Author Topic: Going digital/decluttering  (Read 787 times)

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Offline khendar

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Going digital/decluttering
« on: May 31, 2012, 11:55:14 PM »
I've been sitting in my study looking at all the stuff that I've accumulated over the years, taking up space and gathering dust. I've got a fair few DVDs, CDs, games, books, etc. Most of which I haven't watched, listened to, played or read for years. The last physical game I bought was Starcraft II about 2 years ago. The last DVD I bought was 2 years ago. The last CD I bought even longer. I LIKE having physical copies of things, but all-digital solutions have pretty much taken over my purchasing habits lately. I buy games from Steam, I get books in ebook format, I buy music online or stream it directly. The only thing I can't do (legally) is get movies in digital format.

I'm currently in the process of giving away my DVD collection. My CDs will follow, and physical games after that. Books I'm more hesitant to get rid of but there are a number that I would like to move. Whilst I like the idea of having physical things, as it feels like you're getting more for your money, these days it's just more plastic and paper that will one day end up in landfill (or recycled).

Has anyone else decided to ditch the trappings of physical media and gone totally digital ? Or does everyone still have a penchant for "things" ?

Offline kvuo75

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #1 on: Jun 01, 2012, 12:47:33 AM »
I can think of one example where full digital would have sucked, slayer's "south of heaven" album wasn't even available from itunes.

it's a record from 1988, not available on itunes until maybe 2010..  I'm glad I actually had it on cd from the era, and ripped it and put it on my ipod long before.

A lot of the shit I listen to is probably not on itunes.  This is why I still ALWAYS buy new records I'm interested in on CD, rip them, and store the hard copy away.

I've done that with the last foo fighters record, which came with a souvenir piece of analog tape in the booklet. I have no care about that, but it's safely hidden away.. I do like collections.  I started with CD's, so I'm gonna stick with CD's, just like previous generations did with LP's..   

when this ipod dies, or my next laptop dies, I can re-rip it and we're good to go!


I still wish I'd kept all the books I've ever owned.. thats why I'm gonna at least keep every CD I've ever owned.

« Last Edit: Jun 01, 2012, 12:50:57 AM by kvuo75 »

Offline Plastique

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #2 on: Jun 01, 2012, 04:10:00 AM »
The ability to store so many things digitally is such an excellent thing. Hate clutter.

Offline moj

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #3 on: Jun 01, 2012, 08:05:36 AM »
When I moved last July realized in the three years at my last apartment rarely ever touched my CD's or DVD's. So being as lazy as I am boxed them up and left them in the communal area with a sign that said FREE. I got rid of all my CD's & DVD's.  All the music I wanted to keep I had already digitized long ago and uploaded to the cloud.  DVD's just aren’t as important with services like netfix or other streaming services.  I haven't missed them at all.
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Offline Plastique

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #4 on: Jun 01, 2012, 08:11:47 AM »
When I moved last July realized in the three years at my last apartment rarely ever touched my CD's or DVD's. So being as lazy as I am boxed them up and left them in the communal area with a sign that said FREE. I got rid of all my CD's & DVD's.  All the music I wanted to keep I had already digitized long ago and uploaded to the cloud.  DVD's just aren’t as important with services like netfix or other streaming services.  I haven't missed them at all.

Which service do you use?

Offline moj

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #5 on: Jun 01, 2012, 08:20:21 AM »
Amazon and skydrive. I don't have a huge collection and buy most my MP3's through amazon anyways so they can automaticly go to the cloud. I am approuching the sky drive limit of 25GB and thinking of getting ride of my windows phone so I may drop skydrive soon.
  When amazon first started the cloud drive you could upgrade to the 20GB just by buying a 99 song. Now its 20bucks a year but unlimited storge for music and 20gb data

https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_362776742_2?ie=UTF8&nav_sdd=aps&docId=1000796931&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-A5&pf_rd_r=0FQJ4EBD2JJ3A8AN0NGA&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1364264882&pf_rd_i=507846
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Online Johnny Slick

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #6 on: Jun 01, 2012, 08:22:26 AM »
I still get physical copies of textbooks because the school requires them but otherwise I don't buy as many books as I used to, choosing to get the Kindle copies (or, lately, audiobook) instead. I definitely like the fact that Kindle books only take up virtual space. I still have a crap-ton of books lying around the house that I need to get rid of somehow.
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Offline DonA1979

