this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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I'm an old millennial that downloads and keep what I like. It took so long to download anything on dial-up that the habit was to keep everything for later.
And then because I go camping and cycling in places without network coverage, I took the habit of copying a few hundred of MP3s and a few dozen episodes of cartoons on my phone. That way I have some entertainment even when I'm in a forest without network coverage.
I still can't understand people streaming music on their phones, music that they probably are going to listen and download again and again and again instead of only once. Why not keep it instead of constantly using bandwidth for the same thing over and over?
Same with watching stuff. Your favorite paid streaming service may eventually decide to remove a series you like, or miss a few seasons. That's if it's not on another streaming service. Like, I know I'll watch and rewatch again episodes of the Simpsons, so I download them. It only consumes bandwidth once and can watch it on repeat whenever I want, even without internet.
You can still pay for stuff, but don't use the DRM ridden streams that can disappear or can't be accessed without internet... pay for it if you wish but then, pirate and download a version you can keep.
Or I'm just old and living through "bandwidth scarcity" and really owning stuff left its mark on me.
I agree with your sentiment. I grew up mostly with 56k as the shiny new mainstream internet tech. I got DSL for the first time when I was like.. 13? I dislike the "stream everything" paradigm, too.
But, I do know a thing or two about it, so I want to correct a misconception you have that does make it all seem a little bit more reasonable than might appear for you at first glance:
Most of these streaming systems have built-in, automatic client-side caching mechanisms. This means that when Spotify downloads a song to your phone to play to you, it keeps a copy around in a safe place for a good while, so it doesn't have to re-download it every time. In a sense, it automates our natural data hoarding instinct and does so transparently, with keep-around durations calculated to provide the most ideal "local-replay to storage-consumed" ratio for their average users' network capabilities. The computers just take care of it automatically now so people don't have to think about it. If you only play it once, it'll toss it out for you. If you listen to it a lot, it's coming from your phone. "Streaming" is just high-speed managed file downloading.
100% right about the risk of them pulling content though. They're still a bad proposition. The DRM and "rent not own" they do screws with the whole value proposition.