I’ll admit to arrogance on blu-ray, I have never owned a blu-ray player. My assertion was in regards to DVD, which I do still own a player for and use reasonably regularly. I don’t seriously think anyone is buying DVDs for the purpose of quality, since afaik they are still only 1080p max. At the very least, most of the DVDs that I personally own are still SD, and as such look about as good as 4k streamed with compression.

It’s not going to mimic the revival of vinyl, because vinyl has been revived by audiophiles who can appreciate the quality afforded by the format. Unless your internet moves at a snails pace, you’re unlikely to see any increase in quality between streaming and owning a DVD/Blu-ray.

In my eyes, this is a battle of preservation. For very crucial, personally important media, the only two ways to obtain permanent access to the content are owning a physical copy, or downloading a pirated copy. All other access is temporary, and can be taken from you by the company. With that in mind, the only real question is whether you want to financially support the same companies who put us in this mess by making legal digital media an ephemeral product.

I’m not gonna sit here and defend either side, because America’s use of Blackwater was just as awful as Russia’s current use of Wagner. However, mercenary forces have been used in warfare for centuries. I don’t know if you can draw a direct line between America’s use and Russia’s current usage, as this article seems to want.