Séamas O'Reilly: DVDs disappeared without a trace, and nobody really noticed

"...their stranglehold over the culture has now gone and they exist mostly as portable landfill, tethered to us for eternity..."

DVDs, yesterday. Pic: Mati Mango

Whenever I want to feel the cold, bracing rush of life at its most impermanent, I think of DVDs. Like anyone aged 32 or over, I’ve bought dozens, maybe hundreds, of Digital Versatile Discs, in my lifetime, all of which have now either been thrown away, or left staring at me, unloved, pleading to be used, from their lonely perch on a dusty shelf or, worse, a container that gets more distant from my eyeline with every spring clean.

DVDs are still sold, of course (around 300 million were shipped worldwide in 2021, down from an estimated 2 billion annually in their mid-00s pomp) but their stranglehold over the culture has gone, and they now exist mostly as portable landfill, tethered to us for eternity. They taunt us within our homes, from covered drawers, and unopened boxes, unloved spots above cupboards in spare rooms, pleading to be spared obliteration with every house move. And spare them we do, because that’s the thing - you have some DVDs, don’t you? Nobody has *no* DVDs, no matter how infrequently they watch them.