This video popped up recently on the BBC Archives, featuring a short look back in the day over whether people would buy films if they could, rather than renting them. We know the answer to that now, my bulging Apple library is a testament to it, but back then it was DVDs, rentals, and Netflix in it’s original rental-by-mail format was still a few years in the future.

It’s so interesting to hear the different viewpoints. Of course the rental guy is going to think that it’s a stupid idea and he’s not going to go out of business anytime soon. And of course the people gunning for the change are saying it’s the way of the future.

But there are also very surprising snippets in here - at one point you could buy modern films but for somewhere along the region of £70! Also that it used to be called sell-through, very glad that phrase didn’t stick around, it’s very bland and corporate. The smart guy at the end has it right though:

“If there are enough people out there who want to own videos, and there are enough people out there who would like to see the videos without necessarily owning them, and it is up to companies, like Warners, to make sure that the balance is correctly observed. I think there will always be a market for rental. And I know from the size of the market that there’s definitely going to be a market for sell-through.”

I do a healthy mix of both these things, all digitally now of course, but I’m glad the choice is there.