Does Anyone Really Need 3 Copies Of 'Porky's'??

When VCR's ruled the Earth we owned a pretty decent movie collection. Then, one day, we were forced to buy a DVD player and we were basically back to square one, building our movie collection again. Now some of you might be saying, "Forced? It was your CHOICE to buy a DVD player. Nobody put a gun to your head."

This is true, but then again, where do you go to rent the latest movies on VHS? Blockbuster? Rogers? Nope. If you want to rent a new movie you'd better have something besides a VCR at home, otherwise you're SOL.

Now back to the point.

The worst part about rebuilding your movie library is buying movies that you already bought once before. Sure there are some added features and extras or maybe it's a "Special Edition", but when it comes down to it you're buying the same movie. How much better is Revenge of the Nerds going to be on DVD as opposed to VHS?

Here we are a couple of years after buying our DVD player. Our DVD movie collection sucks. We have maybe a dozen movies on DVD, most of which are kids movies. I just can't bring myself to buy all of those old movies that I used to enjoy on tape a second time. Now we are on the cusp of yet another media change, whether it be Blu-Ray or some other HD format, it looks like everyone is going to be facing the possibility of rebuilding their movie collections yet again in the next 5 years or so.

Personally I think it's kind of a scam. As far as I'm concerned, when I originally shelled out $25 for the movie on VHS, I was paying for the movie. How is it fair that I have to pay for the same movie twice just because somebody decided to change the dominant media format. I didn't ask for this.

When you buy a CD, there is no problem with converting these music files to MP3 for your own listening pleasure. Why? Because when you bought the CD you paid for the songs not the format. Why are movied treated any differently.

Here is my dream of how things should run:

You go into a movie store and you buy a movie. What you get is a digital certificate and your movie on the media of your choice. Then two years later when the next best video format conquors the existing format you return to the store, present your digital certificate and exchange your old copy for a new copy on the new media (whatever that may be). It would even be acceptable to pay a small fee for the exchange. Something like 10% of the cost of the market price of said movie. This should also be true for Special Editions. Rather than buy the movie again outright, you should have the option to upgrade your existing copy.

I'm talking to you George Lucas! How many times am I going to have to buy the original Star Wars trilogy? I think 3 is my limit.

I just can't justify spending $100 for that trilogy a fourth time. Pirating movies is starting to sound better every day.