On the one hand, that seems like a weakness, but in reality it's kind of healthy for me: it's part of weaning myself away from the collecting meme. I'm quite frank with myself that I'm trying to get away from the idea of owning all the media I've ever liked (which is how we wound up with 1400 videotapes). Instead, I'm just keeping emergency copies of anything that can't be obtained on DVD: anything that we *can* get a better copy of (the vast majority of the collection) is being scrapped. And I'm very deliberately not worrying about actually getting those DVD copies -- the theory is that it should be enough that I can get them if I ever care enough. Given that I'm pretty sure that all of it will be available by download within about five years, that seems rational.
I haven't quite broken the archivist meme: if I can't find evidence that a worthwhile item can be obtained legally, I'm keeping an emergency copy, so that it isn't lost to the ages. But it's a good step in the slow process of moving away from it. Bit by bit, we're getting unchained from our Stuff...
