So, I usually think in terms of longevity. I do own some books, because in case computers don’t work anymore, well I can still read good stuff. I have plenty of PDFs/epubs in my laptop because the internet may not work anymore anytime. I do have some stuff in the cloud, but just for convenience (I don’t care if those files disappear).
Same with music,
movies and video games. I want to be able to “run” stuff offline. Electricity is still a big dependency (i’m looking into solar panels)
I'm the same way, and also: I want to not have to pay a subscription fee forever. Once I have what I want, then that's it! I'm don't need to spend another dime. But if I use Spotify or whatever, I have to keep paying forever. It is a much worse deal.
The difference between music and books is time investment. New music comes out all the time, and I'm always discovering old music. A subscription works great for music because I can listen to so many songs. Books not so much, and I consider myself a reader.
> A subscription works great for music because I can listen to so many songs. Books not so much, and I consider myself a reader.
It can work for books too, kinda. You can check "J-Novel Club" for an existing example. Chapters are translated in parts, and each part is released ASAP to subscribers, before the whole thing is translated (though they're clear that it's still a WIP).
It's also extremely common for... uh... "gray-zone indie translators" to translate web novels from Japanese into English, and release the translations first to Patreon supporters, and a week later to everyone else.
Granted, everything I'm saying is very specific to the niche of JP novels.
And even with books it becomes much easier to say “I’ll reread the lord of the rings on this flight” than it is to take a wild risk on an unknown book and author.
Yeah, if you're frequently getting new music then a subscription makes sense. My music library is pretty much static. I don't like the vast majority of new music, and I've already gotten the vast majority of old music that I care about. My music purchases are something like $30 (at most, usually much less) per year, which is way cheaper than Spotify.
I pay for streaming 90% because my wife wants to, and 10% because it's the only way I can legally watch things in some cases. So I would say yes, in that I would rather ditch those too, but no in that they have uses I can't replace at this time.
Same with music, movies and video games. I want to be able to “run” stuff offline. Electricity is still a big dependency (i’m looking into solar panels)