Jonathan Melville: Download’s fine but you can’t beat the old stuff

THIS week saw the arrival of the new Skyfall steelbook, James Bond’s latest mission on Blu-ray, encased in a shiny metal box that will sit on the shelf next to a few hundred other cases.

Yes, I’m still unashamedly clinging on to what’s now being referred to as ‘old media’, even though Skyfall comes packaged with a downloadable digital copy which I can watch on my iPhone whenever I want.

I’ve mentioned my preference for physical media over digital before in this column, wondering if I’ll ever make the jump.

These days I have access to Lovefilm and Netflix, which I find myself browsing once or twice a week, though mainly for TV shows I want to sample rather than investing in a five-season boxset that I may not like after a few episodes.

Steelbooks, which have been around for years, are a special packaging for discs which are usually limited editions and targeted at the collectors market.

That means I feel a bit better about the fact that my walls are being filled with Blu-ray cases that I’ll probably only watch a few times. At least now they look a bit shinier and they might retain their value on eBay for a bit longer.

Perhaps I just like seeing my collection grow around me, knowing I can grab a film and watch it on the telly rather than on my laptop or iPad. Maybe it’s that I still like watching extras, which aren’t available on Netflix. Or I might just be stuck in my ways.

With less space in the flat these days I may be buying more digital copies sooner rather than later. Or else I’ll just sell a few DVDs to make room for new ones.

@jon_melville

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