Do you take the time to convert media or just go buy the music, video, etc new?

Neither. Almost everything that I want to hear/see can now be streamed over the internet, so why bother?

When CDs became common and vinyl became rare, I started buying a lot of CDs. And I still buy a lot of CDs, although I buy singles off of iTunes so I don’t have to get the whole album. When I get a new CD I copy it onto my computer so that I can listen to it on my iPod or play the CD in a player. Best of both worlds.

Visual products aren’t worth having a library for more than a few movies (like Casablanca or The Bicycle Thief). There is always too much new visual product, and movies and TV shows require sitting down to watch, not like music which you can have on while you are doing something else.

I haven’t had to make the switch or, I didn’t when I probably should have. I have a ton of lost material in vinyl and cassettes that I will probably never hear again. I recovered some of that with CD’s but nowhere near what I had so, either I will be content to listen to the same old shit till the end, as long as I can find a CD player somewhere, or upgrade to the next thing and change my taste in music altogether. I hate paying for the same material more than once but don’t have the patience to copy it either.

That would imply that I actually pay for these things….

I have however converted a ton of old VHS tapes of family videos and such to DVD for family members or ripped their DVD’s to computers for them.

Hmm. I still buy cds though not as many, but usually rip them to my ipod or a jump drive. I still listen to cds at home but they don’t have the portability.
I also stream to discover new material and to save money.

I didn’t convert movies to dvds. I only repaid for a very few of them as technology and are new material and that I don’t as a rule rewatch things unless I really like them or I have to.

Too many movies are entertaining once but aren’t worth the time commitment to repeat. I don’t have blu ray but I am betting when I eventually do it will be the same. I also stream tv series and movies but not as much since I cut off my net because cable phone and data are so expensive that to justify the expense they would require a significant time commitment to justify them. The alternatives are just as bad.

I used to link my phone and computer. Peak times the connection could slow but over all it was good. I will eventually do that again. I went through probably ten phones in two years due to really different circumstances and have had so many different life changes that required priority to my funds that it has been tabled and now I am thrifty free wifi user.

The up side I am more engaged in real world pursuits and have done a lot more reading.

Speaking of which. I do not buy ebooks, I go to free websites or supplement with a friends library. I also use the library. I rarely pay full price for a genuine book. Often getting them free in exchanges or borrowing. I also occasionally buy second hand from a variety of different sources. It doesn’t always mean I read the books I want. But I have lists and will get to them eventually.

I have two turntables, an 8-track recorder, two cassette tape decks, two CD players, two DVD/VCR players.

Convert, schmonvert. I’m only sad I don’t still have my old Betamax…

I do copy record albums to CD before I sell them, though.