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #7 on: Jun 01, 2012, 08:26:34 AM »
For the most part I too have made the jump to digital.  The 2 exceptions for me are music and books.  I still buy cd's then put them on my computer (I have a HD just for my music) and books I still like the feel of having a book in my hand.  I've used my gf's e-reader a few times, but it's just not the same to me. 
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Offline Plastique

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #8 on: Jun 01, 2012, 09:05:13 AM »
I am approuching the sky drive limit of 25GB

Ah, shit, way too little for me. I've got quite a bit of music, and shitloads of data to back up. Not sure the best route so I keep putting it off. Sure recipe for success.

Offline moj

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #9 on: Jun 01, 2012, 12:21:26 PM »
I am approuching the sky drive limit of 25GB

Ah, shit, way too little for me. I've got quite a bit of music, and shitloads of data to back up. Not sure the best route so I keep putting it off. Sure recipe for success.

Amazon claims it's unlimited for music, but have not tested that.  For massive amounts of data a multiple external hard drives and keeping one at different location is probably your best bet.
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Offline DCLimey

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #10 on: Jun 01, 2012, 12:22:08 PM »
I'm in the liberating position of planning an interior design for my house that doesn't involve bookshelves. I really thought I'd miss them, but I don't.

What really helped me declutter was transitioning away from paper based notes. I heartily recommend www.evernote.com, it can be used from my desktops and all my mobile devices. Thank me later.

Offline Plastique

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #11 on: Jun 01, 2012, 01:04:12 PM »
I am approuching the sky drive limit of 25GB

Ah, shit, way too little for me. I've got quite a bit of music, and shitloads of data to back up. Not sure the best route so I keep putting it off. Sure recipe for success.

Amazon claims it's unlimited for music, but have not tested that.  For massive amounts of data a multiple external hard drives and keeping one at different location is probably your best bet.

Pretty much what I do. But too much time elapses in between back ups. Be so nice to have it automated.

Offline Caffiene

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #12 on: Jun 01, 2012, 07:14:38 PM »
I still have DVDs/Blu Rays because I find it too hard to get reliable digital copies of the stuff I want...

Games Ive definitely gone digital. I like to get the box sometimes especially if its a game Im really excited for and want to "collect", but well over 90% of games I buy these days are through Steam.

Books are still 100% paper. I dont want books in ebook format for the same reason I dont want movies on VCR cassette. My papers books are still going to be perfectly useable in 50 years time, but I strongly expect that eReaders even 10 years from now will have moved on so far that a current eReader will be almost impossible to find.
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Offline Dirty J. Martini

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #13 on: Jun 03, 2012, 02:15:56 PM »
Yeah, I've gone completely digital. I bought one CD last year because I wanted a single song off it and it was from the 80s and they don't have the song on any digital music service I can find. So I bough a used copy of the entire CD for the same price as 1 digitally downloaded song plus twice that for shipping. ($.99 for the CD, $2.00 for shipping!).

I use iCloud and like it, though I haven't gone whole-hog on it yet with iTunes Match. It sounds really cool, but just haven't tried it yet. It allows you to have your music in the cloud without uploading it. That is, if you already have it on your computer, then they'll store a (probably higher quality) copy in your iCloud storage for you from their library without you uploading it. When you hook up a new device, it just downloads it from there, no syncing with a computer necessary.

I even have been signing legal documents digitally lately. All the real estate agents here seem to be comfortable with it, as do the lawyers, accountants, etc.

Over the past 3 years we've moved twice, so I've pared down a bunch of stuff. (Not just media - we had a storage space full of stuff we never used, so I free-cycled most of it.) There still seems to be a lot of paper in my life. It's getting better, but slowly. I bet in another 5 years, we'll have a lot less of it.

Offline khendar

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Re: Going digital/decluttering
« Reply #14 on: Jun 03, 2012, 07:45:55 PM »
The most frustrating thing about going digital is music and movies. It's almost impossible in Australia to purchase digital HD movies legally, and unless you want to use iTunes, its almost as impossible to buy music as well. Amazon doesn't work in Australia, and while there are some streaming services, there's precious few places where you can actually buy mp3s legitimately.