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[Admiral Wonderboat] Physical Media Forever (i.imgur.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by jqubed@lemmy.world to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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Jen is loading DVD's into a donation box. Admiral: Stop!! You can't get rid of our DVD's! What if the streaming sites go down?! - Admiral: What'll we watch if there's an apocalypse? The NEWS?! Jen: You're right! DVD's are essential for survival! - Admiral: We still have a DVD player, right? Jen: I mean... probably

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[-] HuntressHimbo@lemm.ee 46 points 1 week ago

USB DVD readers are still available if you look

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 16 points 1 week ago

I literally have a salvaged disk drive from an old computer connected up to a SATA adapter. Lol.

[-] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 4 points 1 week ago

I do too. I haven't used it in about 10 years, and this is at least the fourth computer it has been in. Maybe I don't need it anymore, but if I throw it away, then I'll surely have to read a DVD.

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

And they're basically free. I think I paid $20 for my last one, new.

[-] LorIps@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I have two 5 1/4" drives in a PC, one doing Bluray XL and the other Bluray and HD-DVD (altough I couldn't test that feature because nothing supports them anymore and a lot of HD-DVDs are dead from disc rot)

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 30 points 1 week ago

Convert DVDs into files on NAS with backups.

[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago

or just download better quality files for your NAS

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

Not in my language and streams are compressed dead.

[-] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 24 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Rip your DVDs.

You can even just straight rip them to .iso and enjoy full quality with menus and all. I think Jellyfin supports that at least.

[-] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Useful website: https://b3n.org/automatic-ripping-machine/

For other usefull resources check your public library. Lots of overlap between Librarians and archivists.

[-] Cenzorrll@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Libraries are awesome. Also, I think a lot of people don't realize that DVDs are pretty good quality. They're used to YouTube 480p, with the bitrate of a slug and heavy artifacts that have been converted 20 times to different formats. Actual 480p ripped directly from a DVD is pretty damn good.

The ripping of your personal DVDs and libraries also having DVDs is just a coincidence, of course.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago

and feel free to share the rarer ones with the torrent community

[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago

Yeah, DVD players and Blu-ray players are going the way of the VHS player. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find one that isn't super locked down by some form of DRM and just works.

And if you're trying to find one for computers, forget about it. You spend an arm and a leg trying to find anything that isn't just your typical DVD only, no Blu-ray or 4K. Blu-ray is a little more pricey, but any type of actual 4K player for computers, you're spending $$$ unless you're willing to try to patch it with a custom firmware.

[-] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 week ago

The software that can legally play a UHD bluray doesn't even work with modern CPUs since it requires the SGX instructions. You have to get a specific drive that's not made anymore, flash it with custom firmware and rip the movie with MakeMKV.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

$80 for Verbatim Slimline Blu-ray half a year ago, now $95 and the internal player changed, not LibreDrive ootb anymore, but still flashable.

[-] oplkill@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

dvd disks degrading

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I picked up a season 1 Metalocalypse from a thrift shop and it was dead. It’s such a gamble. Goodwill is getting really precious on their DVDs too - only really good deals if you find a season/box set that they haven’t broken up.

VHS seems more dependable, and VHS is dirt cheap. I got a pre-special edition Star Wars box set for $5, I got a season of MASH and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy for $1 each. Lots of my local shops have $0.49 VHS bins.

Finding a VHS player can be a challenge. DVD players are super available, but I spent a month or so hunting for my current player. (The rewinders though - everywhere.)

Vinyl can also be found for pennies, but most of the good stuff is picked up quickly. If you are okay with mid jazz, classical music, and “greatest hits” compilations, the vinyl stacks are good to poke through.

I do like that all of my analog media is mine. No worries about it being pulled from streaming or altered or copyright weirdness - I can go back to 1998 and watch my Star Wars.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

VHS, like video casettes? You might have forgotten about ghosting due to overwriting from adjacent layers.

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Decreased video quality is an improvement over the nothing at all that one gets from failed optical media though.

I do have a ripper device - wanting to get into archiving rare media but Windows 11 in all of its glory has decided that it doesn’t trust me enough to let me choose to install third party drivers 🙄

The ideal is a mix - but also, as a certified broke bitch I’ll take a 49 tape with ghosting issues over a $3.09 shiny thing that isn’t even a good paperweight if it’s dead.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

Try Linux then? Setup is a bit of work but i got it running for makemkv and Handbrake.

