˙ Greyson/Bowie ✮⋆˙
In my country the only place they’ve been selling dvd’s, cd’s, blu-ray honestly anything physical media other then books only at the charity shop. If your lucky you might find a single music or game shop in a big city that sells physical media but honestly i haven’t seen them sold anywhere other then the thrift store for as long as i can remember so like its just normal i guess. If you really want an album you need to go to a music store that still sells actual music instead of instruments and if you want dvd, uhh i mean just go to the charity shop and wish for the best. If you want any specific populair album or movie you gotta order it at some big company like amazon even though that doesn’t have most either cuz no one just makes physical media anymore
nail
someday i'll be able to afford LTO storage XD
☆Xx_St4rlyS33kz_xX☆
Different continent here as well, thankfully my electronics store online in of itself has like 6 pages of blank CDs and DVDs, even the fancy kind.
It hurts to hear it dying out in the USA, since it felt like the center of those things y'know?
I got nostalgia reading about burned CDs, my fam got sum burned DVDs written with markers still around, tons of DVDs some of which I chose as a kid and some CDs leftover from my parents and even cassette tapes.
powershower
woah, that's pretty shocking! i really didn't think we were there already. i guess the future sneaks up on you. i've also had a lot of luck finding blank unused cases of cds/dvds in thrift stores! that's always my favorite place to get them.
Angela
Idk how walmart is doing right now but just a few years ago they had even brought back vinyls so reading this now is a bit shocking. Especially since I'm literally typing this comment on a laptop from 2007 that still has a DVD-RW drive. I really need to get some blank DVD's/CD's and start burning movies and music again. I kinda like it as a way to get that stuff off my hard drive which is still rather small even though it's not the original. (500gb) I'd like to watch some new movies too. I was thinking of watching some movies with my laptop next time I go to the library, check your local library to see if they still have DVD's, some near me even carry video games on optical media.
Rain
I have been meaning to get some more blank CDs at least, I am sad to hear that stores are starting to not sell them anymore.
oUbLiEtTe_MoOnHaRvEsT
I used to like visiting coconuts and record stores. Optical drives seem to be mostly obsolete due to their delicate nature. Not only does the laser have to be clean with alcohol but so does every disc in the machine, so it's not portable and takes up a lot of space.
You can get some cool, classic old CD's on ebay or discogs RYM or from the bands still on bandcamp in new condition for like a car collection but mostly mp3 players USB drives, phones computers hold terrabytes of perfectly organized, folders and labrynthian structuring all in much smaller space, for free if you pirate or fileshare.
Claraa_x3
all the dvd and cd stores here closed some years ago too ToT esp dvds, its so hard to find them now
elliotgotscared
i live in australia and some places like jbhifi still have blank cdrs and dvds which is cool, but i completely understand your pain lol
i also noticed that cars and computers no longer have built in cd players, which sucks knowing that when i eventually get a car, itll be a pain to play my cds
but yeah hopefully vinyl and cds becoming more popular will push for physical media being sold more ://
There's at least still the option of purchasing a used older car that still has a working built in CD player, although one can reasonably expect that the prices of those cars will eventually skyrocket in at least a decade or 2 when those cars start to finally be considered "classics".
by xxRebellious_Emmaxx; ; Report
Personally, I'm planning on purchasing a 2006 model car with a working built in CD player (don't really care about the manufacturer/model, but those are my only 2 requirements for my first car) and it will be one of the first things I will start saving up for when I get a job in the near future.
by xxRebellious_Emmaxx; ; Report
yee i reckon as long as its a functional car with a working cd player and like aux/usb stuff (not primarily relying on bluetooth), itd work for me. but then theres the price stuff and yeah might not be that easy later on. hoping that it wont be too difficult in the future to own a car like that lol
by elliotgotscared; ; Report
Audrey ୨୧
omg thats actually insane wth you cant find blank discs. i cant imagine living with no physical media. i burned a cd for the first time this year and im so glad i know how to. ugh and streaming services are becoming more expensive. if im using my money i want to at least be able to own the music i listen to !
Rüzgar Burton
Holy moly! I live in a completely different continent and we still have all the great stuff here. I'm wondering if it's only a thing in north america? Still It's sad to see that certain companies won't be selling them anymore, shitty stuff. Physical copies will always be better!
~Kadavera~
This already happened like 2 years ago to the only store that sold dvds at the mall in my city, we just about grabbed 2 of the last ones available and now it's gone completely. even longer ago it happened to the toy store and our main grocery store. thankfully they still sell cds in the store I first mentioned but dvds are nowhere to be found ANYWHERE anymore. I live in a place where only very successfully selling things can survive, so it's alarming to hear that it's happening in America too
DeliriEm
OMG I totally understand your pain :(( its so hard these days to find CDs and DVDs anywhere other than thrift stores for me tbh...it makes me so sad that we really are moving towards an age where everything is digital and nobody can find physical copies of anything and tbh nobody really seems to care about it when in reality this should be a HUGE deal to everyone. I collect CDs, DVDs, and cassettes so I understand. I also noticed going to lots of concerts this year that NO bands from ANY genre sells CDs at their concerts anymore...maybe im dumb but you used to be able to buy CDs and posters and stuff and now all they sell is tshirts???? I want to start burning my own CDs for bands that dont make them/specific playlists but idk where to start :( do you know what you need to burn CDs?
If you want to burn a CD, you'll need a computer with a disc drive (either internal or external via USB), some blank CDs, and software capable of burning files onto CDs (there's plenty of burning software out there, but for CDs, I personally like to use Windows Media Player 12).
Once it's burned, you can use a permanent marker like a Sharpie to write on the top side of the disc (which will usually have the manufacturer's logo, maximum burn speed, and maximum storage on it unless it's one of those white inkjet discs) and always make sure to store them in a cool, dark, and dry place away from the sun in a proper casing when not in use.
by xxRebellious_Emmaxx; ; Report