The state of cord cutting in 2025 from an OG

It's time to do another one of these threads. I started my cord cutting journey in probably 2012 or so. Maybe earlier, but it has been a while.
At one point, I was only using internet on the phone and was buying dvd movies.

That was a failed effort. But I do see the value in that still, since you can't hardly buy anything these days that doesn't have some "smart" technology to it. So you need internet to run the most basic gadgets, which I find to be somewhat suspect.
I don't need the internet in all of my stuff.

Recently, with regard to cord cutters there has been a backlash with some groups and the idea has come up of what buying digital ownership means REALLY, as it turns out that it doesn't mean much, when floods of people traded in the convenience of streaming over the more difficult to manage ownership of things. The so-called: one device that does it all. Which seemed great at the time, however cracks have been shown: namely the fact that if you don't own something, it's a rental and also subject to censorship and other things.

Buying guarantees ownership of your entertainment. Not to mention the fact that American media is a bubble in the sense that you often get what someone gives you and nothing else, and with that in mind, here has been my strategy.

First, I don't watch anything unless I can buy it: therefore, although I have a netflix account, because my cell phone provider gives me one, I rarely watch anything there, and I actively protest netflix or any other service: Apple Tv and what it might do if it acquires warner discover, for example, and puts that library behind a paywall.
Apple and other streaming services are trying to acquire the rights to libraries which they will then be able to dry up the blu ray and 4k market. The same can be said for singer songwriters selling their music catalogs to big companies. What is the end goal here? But to dry up physical media and force you to pay a subscription.

I also have taken efforts to limit my electronics to things that don't require internet. I just recently took a big step in that when I decided to replace my Sonos Surround Sound system with a more analog system, one that does even have an internet option.

Of course my tv has some internet built in, because they all do at this point, and my 4k player has the ability to stream, but isn't a requirement. The long and the short of it is that I am not spending LESS with my cord cutting, I am spending more. But in doing so, I own these movies, I am not beholden to a conglomerate for my movie choices, and am able to find more interesting films outside of the hollywood loop. There are many companies that have keep this up: criterion and kino lorber being the two biggest names, but I buy a lot of Cohen Media Group movies, which 90% are fantastic films which you would never see on Netflix or Hulu.

I have also begun the hard process of coming back to music and have made the first efforts to build a good collection. This is going to be a lot more difficult on my wallet, although I am just going to buy cds for now.

As far as streaming is concerned, I don't really have any services. I did buy the nfl gameday this year and I have the internet in the house, which is fine as long as if it goes away, it won't affect my collection, which is the main thing, as I hate monthly subscriptions: and I include my apartment as a subscription. But that's another topic.

 

What I am saying is this while you may be able to download them, it is dependent on the app itself to deliver that film, even offline.

The other thing that is a concern is this: Apple, for example, will not release Killers of the Flower Moon to 4k, or even Blu Ray, and so you are only able to watch this film (or own this film) digitally. Which, again, is problematic, because a digital purchase is a license. You are guaranteed to own it for life. You are also not guaranteed to have the original version you bought because Apple can change it, if they so choose.

If Fandango goes out of business, any movies you own on that platform is lost.
Netflix is famously anti-physical media. In fact, they want to at some point maybe even do away with movie theaters and my point is that Disney and others are looking to do the same and have done that to a certain degree.

I also wonder why these big companies are buying artists song rights. Because at some point they are going to leverage their investment.

All of which means that if you want to REALLY own something, you need a physical product.

Don't think you own anything that is NOT physical. I'm talking to you to, Bitcoin.

 

Try watching the more problematic Tom and Jerry classic shorts featuring Mammy Two Shoes.

I'll admit that there are a lot of options which make you think you are getting everything that ever was, but you are not. Try watching the uncensored version of Last Tango in Paris. Just another example.

You can also ask the internet if netflix censors movies and tv. It does.

It does in more ways than one: I just wonder if at some point (probably already is) when netflix will go political and only show movies that follow a strict set of ideologies.

Again, in all of this, netflix is telling YOU what you should watch. Not the other way around.

 

Well, funny you should ask, but I just lost some of the stuff I bought but did not download to my computer. However, on certain sites, you can download the video without any restrictions for playback, unlike what you get with VUDU.
But another interesting point about at least my philosophy is that I generally buy my p*rn from the actual creator. Ethically speaking, I feel better about that than getting it for free. I support the creator of what I watch, at least as much as I can, due to the royalties the sites themselves take. Manyvids, for example. That is my chosen site.

I have been recently thinking about the ethics of p*rn. So yeah, you are able to download the things you buy and keep them on your computer. Or transfer them to disk if you are a manic.

Blu rays are generally what I buy the most of since many of the films I watch don't have 4k versions. 4k is generally for blockbuster films or films that the niche audience that will spend money on them, and foreign films from an obscure country isn't that.

However, hollywood to some degree is changing. I am pleasantly surprised by the acceptance of yorgos lanthimos and the work he is doing with Emma Stone. Parasite winning best picture. I do believe that there is a movement to have more diversification. A lot of people now know the name: Jafar Panahi, or will know it once the oscars roll around next year.

Another name you might want to look out for in the coming years is: Radu Jude. The guy is a comic genius the likes we haven't seen since Woody Allen. He is an unreal director.