How do you purchase your media?

[Unorthodox]

Because my lost package is a couple games we COULD have downloaded....


Books, I can't do a reader, have to have the physical.
Music: Digital
TV/movies: almost entirely Netflix these days
Games: mix.  PC, I prefer to download, console I prefer to have a copy. Just more inconvenient to load a disk into the laptop, I guess. 
News:  Mostly internet. 

[Valka]

Because my lost package is a couple games we COULD have downloaded....


Books, I can't do a reader, have to have the physical.
Music: Digital
TV/movies: almost entirely Netflix these days
Games: mix.  PC, I prefer to download, console I prefer to have a copy. Just more inconvenient to load a disk into the laptop, I guess. 
News:  Mostly internet.

Books: I have so many books, it takes dozens of banker's boxes to pack them, plus several large tote boxes for the large/heavy books. And that's not counting the magazines, pattern books, and fanzines. Yeah, I've got a Kindle, but I prefer to read a physical book. The Kindle actually drives me nuts, especially when there's a bunch of formatting errors or typos. You don't get that with physical books.

Music: I don't know how to download digital music. My music collection is on LP, 8-track (don't have an 8-track player right now, though), cassette, and CD. And some of it's just notation on manuscript paper, because I haven't finished composing it yet.

TV/movies: I have some VHS tapes (tossed out most of them, but kept some back of the stuff that's not replaceable), but most of my TV/movie collection is on DVD. I also watch shows online, on various sites and services. Currently I'm binge-watching Reign, about Mary, Queen of Scots.

Games: I've still got some of my old Amiga games (and don't have a complete Amiga computer to play them on). Otherwise, I've got a few dozen computer games on CD - few of which can be played on modern laptops, which is why I want to see if my old Win 98 and XP computers can be put back in working order. I'm also a Big Fish Games member and have a lot of games downloaded from that site. It's relaxing to just do a quick jigsaw puzzle, game of Monopoly, or a couple levels of match-3 or Hidden Object games now and then.

News: Almost entirely online. In its stupidity, my local paper made its online edition more expensive to subscribe to than the paper edition, and the paper edition is already an expense I can't afford (nor is it great for my temper when the delivery person decides to be lazy and leave the papers in the lobby downstairs instead of at my door; I don't go down there more than about twice a week, and I'm not in the mood to chase after stolen newspapers). So I don't get my local paper, but I do get newsfeeds from CBC.ca - the Calgary, Edmonton, and national pages.

[gwillybj]

Definitely prefer physical copies, very much as described by Valka.

I greatly miss the days of boxed PC games with printed manuals.

[ColdWizard]

Books: As a holdover from when I read more, used books as the price can't be beat. When things aren't available there I still lean towards physical books, though I do have a collection of legally free works on my phone for spot reading.

Music: Pandora/Youtube/Radio is the extent of my music listening. I had some digital files from when Napster was the big thing and some cd's from the same time period but I'm not sure where either collection is these days.

TV/Movies: I still mostly watch TV via cable/sat because I mostly fart around on the computer rather than actually watch things. For when I do actually watch things, Netflix and DVDs. Though I'm moving towards DVDs that also come with the digital edition, so that I can still watch those movies on mobile devices when internet is not feasible but still have the DVD if/when the digital service vanishes into the ether.

Games: I lag well behind the gaming releases because publishers have taught me not to be excited for any new release, ever. So I get old PC games digitally. Console games I get physical copies because Sony gets hacked every other week.

News: Entirely internet.

[Valka]

Definitely prefer physical copies, very much as described by Valka.

I greatly miss the days of boxed PC games with printed manuals.

I still have my Civ II: Test of Time tech tree poster that came in the box. I had it laminated.

Now if I could only find the game disk...

[Rusty Edge]

Books- I got started with the Kindle2, been adding devices ever since. It is my nature to collect and hoard paper- books, magazines, everything. Kindle was an important step forward from bulging shelves and boxes of books in my basement.

Music- I have lots of classical cassettes, and a lot of blues and rock on CD, but these days I mostly listen to Sirius/XM.  Bluesville if I'm alone or with my  mother-in-law, Classic Vinyl with my wife. I don't  listen to Classical in the car if I'm driving because it gets me too relaxed and sleepy.  I've done some digital download stuff, but I lost access to the earlier stuff, and concluded I want hard copies that don't depend on companies remaining in business, or buying media packages/subscriptions to retain access to "My" music.

