I stream nothing, and I am happy.
I'm one of those hipsters who doesn't use streaming services.
I did, a while ago, but I quit using them because the experience is kind of awful, and I'm happier now for it. I collect physical media and watch it using Jellyfin on my Linux-based home theater PC, and I'm completely satisfied with how it works.
I'm making this video because I am really troubled by algorithmic helplessness, and I feel like corporate-centralized streaming media makes that worse. Maybe this video will encourage someone else to cut the cord and rediscover an appreciation for owning your media and being choosy about what to "watch next". Or maybe I'm just wasting time. Who knows? I suppose, you know, you're reading this description, right?
If you read the description, say "algorithmic helplessness sucks" in the comments. That'll make me feel better.
Oh right, I need to tell you about the things I mentioned in the video.
Software:
- MakeMKV: makemkv.com/
- To support MakeMKV and get all the advanced features: makemkv.com/buy/
- That LibreDrive forum post on the MakeMKV website which is hard to find (contains list of LibreDrive compatible drives): forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewto…
- Handbrake: handbrake.fr/
- Asunder: littlesvr.ca/asunder/
- Jellyfin: jellyfin.org/
- Kodi: kodi.tv
- Finamp (via GitHub): github.com/jmshrv/finamp
Hardware I mentioned - not sponsored and no affiliate links.
(These drives might not be currently available at Micro Center, but I'm providing these links as they're probably the most helpful if you want to find one yourself.)
- My LG portable Blu-Ray drive, a BP60NB10: microcenter.com/product/607144…
- And my internal Asus BW-16D1HT drive: microcenter.com/product/435513…
- FLIRC receiver (I don't remember if I bought it here but maybe): pishop.us/product/flirc-rpi-us…
Other links of note:
- 13 minutes of videotaped footage of the Wii Netflix app:
- Video about smart TVs by @LonSeidman :
- My PeerTube (watch this video without ads or tracking): tinkerbetter.tube/c/veronicaex…
- My blog post about how I use Handbrake: vkc.sh/handbrake-2025/
Lastly, links to support my very unsponsored videos:
- Patreon: patreon.com/VeronicaExplains
- Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/VeronicaExplains
- Bandcamp: thestopbits.bandcamp.com
Chapters:
0:00 My motivation for ditching streaming
3:21 Physical media is awesome
4:05 Ripping media
5:59 Serving with Jellyfin
7:09 Bookstores and libraries are lit (get it?)
8:10 I don't want an algorithm programming us.
The Free Software Media System | Jellyfin
The volunteer-built media solution that puts you in control of your media. Stream to any device from your own server, with no strings attached.jellyfin.org
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harrys shut
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Eric de Redelijkheid
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Raymond Russell
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •This means I cannot watch any live TV channels or use the BBC iPlayer streaming service.
However I can use all of the other UK TV channels free catch up services.
There was one show - Taskmaster - that I was watching regularly and mostly on catchup so I stopped watching live, cancelled my license and never looked back.
I have a decent sized DVD/Blu Ray collection and use mostly UK non-sub stream services.
Sparky
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •And while one might not necessarily find loads of the latest Hollywood blockbusters on there, they can have a pretty interesting selection.
For example, my local library gives me access to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the original Pixels short movie, the show Fairly Oddparents and several fascinating documentaries, among others.
Christopher
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •I recently switched back to physical media. I started buying CDs for music and Blu Rays both HD and 4K for movies. Unfortunately a lot of content is not available in Polish language. I can watch in English just fine but for my 6 year old daughter Polish voice is a must.
I still use streaming from time to time. I was very unhappy about the quality of new content on Disney+ for example. There are many good cartoons and animations for my daughter but not much for me. I decide I am not gonna finance that anymore. The Aline TV show was the last straw 😅
RedSnt
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Regarding preferring AV1, there's nothing wrong with it, especially not if you're encoding 4K content, it's just that it'll always be slightly blurrier than H265, which in turn is slightly blurrier than H264. And I'm still perfectly happy with 1080p, so I'm definitely more of a fan of H265. Nice to see you go with Opus @ 192 kbps.
Perceptually indistinguishable from lossless.
Compression has always seemed like magic to me. I have a copy of Serial Experiments Lain in AV1 that is just impossibly compressed to around ~150 MB pr episode in 1080p. As someone that watched the same series back in the early 00s, I was probably watching it in 480p with files at least 200 MB, so it's nuts how far video compression has come.
Mees
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •liffy 🎃
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •also, i've gotta shoutout Scarecrow Video in Seattle for keeping the physical video rental dream alive (even from afar by mail); their collection goes so deep that it even dramatically outperforms online services in "okay, where can we watch this" when there's a thing i want to see
DarkestDot
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •I wish that the video on your peerTube didn't have the censor in it.
Any Self hosted RSS feed programs that run as a web site. The big problem with federation is it makes it hard to keep up with new posts as there all over the internet.
