We live in a time when you can find whatever you want online, and you can binge until your heart’s content for a low monthly fee. There are streaming platforms for all types of media, yet I still prefer to download digital files directly like it’s 2006.
I Grew Up Before the Age of Streaming
I’m a millennial of the last generation able to remember life before ever-present internet and smartphones. As someone who grew up in a rural area, I had dial-up at home until I went off to college. There were a few streaming services out by the time I got a computer, such as YouTube and Pandora, but it couldn’t be taken for granted that people had high-bandwidth internet at the time. Even those that did only had it at home.
Those of us who were into computers were also into downloading things. We downloaded computer applications. We downloaded games. We downloaded wallpapers. We downloaded music. Whatever it was, the default option at the time was to download a file directly to your computer rather than try to do it all within a browser. Streaming was novel. Downloading was the norm.
Downloading Files Gives Me Ownership
Not everyone appreciated downloads. You had to understand file managers and not mind moving files around between folders. It’s understandable why so many find streaming services easier to embrace.
Yet as someone who had my hard drive neatly sorted and happily packed files onto flash drives, I’ve never been comfortable with the transition to streaming. The terms of the tradeoff were clear. Instead of having ownership over files that I could own forever, listen to as often as I want, and play on virtually any device, I would gain the privilege of streaming media only to approved devices along with many other restrictions on what I can do. And if I stop paying after year or two, I’m out hundreds of dollars and have nothing to show for it. I go from being an owner to being a renter.
Flash drives have only gotten better, and portable SSDs are now small enough to fit in a wallet. With so much cheap storage available, why shouldn’t I store my own files?
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If you’re still carrying around a portable SSD for your files, you may save some time and space with the PNY PRO Elite V3 Type-C USB Flash Drive.
I Can Use Whichever Apps I Want
I’m someone who cares a great deal about the software I use and the way it makes me feel. I like having the option to switch apps if the one I’m trying out doesn’t vibe with me.
With a service like Spotify or YouTube Music, I don’t have the luxury to choose my own software experience. I can listen to music almost exclusively within their apps. I find the situation even more frustrating with books. Even though Hoopla lets me read many of the graphic novels I enjoy for free, I prefer to buy them outright because I don’t like Hoopla’s interface. I have the same issue with the Viz Manga app, even though paying $1.99 a month to read the publisher’s catalog is an absolute steal.
I prefer to purchase MP3s, which I listen to using Samsung Music on my Galaxy Z Fold 6 since it integrates well with the rest of One UI. If I were to switch apps, I’d likely download Frolomuse. For years, my go-to was Auxio. My music journey over the past decade doesn’t just consist of different albums and playlists, but different apps.
Moon+ reader is my favorite app for both eBooks, comics, and magazines alike. It gives me more control over ebook formatting than any physical eReader ever has and is a big part of why I now read most of my books on my phone.
I enjoy downloading DRM-free videos from The Great Courses and watching them offline in my default video player, with it remembering wherever I left off. I’m still on the lookout for an app that makes navigating local videos feel like using a streaming app, the way Plex and Emby nicely display the videos you’ved saved remotely. I may eventually opt to set up my own media server with files that I own.
I Know My Files Won’t Suddenly Disappear
I find streaming in general to be too precarious for comfort. When I want to watch something, it’s a terrible feeling to launch the app and see that it’s no longer there. Young kids especially have a difficult time understanding why they can’t watch their show anymore. But it happens. It happens all the time. Sometimes Netflix removes your favorite shows. Sometimes Disney+ removes your favorite movies.
The eBooks saved to my phone are mine. I’ve backed them up, and they’re as likely to disappear as all of my physical books going up in flames—not impossible, but more the result of a freak accident than an arbitrary change in terms of service. I’m more at peace with that.
I totally get the appeal of being able to play a new song whenever it drops or binge through an entire series of books for a few bucks a month. But even by sticking to only the media I’ve bought, I’m still carrying around more books and music in my pocket than prior generations could ever imagine, and when I balance the pros and cons, that’s marvelous enough for me.
