Blu-ray may very well be the last physical media we get when it comes to video content, but if history had gone just a little differently, it would be HD-DVDs being frantically collected by media nerds today, and not Sony's gift to image quality purists.

For me, being a fan of physical media never went out of style. I've never much cared for streaming, and when I douse it, I'm selective or self-host whenever possible. With some companies ditching physical media altogether, there's never been a better time to start collecting again. Of course, prior to now, streaming services have always been missing episodes of our favorite show despite its convenience. So I grabbed three of my favorite shows on DVD so I could have a complete collection.

Back in 1997, a few years after video game consoles and computers had fully embraced CD-ROM technology, a new optical format standard known as DVD-RAM was finalized.

Streaming services have made watching movies almost frictionless. However, most people don't think much about what they're giving up for it. Every time you open Netflix or Hulu, you're not just watching something; you're being watched in return. The platform logs what you pause, what you skip, how long you hover over a thumbnail, and that data feeds into profiles that eventually get sold. If you've ever felt vaguely uneasy about how well an algorithm seems to know you, there's a reason for that, and buying used DVDs with cash is one of the few remaining ways to actually opt out.