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago

Warner bros has entered the chat

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 8 points 1 week ago

If only physical digital media would actually last "forever" ... I think magnetic harddrives that aren't in constant use actually have the most longevity of common digital mediums.

[-] MNByChoice@midwest.social 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Tapes beat spinning disks.

Here is a source I didn't read: https://www.howtogeek.com/858426/whats-the-best-way-to-store-data-for-decades-or-centuries/

My actual source is "used to professional care about longevity".

[-] Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 week ago

Let's do a laser-engraving into glass. Would be hard to beat that.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Too brittle. Fused quartz might work. Has high Mohs and doesn't degrade for billions of years.

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

I did specify common medium. How many people have a tape drive at home? And IMO that article is missing information about how long those magnetic spinning disks last if you keep them powered off most of the time, like tapes.

[-] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago

There is a reason tape storage was used for archival backup over traditional spinny disks.

[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago

MakeMKV ftw

[-] Goretantath@lemm.ee 7 points 1 week ago

Back them up in your computer, way safer.

[-] atlien51@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago

Bruh shut with the DVD player. Literally anything can play a dvd; pc, laptop, Xbox, PlayStation..

[-] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago

Assuming it has an optical drive

[-] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago

Those don't come with disc drives anymore unless you're willing to pay extra.

[-] atlien51@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago

Bro.

Not everyone has ps5/xbox series x, the discless version .

Plenty of people have ps4/xbox series x (disc version), xbox one, Xbox 360/ps3 in the attic somewhere, an old laptop/desktop…need I go on?

[-] 5too@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

My last few laptops haven't had one either. And I've been seeing fewer options for DVD players when I build a new PC, I suspect they're going absent there as well.

[-] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago

Bro. You were the one acting like everyone has something that plays dvds.

[-] slaacaa@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

That’s why a PS5 (or another console) is very useful. Sometimes a movie is not available on any streaming, so I get it it cheaply on blu ray or dvd to watch it. We don’t have any other disc player in the house, despite having a few laptops.

[-] BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago

except dogma, that one is actually super expensive on dvd

[-] Ptsf@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Something that people are missing with the whole physical media situation is that it being physical does not preclude it from internet connected DRM, server requirements, etc. It just so happens that around the turn of this century DVDs came along and lacked sophisticated/connected DRM implementations, but it is not inherent to their physical nature. Physical media also decays. DVDs generally have around 20-25 years before bitrot starts to set in. I love the concept, but you're better served by a hard drive than a DVD.

[-] orochi02@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago

Dont hard drives only keep data for 5-10 years (when not in use)?

[-] Ptsf@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

It depends on the drive and the type of drive, but generally they actually start to suffer bit rot after 6-12 months if they're left without power at all. DVDs also suffer from bit-rot on short time scales, especially if stored improperly. Also migrating data or having a copy of it on a hard drive is easy, copying DVDs is legally gray, difficult, and they really only make sense as a delivery vehicle for the file to a drive or tape (if you prefer something genuinely long-term storage ready).

[-] Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

When I was a kid I suddenly became aware that I had too many DVD players in my room. At one time I had 4: a DVD TV, PS2, laptop and Xbox 360.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 1 week ago

In the future when we can become cyborgs, Imma get lasers in my eyes so I can just watch DVDs by looking at the bottom of the disc. 😤

[-] Bubs@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

Everyone arguing over DVD players or ripping discs and I'm like "Ooooo! M.A.S.H. collection!"

[-] CustardFist@feddit.nl 3 points 1 week ago

Well, a good hoarder/prepper always keep a nice stack of DVD players and VCRs in their underground bunker. 🙃

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

If there’s an apocalypse you can try eating the CDs. Being able to use them will likely never be on the radar.

[-] Dorkyd68@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I still have my ps3 mainly for this reason

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Can't play that on a FOSS OS without circumventing some shitty DRM mechanisms. Better get that DVD on a disk subito. Even worse on bluray.

this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
410 points (98.6% liked)

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