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The Problem with Streaming — and the Case for Physical Media | Tom Rizzuto | TED

Streaming media gives us access to everything instantly — but at what cost? Music professor Tom Rizzuto traces the history of physical media — from CDs and vinyl to bone music (Soviet-era records pressed onto discarded X-rays) and the near-loss of “Nosferatu” — making the case that art shouldn’t just live in the cloud. (Recorded…

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Streaming media gives us access to everything instantly — but at what cost? Music professor Tom Rizzuto traces the history of physical media — from CDs and vinyl to bone music (Soviet-era records pressed onto discarded X-rays) and the near-loss of “Nosferatu” — making the case that art shouldn’t just live in the cloud. (Recorded at TEDxMolloy University on ebruary 28, 2026)

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29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. @KyleChandler-js6ej

    July 5, 2026 at 11:26 am

    We should also take this a step further and reclaim ownership of digital media as well. Like going into Gamestop and buying a piece of plastic with just a product code on it. We need to start having the games on those physical copies again.

  2. @Jdigger4130

    July 5, 2026 at 11:36 am

    Dunno who this lame is but I couldn’t think of a guy so off the mark…

  3. @markmuller7962

    July 5, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    In platforms like Steam, when one of your relatives passes away 🤞 Steam steals the whole games library because there’s no hereditary mechanism.
    It’s in their terms of use

    • @kevmorris3000

      July 5, 2026 at 2:53 pm

      If It’s that damn important simply share your login information with a relative, or put it in a document to your relatives to be opened upon your death, with your will. The truth of the matter is that your relatives won’t give a damn about your games that you had on Steam!

  4. @ImaginativeFlow

    July 5, 2026 at 12:06 pm

    Physical media protects against companies erasing culture overnight, fair point. But streaming made art vastly more accessible. You can even download, backup on hard drives, just like books or CDs. Isn’t the real issue not access, but ownership and long-term control in the hands of a few corporations?

  5. @harrypearle9781

    July 5, 2026 at 12:14 pm

    SCHOOL DAZE?
    Much of the book and writer material we use in school is not kept by students, later on
    ======================================================================
    The idea is that as we mature in school, we should shed past learning experiences to move on… TNX

  6. @RandallCrush

    July 5, 2026 at 12:36 pm

    I went from records to tapes to cds, then mp3s. But then I stopped. I still use SD cards filled with MY MUSIC, and I listen to what I want when I want to.

    • @clivesmith9377

      July 5, 2026 at 3:40 pm

      I’m with you on that, brother!
      I’ve got two Walkmans, three ipods and Hi-Fi separates, including a double cassette player 😊

  7. @adcashmo

    July 5, 2026 at 12:45 pm

    This is a repost

  8. @jageo48

    July 5, 2026 at 12:54 pm

    It’s not “any of these”, i.e., censorship, things *they* don’t want us to know; it’s *all of them* .

  9. @Zoly633

    July 5, 2026 at 12:54 pm

    It cost a lot upfront but now that I own physical copies of everything I care about and have for a couple years I’m now saving money. If I only did streaming id have spent more money by now.

    Especially since there is shows and movies that I enjoy that are rarely or never on streaming or id need to sub to a service that only has that one show im interested in.

  10. @HumbunsWoofshine

    July 5, 2026 at 12:56 pm

    Me, I own all my own media, on my 80TB NAS.

  11. @KMHill

    July 5, 2026 at 1:19 pm

    I was hoping paper books would also be mentioned as essential physical media.

    • @MarGoAwesome

      July 5, 2026 at 3:40 pm

      @KMHill buying hard copy books is still a common thing. Very few are buying CDs/DVDs, and vinyl is a niche hobby.

  12. @DailySimpleEnglishTV

    July 5, 2026 at 1:37 pm

    Fascinating talk! Streaming is great for discovery, but physical media is essential for preservation

  13. @darinherrick9224

    July 5, 2026 at 1:44 pm

    LOTS of music is hard to find. That’s why I didnt use streaming music for a long time. Now I use it because individual upload unauthorized music to YouTube.

    Same with video games, books, movies. There’s LOTS of media that’s hard to find ANYWHERE.

    VHS-only releases. Made-for-tv movies, video games that are demos or only released in one country in limited numbers.

    My favorite movie of all time, “Togo” was delisted from Disney plus and offered for sale nowhere.

  14. @MJ1

    July 5, 2026 at 1:48 pm

    Qobuz is better and cheaper

  15. @erinhhhh

    July 5, 2026 at 2:23 pm

    learning something new everyday

  16. @maartenhimself

    July 5, 2026 at 2:39 pm

    I’ve been collecting records for half a year now. It’s expensive, but the quality is much higher than streaming can provide. The sound has depth, litteraly the sounds seem to come from different distances.
    Just bought a movie in 4k, because Prime won’t go higher than FullHD. Better colors, sound and sharpness. HDR. And than the comfort of ownership Sony doesn’t understand.

    • @Orinslayer

      July 5, 2026 at 3:03 pm

      @maartenhimself streaming compression removes a lot of the HI-FI elements that physical media can easily compensate for just by being on a thing.

  17. @kevmorris3000

    July 5, 2026 at 2:50 pm

    Streaming is far superior. It is much easier to find media on one streaming service or another vs. find the physical media. Try and find specific music records from the 1920s or 1930s. It’s a good bet a streaming service has it. If you are into physical media, more power to you. But there’s a reason streaming has become so much more popular than physical media.

  18. @basednuke7647

    July 5, 2026 at 2:51 pm

    He look like super mario lol

  19. @Swiftit6225

    July 5, 2026 at 3:21 pm

    Physical media isn’t the issue, it’s DRM.

  20. @charlesk2850

    July 5, 2026 at 3:21 pm

    Communism… ain’t it grand? Oh, that’s right, they didn’t do it right. But today’s Communists will get it right this time, for the first time in history.

  21. @andreys7729

    July 5, 2026 at 3:29 pm

    Remember that Stalin executed millions of Soviet kids who just wanted to listen to some Western music! …oh, wait, that didn’t happen, like many other things you say.

  22. @clivesmith9377

    July 5, 2026 at 3:37 pm

    Nobody will take the vinyl records I collect since I was 15, now 64, from me, unless I die.
    Neither my cassettes, VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs and Books ❤❤❤❤❤
    They are all in my will to be passed on to people who appreciate them, in their thousands as they are 😊

  23. @WhatStoleYerScone

    July 5, 2026 at 4:24 pm

    Two Points
    1. The Professor is making a case for Samizdat.
    2. Imperfect as the web is today, a browser is better for consuming content than using an App. An App is not controlled by you.

  24. @thearchitecturegirl

    July 5, 2026 at 5:42 pm

    Physical media relies on reading instruments and a way to play it… that’s easy for things like records… not so easy for some digital physical artefacts. Just remembering what I learned from a talk from an archivist. Floppy disks and CDs degrade and lose data over time. And the software that talks between them is harder to come by as time and tech move on. I believe torrents are still going strong… maybe this is more of a pro piracy talk? Than digital vs physical?

  25. @Sarah-tonin

    July 5, 2026 at 5:59 pm

    Physical media is also so much more accessible for so many people. My grandma can play a cd but she can’t navigate Spotify or connect her Alexa

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