A few years ago I made the decision to move away from physical media, for just about anything. Video games, (obviously) music, movies, books, and comic books. With the ease of access brought to customers through digital stores, which allows us to download pretty much whatever we want, when we want it, I determined, back then, that I didn’t want a huge book shelf filled with physical books, or stacks of comics, or even shelves of movies, either.

The idea of having all of that, but at my fingertips in the digital space, was just too good to pass up.

Through the years I’ve kept up with that, at least in two categories. My movie collection is (almost) entirely set up in the cloud, now thankfully on just one major cross-platform service, and my video games are all digital, too. Sure, my ISP hates me on some months, especially busy release periods, but this is just my preferred method. (I stopped trade in games a long time ago, so this just makes sense for me.)

For books and comic books, though, I’ve actually tapered off buying them at all, in any format. One of the primary reasons I had a tablet, before I handed it off to my kids, was reading. Both scripts and novels, and especially comic books, while in bed or on the couch. Tablets have become so thin and light that holding them up, even in bed, isn’t a big deal. No possible moments of the device falling on your face — unless you fall asleep, of course.

Reading books and comic books on a digital device has certainly become better over the years, and the perks are obvious — especially if you travel. But my traveling days have evaporated to a minimum at this stage in my life, and I’m starting to consider maybe having a bookshelf of comics and novels wouldn’t be such a bad idea at all.

I’m also starting to get a bit paranoid in my old age towards digital-only content. We may own that content, but it’s possible that, some day, we just don’t — because the company where we bought those movies no longer exists, or they simply don’t allow access to it for one reason or another. Sure, for the folks who buy and own their digital movies through Amazon the worry they’re going anywhere any time soon is probably not grounded in reality, but it’s also best to remember anything’s possible.

So in my older years I’m starting to transition back to the physical media I gave up so quickly many years ago. I’m starting with movies, picking up discs that also offer digital options of the same content, but also giving me that backup in a physical disc. Books and comic books will follow. Music is going to stay digital, though — just no way around that.

But what about you? Have you gone completely digital for media? Or do you prefer to still have that physical option ready just in case? Let me know!