Legally, due to copyright, none of us really own the movies, books, games, etc. that we buy. But when we buy it on physical media, we have more control over access. Even then, there's attempts to limit our control. Blu-Ray and DVD both have region coding, Blu-Ray has DRM built in to the system, and if those seem a bit much, I'd like to at least be thankful DIVX crashed and burned.

One of the things we need to think about, when we think about ownership, accessibility, etc., is that physical formats don't last forever. Everything from magnetic tape and magnetic drives to optical disks to paper all have a limited life span. Similarly, in regards to electric media, the devices that can run these formats also have a limited life span. So while we might own a physical game or movie, copy isn't going to last forever and I think it's important to consider if, how, and when we might be able to access it again down the road.

As an aside, there are some great YouTube Channels like Techmoan that go over all sorts of obscure formats and their history.

Recently, due to the merger of AT&T and Time Warner, Filmstruck was closed down and with it, people lost easy access to classic, rare, unique, and fringe cinema. Many of those films are hard to find and if and when they'll be easily accessible again is anyone's guess. In some ways, it reminds me of how the majority of silent films were lost just because studios didn't perceive them as valuable and as a result, thought it was more prudent to destroy their copies than to store and preserve them. I'm not saying that AT&T is going to destroy all of their copies of various films, just that businesses tend to worry more about what makes business sense first and cultural value is often an after thought.

All of that said, the more I tend to think about this subject and similar subjects, the more I see the value in concepts like public domain and creative commons, creating our own culture through crafts and hobbies instead of relying on corporations and businesses to provide us culture, and most importantly, enjoying and appreciating what we have while we have it, because for one reason or another, what's here today isn't in any way guaranteed to be here tomorrow.