Back in February, I canceled my Amazon Prime account, not entirely on purpose. In short, I was miffed about their new policy of ad insertions in Prime videos, so I used the site's chat feature to ask whether I would be given a refund if I canceled early. The representative interpreted this as a request to cancel, which they carried out immediately and refunded a prorated amount. (Please allow 3-5 business days for your refund.) I, a bit shocked but still miffed, accepted the serendipitous cancelation.
While this was largely agreeable, a minor problem arose. My wife and I had been watching Northern Exposure on Prime video. Neither of us had watched the series in broadcast, so this was our first viewing, and we were only a few episodes in to season 3 when our service abruptly ended. We wanted to continue our adventures in Cicely, so I did something I'd never done before. I borrowed a DVD from the library.
Specifically, I borrowed the DVDs for seasons 3 and 4 of the show. I opened the plastic clamshell case. The first silvery disc slid from its sleeve and slipped into the player. A familiar soft whirring emanated from the drive, followed by a quiet shriek as it sought out the Alaskan stories stamped into the disc. Miraculously, it worked. After some unskippable studio logos and the FBI warning (thankfully no ads), The Northern Exposure theme began to play over a menu homepage that may as well have been a Geocities webpage. The selection icon was in the shape of a moose. A sense of nostalgic anachronism came over me.
Overall, I've enjoyed the experience. There's a certain intentionality to the DVD that etherified datastreams can't replicate. The video quality is far more consistent. The cost is free (besides taxes). I won't become a physical media nut, but I rekindled my appreciation for it, reconnected with the library, and dropped Amazon. Maybe you can too.