TV/movies- I might see a movie at the local theater, one where we go fishing, and another if I'm on a cruise that year. We usually intend to see more, but forget about it while waiting for the opening crowds to subside. There are VHS and DVDs, but we haven't watched them in years.

Mostly our tv is all cable DVR. My wife has really taken to that. Mostly she decides what to record and asks me about watching priorities afterwards.

Games- I prefer to have a hard copy. I believe in ownership and modding, as opposed to subscribing/renting/downloading. I have unistalled STEAM more than once.  I have lost interest in games this year.
 
News- Variety. TV, AM radio, Sirius XM, and internet.  I haven't read much print news since the turn of the century. I'm not as well informed as when I listened to NPR most of the day and night. That was a strange mix of being stressed over stuff I couldn't control, and being soothed by classical symphonies.

[gwillybj]

Definitely prefer physical copies, very much as described by Valka.

I greatly miss the days of boxed PC games with printed manuals.

I still have my Civ II: Test of Time tech tree poster that came in the box. I had it laminated.

Now if I could only find the game disk...

I still have an original SMAC box with the manual and the tech tree poster, and I have the somewhat redundant Prima "strategy" guide. I also have a second boxed copy without the manual and poster, and I have the Planetary Pack on a jewel-cased CD. This stuff is worth more than much precious metal. It's like having a large cache of gold in a role-playing game! 

[Valka]

TV/movies- I might see a movie at the local theater, one where we go fishing, and another if I'm on a cruise that year. We usually intend to see more, but forget about it while waiting for the opening crowds to subside. There are VHS and DVDs, but we haven't watched them in years.

Okay, this paragraph has me confused. Are you saying that you watch movies while fishing, or that you fish at the theatre? You go on a cruise, and watch movies?

Personally, I should think that when fishing it's more productive to pay attention to the fish. And when I'm on a holiday, the last thing I want to do is watch TV/movies. In all the years of attending conventions, I don't think I've spent so much as 2 hours in the video room. And that includes the year that I was on the concom and one of my roommates toted her Doctor Who VHS tapes from Calgary to Red Deer on the Greyhound. We had an open room of Doctor Who viewing for most of the weekend, and anyone with a convention membership was welcome to come in and watch Doctor Who. Back then all that was available were Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories, and for some reason everybody wanted to see Pyramids of Mars. Over and over and over. To this day I HATE that story.

[Rusty Edge]

TV/movies- I might see a movie at the local theater, one where we go fishing, and another if I'm on a cruise that year. We usually intend to see more, but forget about it while waiting for the opening crowds to subside. There are VHS and DVDs, but we haven't watched them in years.

Okay, this paragraph has me confused. Are you saying that you watch movies while fishing, or that you fish at the theatre? You go on a cruise, and watch movies?

Personally, I should think that when fishing it's more productive to pay attention to the fish. And when I'm on a holiday, the last thing I want to do is watch TV/movies. In all the years of attending conventions, I don't think I've spent so much as 2 hours in the video room. And that includes the year that I was on the concom and one of my roommates toted her Doctor Who VHS tapes from Calgary to Red Deer on the Greyhound. We had an open room of Doctor Who viewing for most of the weekend, and anyone with a convention membership was welcome to come in and watch Doctor Who. Back then all that was available were Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories, and for some reason everybody wanted to see Pyramids of Mars. Over and over and over. To this day I HATE that story.

  Ambiguous communication is the consequence of multitasking.

We have time to watch movies, but we usually don't. It's probably because due to medications and maladies, etc, my wife falls asleep whenever you put her in a dark room for an hour or more. 

Usually there is a rainy day during the two week fishing trip in June. Since it's the release for the wannabe summer blockbusters, we usually find something to see. So we drive for half an hour to get to the theater. I think it was "Inside Out".

We normally cruise with Disney unless we are going to Alaska ( then we prefer Princess). Normally the ship is in port during the day and steaming at night. Usually we come back from our port excursion, clean up, eat dinner, then go to the main theater. Usually it's a musical, sometimes a comedian or singer/songwriter, and maybe once a week they offer a movie. Since Disney/ABC/Pixar makes a lot of movies and has the rights to them, they premier them on the cruises, either in the main theater or the movie theater, sometimes both. This year we saw "Bridge of Spies". Another unusual thing about Disney is a fireworks display at sea. Disney doesn't have a casino, but their theater entertainers are superlative.

