This Open Letter to my DVD Collection

Dear DVD Collection,

I know it feels like I've abandoned you. Up until a few weeks ago, you were my go to source for entertainment. When I had a few hours to kill and I wanted something I could count on, and I didn't want to put up with commercials, you were my first and only destination. I could throw in a disk (and by that I mean carefully transfer the disk from the case to the player to avoid scratches and extend the life of the DVD) and whether it was a movie or a favorite television show, the result was enjoyable all the same.

Sometimes I would sit back and re-watch a movie I'd seen dozens of times already. Or I might have some busy-work or chores to do, and the familiar television characters would keep my company during my drudgery. It was a solid system, one you feel I've betrayed because now I have Netflix and Hulu Plus.

This Open Letter to DVD Commentaries

Dear DVD Commentaries,

Look, I know I bought the deluxe edition DVD because you were on it. In fact, I made sure to get the edition with two different tracks, one with the cast and the other with the writers and producers. I was so excited to have you in my media library because I knew it would just expand my movie enjoyment to have you with me.

And yet, here we are, over a year or more later and I still haven't listened to you. Oh, I've watched the movie half-a-dozen times or more, and the next time I keep telling myself I'll actually get to you. I don't even read the trivia section on the IMDB page because I don't want to spoil anything. It's going to be great, I tell myself, when I can finally learn all the secrets of the film, the stuff I never noticed. It's going to make watching the movie a completely different experience.

Do you still call it a DVD?

I just bought The Avengers on DVD. Well, that's only partially true. There's a Blu-ray in there as well, but I don't know if I'm going to use that term for it. I like the term DVD, and even though "technically" a Blu-ray is different, my brain files it away as DVD. That's just what is is. A CD plays music. A DVD is a movie. My brain has no need for another term for what is essentially the same thing. You put a disk into a player and a movie comes on.

Yes, all you technically savvy people will be able to fill me in on how exactly a Blu-ray is different. (Not to mention different from the HD-DVD.) I know all this. I know about storage capacity and high definition and things like that. I get it. But you have to understand, it's still the same size and shape as a DVD, so that's what I'm going to call it. True, the case is slightly smaller, but when I want to put in a movie on a disk, it's going to be on a DVD. I might eventually come to terms with the new terminology, but for now it's just one extra step in my thinking process that just isn't needed.

Busy Work Programming

When I have some tedious task that I can't put off any longer, I can't do it in silence. I'm normally not the type of person who has to have the television or radio on all the time. I like the silence as it helps me mentally focus. But when it's a task that I can pretty much do on autopilot, then my brain is going to want something to occupy it while the rest of me works from muscle memory. That's where my busy work programming comes in handy.

My current programming of choice is The Big Bang Theory. I've watched every episode and have the first four seasons on DVD. When I've got something annoying but necessary to do, I'll just pop in a disk, hit the play all, and get to work. Since I've already seen the episode, I'm not compelled to watch or really pay attention. It's like going on a long car trip with my brain in the back seat with a DVD of Finding Nemo. I get the job done without my brain interrupting every five minutes to ask me "Are you done yet?"

Play All

If you've ever bought a television series on DVD, you know that the "Play All" option is a modern marvel. Rather than have to press a series of buttons every 22 or 44 minutes, you can simply hit that button and enjoy four to eight episodes right in a row. It's a fantastic feature, but alas, it's not always included.

What happens when you eagerly unwrap your series, pop it in, and discover that you can't hit play all? That every time you want to watch a new episode you have to hit the back button once or even twice, wait for the menu to load, navigate that menu to the next episode, hit enter to bring up the title screen, wait for the next screen to load, hit enter again to bring up the episode screen, then wait until you can navigate to the "Play episode" button.