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I moved from the UK to France last summer (yes due to Brexit before you ask) and they do indeed take comic book and related things very seriously. You are neve

I moved from the UK to France last summer (yes due to Brexit before you ask) and they do indeed take comic book and related things very seriously. You are never far from a place selling comic books, graphic novels, trading card games, action figures and such. Another thing I find different to what I am used to is how they all still buy DVDs and Blurays. Not just the odd one here and there but regularly and have a pretty impressive collection. What I find interesting is that they have good internet here. I got 1Gbit fibre with a whole host of extra (TV package, landline, SIM with 50GB data) for €55/month. And it has been perfect since I got it installed a few months back. I would have thought with such fantastic internet access they would all be using streaming services but nope they love their physical discs! Edit: And not just movies but full TV show boxsets. Those are like €100-200 !! I sat down to work out the value difference between a few streaming sites and how much they pay for physical media and streaming is way cheaper as DVDs and Blurays are not cheap! I know you can sell it on but it seems nobody does. They are often given away! It is quite alien to me.

seszett 8y ago
Well, the difference is when you buy a DVD, you actually have it, you know you can keep it, watch it, give it to friends or family whenever you want. So for your run-of-the-mill blockbuster streaming is fine, but for a movie you really like, nothing beats owning it. I discovered music listening to my parents' vinyl records, now if they had only listened to radio, what kind of cultural legacy could have they passed on? Their music would have "vanished" by the time I was there, and that's what would happen to my music and movies as well if I only used steaming services. Streaming is like the fast-food of media, it allows easy consumption of unremarkable content but it doesn't seem fit for remembering pieces of art.
- satysin 8y ago
  Oh I totally understand the benefits of owning the disc. It is just that they buy everything on disc. I own a few Blurays of some of my favourite films but I think that I have 5 or 6 total. I know people with over 300 movies on Bluray! I mean yes it is cool they can lend it to a friend but that isn't something that happens often in my experience. So yeah I get the benefits for your favourite things but for some generic Hollywood action movie? Dunno man that seems like a waste of €20 to me when you can watch it on Netflix or some other service you already subscribe to. I mean they all have Netflix of course. They don't even seem to check if the film is even available to stream on a service they already pay for. Very strange to me. As a counter point to what you said about music I have found way more music I love thanks to Spotify. I discovered music much like you when I was younger but it wasn't really anything I wouldn't have discovered anyway as it was all popular rock, indie, pop, jazz artists that had wide vinyl/CD distribution. Thanks to Spotify I can listen to some random artist in a small country with close to the same discoverability as Taylor Swift, Jay-Z or Coldplay. Of course that is more to do with the internet that Spotify specifically but I still love Spotify. I listen to so much more music than I did when we had CDs or just the iTunes store. The same is true of TV and movies thanks to Netflix imho.
- ggregoire 8y ago
  Sorry but there is nothing noble or superior about buying and keeping DVDs. That’s just materialism. I had a collection of 100 Blurays a few years ago. Eventually I sold everything when I realized that owning pieces of plastic that get dust on a shelf didn't bring me any joy. I enjoy movies at the theater or on Netflix as much as movies on physical support. And movies are not going to "vanish" if you stop buying physical copies of them on Amazon. Conserving movies is the job of film archives. You probably have one in your country that offer screenings of old movies. Or arty/independent theaters that offer the same kind of content.
  - seszett 8y ago
    Of course it is materialism. There is a big difference between having something physically available, and knowing you could have it if you wanted. The first one is preferable to many people. Things don't have to bring you joy at every instant you own them, that's cheap philosophy used as marketing for selling books. Things can also be useful for the future
baby 8y ago
We also have mobile plans for 2€/month, which start charging you after some internet usage. I would use them like it was an unlimited plan and would end up paying 10€/month.
- satysin 8y ago
  Yeah if I didn't have it included as part of my home plan I would get one of those plans as they are dirt cheap. Like €1/GB or something crazy cheap like that.

seszett 8y ago

Well, the difference is when you buy a DVD, you actually have it, you know you can keep it, watch it, give it to friends or family whenever you want. So for your run-of-the-mill blockbuster streaming is fine, but for a movie you really like, nothing beats owning it. I discovered music listening to my parents' vinyl records, now if they had only listened to radio, what kind of cultural legacy could have they passed on? Their music would have "vanished" by the time I was there, and that's what would happen to my music and movies as well if I only used steaming services. Streaming is like the fast-food of media, it allows easy consumption of unremarkable content but it doesn't seem fit for remembering pieces of art.

satysin 8y ago
Oh I totally understand the benefits of owning the disc. It is just that they buy everything on disc. I own a few Blurays of some of my favourite films but I think that I have 5 or 6 total. I know people with over 300 movies on Bluray! I mean yes it is cool they can lend it to a friend but that isn't something that happens often in my experience. So yeah I get the benefits for your favourite things but for some generic Hollywood action movie? Dunno man that seems like a waste of €20 to me when you can watch it on Netflix or some other service you already subscribe to. I mean they all have Netflix of course. They don't even seem to check if the film is even available to stream on a service they already pay for. Very strange to me. As a counter point to what you said about music I have found way more music I love thanks to Spotify. I discovered music much like you when I was younger but it wasn't really anything I wouldn't have discovered anyway as it was all popular rock, indie, pop, jazz artists that had wide vinyl/CD distribution. Thanks to Spotify I can listen to some random artist in a small country with close to the same discoverability as Taylor Swift, Jay-Z or Coldplay. Of course that is more to do with the internet that Spotify specifically but I still love Spotify. I listen to so much more music than I did when we had CDs or just the iTunes store. The same is true of TV and movies thanks to Netflix imho.
ggregoire 8y ago
Sorry but there is nothing noble or superior about buying and keeping DVDs. That’s just materialism. I had a collection of 100 Blurays a few years ago. Eventually I sold everything when I realized that owning pieces of plastic that get dust on a shelf didn't bring me any joy. I enjoy movies at the theater or on Netflix as much as movies on physical support. And movies are not going to "vanish" if you stop buying physical copies of them on Amazon. Conserving movies is the job of film archives. You probably have one in your country that offer screenings of old movies. Or arty/independent theaters that offer the same kind of content.
- seszett 8y ago
  Of course it is materialism. There is a big difference between having something physically available, and knowing you could have it if you wanted. The first one is preferable to many people. Things don't have to bring you joy at every instant you own them, that's cheap philosophy used as marketing for selling books. Things can also be useful for the future

baby 8y ago

We also have mobile plans for 2€/month, which start charging you after some internet usage. I would use them like it was an unlimited plan and would end up paying 10€/month.

satysin 8y ago
Yeah if I didn't have it included as part of my home plan I would get one of those plans as they are dirt cheap. Like €1/GB or something crazy cheap like that.