utter defeat

[mangaroo]

Not exactly the optimistic note I had hoped to strike for the second day of the new year. I am utterly defeated by my books and videos. There's just nothing left to throw away. Or, rather, the remaining books are either read regularly or read only occasionally but I want to know they're there, waiting for me. I have four shelves' worth of books on

Comments

[sara_tanaquil]

I've been facing the same dilemma with my VCR tapes. There's no good place for them to live and I never watch them... but... but! (Will I ever watch Jumpin' Jack Flash again? But I loved that movie once... and Romancing the Stone is part of my childhood identity.)

Part of me just hates having to rebuy my media every ten years in a different format.

Good luck! It's very hard decluttering past a certain point when you have limited space.

[mangaroo]

Part of me just hates having to rebuy my media every ten years in a different format.

This! And I think I must have been adversely affected by the VHS/Beta wars, because I never trust the technology to last. Not just the fear that DVDs are fated to be replaced by Blu-ray (argh), but is Kindle the right ebook format to choose? (I was giving serious thought to repurchasing my yellowing and damaged books on the Kindle and tossing the physical copies. Since soem of my most precious books are not available for Kindle, I have thankfully shelved that budget-draining notion...mentally, since I clearly lack enough physical shelf space to fit even a notion.)

[melf42]

I find that sometimes, I just have to be in a "purging mood" or it is impossible to get rid of stuff. Just in the last six months I finally threw away 90% of my video tapes that had been in my parents basement for (mumble) years. It helped having someone with me ... way more embarrassing to make a case for an old tape to another person.

(The concept of Netflix streaming / Hulu / etc. has also made old videos and DVDs seem less worth it since I can get them almost anytime...)

[mangaroo]

I don't know how to stream hulu to my TV...true, I haven't looked into it, but surely that's something I should just automatically know? Anyway, my point there is, I use streaming to my computer as a substitute when I am separated from my television, but otherwise it interferes with my habit of simultaneously watching TV and surfing the web. Oh, and Netflix streaming (via TiVo or wii) is awesome

[wednesday_10_00]

My problem with VHS tapes is that the ones I want to save are old fansubs and stuff I taped from TV in Japan. Eventually I'm planning on getting something to convert them to DVD, but in the meantime they take up a lot of space and I never watch them, which is annoying.

If your tapes are the store bought variety, I say toss 'em (is there a way to recycle VHS tapes?). If you love them enough to want to keep them, buy them on DVD. (Or maybe they're available for streaming on Netflix, in which case you can watch them whenever you want without owning them?)

this response sponsored by the word "available"

[mangaroo]

Mine are a mix of commercial tapes, stuff off TV, and fansubs of things I honestly would buy if they were still commercially available from their original distributors, but apparently shoujo anime series have a shelf life of 5 years. (I won't buy "used" copies for sale on Amazon and eBay because i don't trust the sellers.) I don't understand why Viz doesn't have HanaDan available anymore. *sniffle* It's my fault for waiting for a boxed set.

The thing about Netflix streaming is that titles cycle out of availability. I watched Monsters, Inc. every day for two weeks before it ceased being available and I went into Boo withdrawal.

I managed to throw away 4 (!) tapes last night, on the premise that I would forget I ever owned them and therefore wouldn't miss them. For the rest of the commercial tapes, I'm making a cost spreadsheet for slowly replacing them with DVDs...and I'm considering buying the more expensive DVD+BluRay packs when they're available, in the hopes of staving off obsolescence for another ten years.

Re: this response sponsored by the word "available"

[wednesday_10_00]

Yeah, I know Netflix isn't the most reliable or anything, but I've been rewatching Doctor Who recently on Netflix, even though I have the DVDs. This has made me question a lot of my purchasing practices. (See also: the way I watch movies like Adventures in Babysitting and Back to the Future whenever I happen to catch them on TV, even though I have the DVDs and could watch them without commercials. Logical watching habits, I can't has them.)

I haven't really looked into what kind of selection they have, but maybe purchasing on iTunes is also an option?

I'm considering buying the more expensive DVD+BluRay packs when they're available

Yeah, I bought the DVD/BluRay version of Toy Story 3. For the extras. Which I can't watch yet, because I have no BluRay player. But they didn't have a DVD version with all the extras, so... :/

(What really baffles me is the recent trend of including a disc for loading a digital copy onto your computer. Can't they e-mail me a download link instead or something? I mean...OK, I get why that won't work.

Re: this response sponsored by the word "available"

[collarnojutsu]

Don't even get me STARTED on this issue.

And if I don't value them enough to buy the DVDs, shouldn't I just throw them away? Not necessarily. My opinion is to keep them while you are able; if you lose your VCR and don't buy another, get rid of them THEN. Unless of course, you prefer to stream/watch online (if available) - I do when I can tolerate it (for ex: new shows on Hulu), but I keep my physical media for when I can't. Of course, only you know how likely you are to watch them at all; over the years I've found that -- provided I remember I HAVE them -- I will occasionally put an old commercial tape in. Some have even seen quite a bit of repeated use - Adventures in Babysitting, Fierce Creatures, Romy & Michelle, I'm looking at you! It may be that you just need to remind yourself on occasion of the titles and you might be in the mood to watch them? :P

[spacealien_vamp]

the ones I want to save are old fansubs and stuff I taped from TV in Japan.

That...and things that haven't ever been released commercially. (I'm looking at you, Gargoyles Seasons 2 and 3.)

Let's not even mention the LDs. Somehow I need to get all of those converted to DVD as well...