Hal
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •mesa
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •squirrel
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •fyrfaras
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Vri 🌈🐘
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •rainwall
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •LibreELEC
libreelec.tvLextor
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Anonymous Freak
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Decided 7 months ago to ditch (nearly) all streaming. (I pay for Apple's "all services" almost exclusively for the iCloud storage, because to buy enough storage would cost MORE just on its own than Apple's "everything" plan.)
I have used the money I had been spending on streaming services to buy physical media instead.
Just got my boxed set of The Expanse for this month's spend a couple days ago, and promptly ripped the discs to my Plex server.
The annoying thing is that many "streaming created" shows or older movies aren't available on physical media! Or some things that are currently available on one or another streaming service that has been "out of print" on Blu-ray (or never released on Blu-ray in the US.) And I've done a couple instances of buying out-of-print shows/movies via eBay, only to get crap pirated/burned discs. (Although each one had great PACKAGING, looking completely legit… until you open it and look at the disc.)
Lemonheep (Cofe sipper )
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Anonymous Freak
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Looked at your guide for Handbrake, decided to try out AV1.
Nope, not yet.
Encoding at the same settings, my system supports hardware H.265 encoding at good quality and good size. ~300 fps encode.
Same basic settings in AV1? 15 fps.
Yeah, I'm not going to have it take literally 20x as long to encode. And I'm not ready for a new system yet for this. Maybe I'll re-rip and re-encode my collection again in a few years. But for now, my H.265 workflow will have to do.
RedSnt
in reply to Anonymous Freak • • •But yeah, I'm sticking with H265 for the same reason, I'm on an RTX 3070 Ti.
RatchCarson
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Erin Brown
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •niiyon
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Many years ago I "cut the cord" by getting rid of cable and switching to streaming so that our viewing habits would be more intentional rather than "whatever happens to be on when we turn on the TV". Now I'm wanting to cut the stream for the same reasons. I have also been accumulating a large Jellyfin library and ripping CDs and DVDs that have been packed away in boxes.
I actually really enjoy putting together playlists (naming them things like "_____ Mixtape"). I use Tailscale so I can stream from my personal library even when I'm out, but I also love to have my current favorites stored locally on my phone. I use an app called Symfonium which works amazing with local files and can even access my Jellyfin server. I can create smart playlists in it too.
I've been moving more and more things to my own personal cloud hosted on my NAS. Reclaiming my data.
I need to address the "smart" TVs next.
Spo0000opybirb
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •It's really weird being reminded that Netflix was the _only_ streaming service. I mean, obviously, it was! And everyone was playing catch-up! But it's just
wait
only one? and it's netflix.
oh yeah
I forgot
Erika
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •I began and ended streaming with Nokia Music. Back to CDs or Vinyl (I love the different sound).
@vri
Ygor
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •🍐 Perivi Yohanesburgo 🍐
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •One of my reasons to learn how to (securely) selfhost from home is to access and easily share every piece of media I currently have archived on my NAS through the Internet. Commercial streaming services shows they are not reliable and prone to censorship.
Physical media is crucial, because most of it is DRM-free or DRM-broken an easily rippable.
István Nagy
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Trond Abrahamsen
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Talya (she/her) 🏳️⚧️✡️
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •the first is Nebula, for which i actually have a lifetime membership, meaning i no longer pay for subscription.
the other is DropoutTV.
the third is YouTube via Newpipe, for the creators that aren't on Nebula.
i don't stream podcasts, i always download them in advance.
all of my music is either on my laptop or on my phone.
Manix23x
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •I'm fine by the way I am, Also, I use TV to watch Movies too.
a m
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Pa: 🇵🇸 from the river to the sea.
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Robbert
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Leonardo Ferreira Fontenelle
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Beorhthelm
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Joshua Mason (DFX4509B)
in reply to Beorhthelm • • •Whipper is pretty good for a basic accuracy-focused ripper; it functions somewhat like EAC, only it's FOSS where EAC is proprietary cardware, and it's Linux-native although EAC will work fine in WINE.
Another good option which although a Windows app will also work in WINE or Mono as long as you're not trying to use external encoders ala Opus, is CUETools and CUERipper.
Reilly Spitzfaden
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Love this video! I too feel strongly about not selling my soul to streaming, and it makes me happy to actually own things.
In addition to using Jellyfin for streaming TV/movies, I've been enjoying using Syncthing to sync music between my computer/phone. Similar use case to syncing from iTunes, but doesn't require everything to be Apple.
Pat
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Marcial 🇨🇷🇻🇪
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Marlin
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Preston Maness ☭
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •"But I do want to implore all of us to think critically about how streaming media, auto-play, and the algorithm are impacting *us*. Not just you, and me, but... *us*."
I love the focus on the emergent phenomenon for the group, not just the direct impacts on individuals.
Ian R Buck
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Paul Jewell
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •Paul Jewell
in reply to Paul Jewell • • •Mathzy
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •nicholas
in reply to vkc via PeerTube • • •