My DVD shelves are closer than Blockbuster?

i dont keep dvds.

dvds keep me.

'cause I want to!

This is a logic train with no caboose. Why ever buy anything (that is a non-necessity) if there is going to be a new and better version a few years down the road?

You've never heard of drugs and alcohol?

As far as buying vs. 'Netflixing', I rarely know what I'm gonna feel like watching an hour before a movie. There's NO WAY I'd know on Tuesday what I'm gonna feel like watching on Thursday.

Because I like to have a collection of media readily available when I want to watch a movie.

That, and many of the other reasons given here are why I have 5000 or so DVDs. Mainly though, I'm an OCD hoarder who specializes in DVDs.

I buy and keep DVDs for two reasons:

1) since I really don't buy that many, there are a few films that are so special to me, even if I'm not going to watch them over and over again, I like owning them It's all part of that "ownership society" mentality, and there are just some films that I have to have.

2) As a wrestling fan, most wrestling DVDs become extremely difficult to find after only a few years, because while there are classic movies, it's not like someone today is going to pop up and say "Oh, I really want to see "SummerSlam 2003" again.

I like to watch movies. I like to just have movies that I might want to watch at hand, I like owning the movies I love and sadly the below also applies to a few in my collection (Heartbreakers comes to mind--I know the two reasons I bought but it is so bad)

Also the fact that the wave of the future may be some sort of digital download scenario just encourages me to buy them while I still can--I guess it's the old fart in me that I don't really feel like I own it if it's just something I downloaded. I'm not worried about not being able to play anything--I still have a record player and a cassette player, I even have a box of the wax cylinders from the early 1900s and I can still play those.

I'm a collector, plain and simple. It's not just DVDs, either. Action figures, CDs, posters, stickers, DVDs... I like collecting things. I know what you mean about buying the initial edition of some film, only to have some uber-edition released down the road. The only thing I can say is that I will always buy a movie I really like/love the day it comes out, but now, with all these new editions coming out, I wait on most titles I don't feel I need right away.

i'm my own BBV. and my rental fee is only $2.99 to others.

Because they rarely have much resale value anymore - and the ones that do are far outweighed by the ones that don't.

Beyond that, I like movies and I like having choice. Although it seems nowdays we have access to everything on DVD, I'm not confident that will always be the case - Especially under a Video On-Demand (digital download) dominated scenario.

My exact feelings on all those points.

Unless your dirt poor and can't afford to buy movies, I don't see any problems with having a large collection.

My only problem is there isn't enough hours in the day/week to enjoy all the ones I currently have.

I rent when new movies come out. I buy when I've rented or watched a movie 2-3 times and I'm still wanting to see it YET again.

I'm also often content with the first edition out. In fact, since they are so cheap once a new SE comes out, I have picked them over the SE if the image quality is similar (most are). I'm content renting a new edition for special features -- as I rarely revisit a special feature, but often rewatch the movie.

-beebs

Ditto. It's an addiction now. I have gotten better at holding out for the better release of some movies, thanks in a large part to places like dvdtalk, but even if I double dip (or more), I just sell off or give away the older version if I don't want it. Sometimes, the cost of upgrading the dvd is just a nominal amount when I sell off or trade in the dvd, and I will give it away to my brother if I know he doesn't have it. He's not as crazy as I am when it comes to dvd's, but he does enjoy a good movie like most people. I can see how some people get pissed at all the different releases, but for me, I just rationalize how much I liked the movie, and I chalk it up to my collection addiction. I don't spend money on booze (well, not that much) or cigarettes.

Ditto also on being a collector of things. It's been a bug in me since I was in High School (or maybe Junior High). I started off simply enough with buying magazine subcriptions, now I can't throw them away. I did settle down to just one magazine that I still keep a subscription to. I love music, and I've been buying CD's through CH off and on for years. I'm still working on ripping them all to my computer. I don't buy as much anymore, but it is still a small part of me. I started buying Star Wars Clone Troopers when Ep. III came out. I have a small collection of them, along with a few other Star Wars figures from years before, but I plan on getting rid of them. I actually used them to decorate my house for my daughter's 3 year old party last year. She is a Star Wars fanatic now thanks to me (sometimes we have to call her Princess Leia). I've been collecting Hot Wheels and other diecast for over 10 years now, but I've slowed down and started selling off most of my collection since I've lost interest. I never wanted to buy them to store them in boxes in the closet. I'll keep a small amount for sentimental reasons though. DVD's are now my thing, and I should have known from everything else that it was only a matter of time.

