Digital versus physical.

[Deleted]

I use both.

When I've downloaded something I don't burn it to a disc or whatever, I just keep the digital file. But when I actually buy something, I want the physical product.
I don't trust companies to keep my files forever. If I purchased a Blizzard or Steam product and they go bankrupt in the future (unlikely, but just an example) I will not be able to access the game I bought. I can also keep a backup on my computer, but what if it crashes?

By the way, this is also the reason I really hate all sorts of online protection in games. What if the company doesn't exist in the future? You won't be able to install your game, since the protection required you to access their servers.

No, I'd rather keep a physical copy. Though it can also be damaged or lost, the chances of the happening are smaller imo.

[kivipää]

I always buy a physical copy of everything I can. Steam and it's kind are dubious services at best, and can at any moment screw you over and ban you for any reason that strikes their fancy, and that's it. Only thing you could do at that point to get all your games back would be to sue valve, and that'd be a long and expensive process because the legal isuues with the service are murky at best.
So I keep my physical copies handy, and if I ever get screwed I only need a simple crack to keep playing. I needed to resort to it once already, though the situation was technically the fault of my mistrust in the first place. But currently, Steam has too much power, and I can't trust anyone or anything with too much power over your things on their hands, no matter how unlikely it is they'll abuse that power. It happens, or will happen eventually.

[ibnalail]

Give me digital. For the love of all that is awesome, give me digital. My husband has a massive DVD/bluray collection. It takes up the entire second bedroom of our apartment. Even after spending weeks ripping stuff to some external drives, we still have probably well over 5000+ DVDs and who knows how many CDs sitting in there. The thought of packing it all up to move someday is enough to give me nightmares, and that doesn't even consider the books!

[Szemere]

My DVD/CD drive for my PC doesn't work, bought a new one, doesn't work either, guess it's a problem with something in the motherboard or whatnot. (well, it does work, but slows my PC down by 99% for some reason)
So, I just buy digital. And hey, saves me the space for all the boxes :P Until I buy a new PC, then I might reconsider, but I think it's become enough of a habit to keep buying digital

[Cerr]

Books - physical, no other way, even though I feel a bit guilty over all the paper used. I just love the feel of a book in my hands and seeing them in the bookcase
Games - don't really care usually
Music - digital, since I've gotten an itunes account I hardly buy any CD's anymore. Digital is so much easier. Plus, I'd have to rip my physical CD's to mp3 anyway as I want it on my mp3-player

[Blackspur]

When it is something I really want such as ME3 or collectors editions of games I like to buy physical, but if it is a game I am interested in but not all hyped up about it I will opt for the digital version, same goes if the game is old/older.

[Deleted]

Books seem to be a thing that a lot of people are against going digital because of the "feel".

After reading thousands of books (yes thousands), and had a book in every size, print format and various special editions, there is little of that "feeling" at all. I'm willing to bet some of the people professing the special feeling of books only read infrequently.

[Simulacrum]

If I really like a book, I'll buy both the audiobook and the written book, because the audibook is more practical to listen to while doing other stuff, but the written book is really handy for looking up things. And they look nice on my bookshelf, and I can draw in them and stuff.

If I had a tablet I don't know if I'd buy books for that - for me, reading books just seems like something that should be done with paper in hand.

[Deleted]

depends- i could never go back to physical books, i think i'd go insane if my kindle stopped working. And for TV/DVDs and the like, it's so much more convenient to just watch them online rather than go out and get the DVD. Same for music- i haven't bought a CD for years, spotify/itunes is just too convenient.
Games? that's different. If it's a game I REALLY care about, one that i've been anticipating for a while, like Skyrim, Cataclysm, Mass Effect, etc, I'll get a physical copy. If it's something i buy on a whim, or a game i'd like to get but haven't been hanging onto every word about it, i'll get it on steam. Steam and other digital distribution methods is amazing for indy developers too- a lot of newer, small companies would be really struggling if they were forced to distribute entirely by physical copy. Magicka, for example, is an amazing game that I and many others would never have heard of if it wasn't for steam.

[Stir]

If it's free, I don't mind digital. After all, if for some odd reason my computer dies on me or something along the lines, my hard drive burns, my files are lost because of stupidity...
I can just go and download the free stuff again.

Anything I have to pay for, I want a physical copy for. It's as simple as that.

Steam is a bit different, in that I feel rather assured that if I buy an item and lose the digital version for some odd reason, that I can retrieve it anyway. But I still don't shop from Steam because A: It screws my computer over. B: I still prefer physical copies. C: I don't play enough games for something like that.