So, Valka, of those Dr. Who episodes, which was your favorite?

[Nikolai]

Books: I have loads upon loads of paper books. But lately, I've purchased most books on Kindle. For books for studying they suck, but for regular books they're all I need.

Music: 95% of all my music listening is done on Spotify. My mp3 collection (almost entirely legal, and huge) is seldom used anymore. But I do listen a fair bit on vinyl. I buy 1-3 albums a year and have scoured the used market for some gems, in addition to inheriting my dad's vast collection. Vinyl is great when you are at home.

TV/Movies: Almost entirely digital. I have some DVDs and BluRay lying around, but most of it is Netflix and similar. Only exception is some tv series that is not possible to watch legally in Norway before a year or so later than it airs in the US. I want to pay, but if they don't want my money... I'd gladly pay for the privilege to watch it shortly after the US!

Games: Entirely digital, except consoles. Most of my Wii, WiiU and Nintendo handhelds are retail. Exception is a couple games and eShop games.

News: I sub to one news paper, but most my news is digital only, including mags.

[Valka]

TV/movies- I might see a movie at the local theater, one where we go fishing, and another if I'm on a cruise that year. We usually intend to see more, but forget about it while waiting for the opening crowds to subside. There are VHS and DVDs, but we haven't watched them in years.

Okay, this paragraph has me confused. Are you saying that you watch movies while fishing, or that you fish at the theatre? You go on a cruise, and watch movies?

Personally, I should think that when fishing it's more productive to pay attention to the fish. And when I'm on a holiday, the last thing I want to do is watch TV/movies. In all the years of attending conventions, I don't think I've spent so much as 2 hours in the video room. And that includes the year that I was on the concom and one of my roommates toted her Doctor Who VHS tapes from Calgary to Red Deer on the Greyhound. We had an open room of Doctor Who viewing for most of the weekend, and anyone with a convention membership was welcome to come in and watch Doctor Who. Back then all that was available were Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories, and for some reason everybody wanted to see Pyramids of Mars. Over and over and over. To this day I HATE that story.

  Ambiguous communication is the consequence of multitasking.

We have time to watch movies, but we usually don't. It's probably because due to medications and maladies, etc, my wife falls asleep whenever you put her in a dark room for an hour or more. 

Usually there is a rainy day during the two week fishing trip in June. Since it's the release for the wannabe summer blockbusters, we usually find something to see. So we drive for half an hour to get to the theater. I think it was "Inside Out".

We normally cruise with Disney unless we are going to Alaska ( then we prefer Princess). Normally the ship is in port during the day and steaming at night. Usually we come back from our port excursion, clean up, eat dinner, then go to the main theater. Usually it's a musical, sometimes a comedian or singer/songwriter, and maybe once a week they offer a movie. Since Disney/ABC/Pixar makes a lot of movies and has the rights to them, they premier them on the cruises, either in the main theater or the movie theater, sometimes both. This year we saw "Bridge of Spies". Another unusual thing about Disney is a fireworks display at sea. Disney doesn't have a casino, but their theater entertainers are superlative.

So, Valka, of those Dr. Who episodes, which was your favorite?

Y'know, I thought of another interpretation of the movies/fishing thing... a fishing hole within site of a drive-in movie screen and you're really good at lipreading. 

My favorite Fourth Doctor story is Genesis of the Daleks. I also like Masque of Mandragora, and a few of the Leela stories... and of course I'm partial to the Romana stories as well. I don't remember if any of these were shown that weekend - it was Thanksgiving weekend (2nd weekend in October) in 1985, so after 30 years I don't recall which ones we showed people. Other than Pyramids of Mars, of course. Every time I came back to the room to see what else was on, it was always that one. And since it's not 12 hours long, I know they played it multiple times.

Oh, well. The people who joined us there had fun, and it was an alternative to the video room that only had movies. It was a weird weekend, and the only time NonCon was ever held in Red Deer (normally it was either in Edmonton or Calgary, though it was held in Banff twice). One of the guys from the Edmonton SCA group was also into science fiction, and he decided to stand in the middle of one of the main hallways of the hotel, wearing a plaid bathrobe and slippers, asking any and all passersby, "Excuse me, can you tell me what planet I'm on?" At that time I hadn't seen Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I didn't realize that he was roleplaying Arthur Dent.