I'm pretty sure it'd work out cheaper to just buy box-sets of a series when we start watching it but haven't done the deep dive yet.
I live in a large metropolitan area and belong to 4 different public library systems. Two of them have branches within walking distance of my house. For either of them, I can go to their website, search for a dvd, and have it delivered (for free) to the branch closest to my house.
It's not instant gratification -- it takes a couple of days. But in some ways, that's a feature, not a bug.
On top of that, they also have Kanopy (a streaming service offered via libraries). The selection is NO WHERE NEAR as complete as major streaming services... but, it's certainly nice to have.
Alec from Technology Connections[0] about a year ago put out a video detailing frustrating trend: many modern DVD box-set re-releases of popular series are being quietly downgraded in quality.
Basically publishers are taking content originally authored for dual-layer discs and cramming it onto cheaper single-layer discs to cut costs. The result is aggressive over-compression, terrible macroblocking, and sometimes outright playback issues.
It really sucks: you try to do the "right thing" by paying for a legitimate, physical copy to own your media and you end up getting ripped off with crap.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=RfjH4lO241I
Apparently Alec has contacted the studio that makes the discs; they don’t make single-layer discs for the Frasier box set. Alec seems to have purchased a bootleg sold at retail.
One of the factors contributing to it not necessarily being cheaper to buy box sets: Target, Best Buy, and other big US chains have given up on physical media for movies. Last I heard Wal-Mart is on the fence about long term support for it. (At the moment the only chain I know that seems still in it for the long haul seems to be Barnes & Noble, but they could have one bad quarter and change their minds quickly. My local store the DVD and Blu-Ray section is somewhat obviously what used to the Music section and still has a bit left of that old focus.)
Even the manufacturing side seems to be disappearing. Sony has flirted with dropping physical media sales of movies. Warner Brothers and Paramount seem likelier to drop physical media sales if they are allowed to merge.
Netflix lets very few originals make it to physical media. Most of the exceptions I'm aware of are Sony projects. Sony Animation being one of Netflix's last exclusive deals from a studio that isn't themselves. A lot of Prime Originals don't make it to physical media. It seems a mixed bag for HBO Originals and Hulu/Disney+ Originals, presumably based on some internal formulas of popularity. A lot of Apple TV Originals seem to get delayed physical output, but that's largely been because Apple TV doesn't have its own studio, but that changed relatively recently with the purchase of Red Hour (Ben Stiller's studio, of Severance and The Dink fame).
It certainly feels like physical media is dying right now. Maybe more reason to switch to investing in it over streaming services, not that an individual's budget decisions in this vein will affect the company's bottom lines enough that they will notice.
What is an ocean if not a million drops?
Thrift stores are a good way to find DVDs (usually $2-4 a DVD, slightly more for Blu Ray). Estate sales are typically better (under $1 a DVD/BluRay).
The most expensive part of this so far has been obtaining storage drives.
Also, when I notice a particular book it can spark a memory (even about the surrounding context of when I read the book) which are small but nice moments.
I'm not sure I'd feel the same about DVD / Blu Ray boxes though. I'm pretty sure the VCR boxes I used to have were just kept in a closed-door cabinet and I barely looked at them unless I wanted to watch a particular film.
The further your timeline goes into the future the more sense owning your media makes. You might not want to rewatch this movie in the next ten years, but what about the next thirty? Fifty years? Inflation will only make subscriptions more and more expensive. Thirty years ago a yearly salary of $40k was the same as a yearly salary of $100k now. It's funny how so many people think they earn more than their parents did, when in reality they earn way less. And that won't get better in the future. Maybe you won't even have enough money in your retirement to afford a subscription.
I've come across sealed Blurays or even the occasional former Blockbuster rental so it's actually kind of fun in a record-crate-diving sort of way, if you're into that. But of course you can always just buy new, which you'll probably have to do in some cases: the odds are against me finding Koyaanisqatsi at the thrift, let alone the Criterion Collection Qatsi Trilogy, but I'm okay with that.
The kids tried renting some kids series from the local library, but none of the DVDs were readable.
Have to take things into your own hands these days and grab the 2160p Dolby Vision streams and stuff them onto a BD-R, if you know what I mean.
But it does suck for those who want to move to more physical-based media _and_ enjoy original content from the streaming providers.
One very nice thing about physical media is the quality is often far better than you will ever get streaming, and this is true even on non-4k releases (though, especially on 4k). Audio is often the thing the streaming providers compress the heck out of.