Ditto. See above for what I have packed in my house.

I don't lend out as many movies as I used to, but my family used to get movies from "Bennywood." I never charged them, but I should.

You serious? Both of those have a high death rate, whereas movies in general don't (unless of course you count all the fake deaths you see in horror and action flicks). Both of those also can have a serious negative impact on your life and the lives of those close to you. Having a dvd collection won't generally be seen as the cause of many divorces (maybe some though) or cause serious detrimental harm to your children (unless you let them watch movies not meant for their age group). Now having a few drinks during a movie, or smoking "something" while watching some movies shouldn't be that harmful. Seriously though, it's a great way to be entertained, to wind down or forget about everything around you, and it is actually less expensive than other hobbies.

Ditto on knowing what I want to watch as well. I actually stopped renting, and I either wait to watch it on cable, read reviews, or buy it if I liked it at the theatre. I used to rent from Blockbuster and Hollywood Video back during the VHS days, and I when they moved to dvd's, I started renting those and buying only movies that I knew I wanted to own. Now, I feel that it is cheaper to wait for sales, or simply buy it if I know I'm going to want to watch it repeatedly.

The problem I have now though is that there are times when I want to watch a movie, and I can't pic one over a few that I've narrowed down to. I usually decide on watching them over the next few days, and sometimes I just change my mind and put them all back. When I rented, I would feel more obligated to watch them almost immediately so that I'll get my money's worth. I remember I would rent a few too many, and I wouldn't have the time to watch them; this doesn't happen now 'cos they aren't going anywhere.

As far as the whole technology, digital media theory. I can see this becoming more mainstream. I also think that dvd's still have a long shelf-life when compared to vhs, 8-track, and cassette tapes. Sure, blu-ray will eventually be the norm, but that is a way's off, and blu-ray players will still play dvd's. The reason vhs, 8-track, and cassette tapes died out is because they were replaced by longer lasting, better sounding, better picture technology.

That doesn't make sense. If you own a movie it will be on some physical medium. If you are talking about streaming, on-demand video services, then you won't actually own a copy of the film... you are paying rent to have access to them. And if you look at online services, they can remove a title or music track from their library at their will. There is no guarantee that what you "purchased" will continue to be yours.

There is a far greater likelihood of an online service going belly-up than there is of you being unable to find a player for the storage medium you own.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As for why I keep DVDs, I like older movies and TV shows. I like having a personal digital archive of material that is meaningful to me. I'm a movie/tv collector, NOT a DVD collector. I have 80% of my collection in binders, out of view. (I dislike the Netflix warehouse look of walls filled with DVD shelves)

I rarely double-dip on titles and don't feel the need to have "the best" disc that has the most extras. To me, extras are extras. As long as I have a disc that contains the theatrical release in the original format (aspect ratio, audio, content) then I'm happy.

I buy and keep DVDs for most of the above reasons. One big section of my collection is all of the Disney animated films. Disney isn't kidding when they put things back into their "vaults." If I want to watch a certain film, I don't want to have to hunt all over the state to find it to watch, I want to just walk over to the shelf, pick it up and put it into the player. I also have other DVDs that I probably couldn't find on a rental shelf like "Little Shop of Horrors" with the alternative ending.

A lot of DVDs that I have were bought knowing that I would watch them many times over and since many were bought for $10 or so, it made financial sense to just purchase them.

I also picked up TV sets of shows that I enjoy because they would be far cheaper to purchase than to rent from Blockbuster. I seriously doubt that I would be able to rent all episodes from all 6 seasons of "24" for $28 bucks My favorite DVD bargain of all time.

Everybody needs DVDs. That's why they call them DVDs.
- With apologies to David Mamet

I'm sharpening the edges of all mine to use as lethal throwing discs - who's going to look stupid when the shit hits the fan and you need to stave off zombie masses trying to get your stash, huh? HUH?!? MWAHA...HAHA...MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Probably describes me.... I just went from Star Wars figures as a kid to DVDs as a teen/twenty-one year old.

We just don't have a choice.