by James Wallace Harris, 9/12/26
The other day, my wife told me her friends wanted a Jellyfin server like ours. I was surprised by this. I asked why. Susan said she told them how she watched TV, and they wanted to do the same thing. I had to explain that my UGREEN NAS DXP2800 cost $300, and two Seagate IronWolf 12TB drives cost $800. Plus, it was very difficult to set up.
That ended the discussion.
I should have told her that any computer could be a Jellyfin server as long as it had the space to store files and had a DVD/BD player to rip discs with the free MakeMKV. That’s zero cost. But I doubt they even had the technical know-how to go with that low-ball route.
And even if they could set up a Jellyfin server, it’s not practical unless you have a bunch of old DVDs lying around. We have an IKEA bookcase, shelved two-deep with DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
Jellyfin is best for people who like to own their own content. Jellyfin is a pain to set up on a NAS, but somewhat easy on a local computer. For day-to-day use, it’s far more convenient than using a DVD/BD player.
I initially bought my Jellyfin setup to save money. Susan likes to watch the same old TV shows over and over while sewing. We were subscribing to Netflix, Hulu, Paramount, HBO, Amazon, and Apple just so Susan could watch about a dozen old TV series.
We already owned several of them on DVD, but she hates messing with the DVD player. I told Susan I could buy the others, set up the server so watching was as convenient as using Netflix, and we could cancel all those subscriptions. Which we did.
Susan was skeptical at first. And she thought using the streaming services was nicer than using Jellyfin, but she’s since adapted and is happy. I’ve already paid for the NAS and drives.
The UGREEN DXP2800 turned out to be even more useful for me. I cancelled Dropbox. Now all my computers use the NAS for file services. But I also set up YACReader Server. That gives me a library to manage my digital books and magazines. My digital library is available from my computers, tablets, and iPhone. That’s a lot of utility. Unfortunately, it’s not practical for the average user.
Yesterday, I started ripping my CDs to FLAC and turned on DLNA on the NAS. I can now play my CDs from my WiiM stereo systems, iPhone, or computers.
We can play movies, TV shows, audiobooks, ebooks, and music from any device. All of this made having the NAS big fun.
But this got me thinking. What would it take for Susan’s friends to have the same functionality without any technical hassle? Ripping DVDs, BDs, and CDs is a lot of work. Often it’s annoying because of frequent problems.
Could UGREEN create an all-in-one box that rips discs and also functions as a media player? Ripping discs is finicky. I have three different drives for two computers, using five different programs. If one drive and program refuse to rip a disc, I try another program or drive. UGREEN would need bulletproof software to sell such a user-friendly consumer product.
Would it be legal to ship it preconfigured with Jellyfin and YACReader? UGREEN has its own software that serves various kinds of media, but it isn’t very good. They also need a program like dBpoweramp. Plus, ripping discs is a legal gray area.
Over the years, I’ve bought some complete TV series on Amazon – the kind that Amazon maintains for me to stream when I want. I only bought from them when they were a good buy. Most of the time, buying a digital copy of a complete TV series on Amazon is more expensive than buying the complete series on DVD or Blu-ray. That’s really ridiculous.
For example, Barney Miller is $40 for the DVD set, but each season is $15 for the digital edition. That show has eight seasons, so $120 for the complete series. Plus, Amazon doesn’t sell all eight seasons.
But using Amazon would save people the expense of buying and maintaining a media server. If Amazon sold all eight digital seasons of Barney Miller for $40 for perpetual use, it would be a better deal. No ripping, no server, and no backup.
However, many people believe buying digital copies is renting because someday the company managing that content will go under or decide to quit supplying the service. Amazon is not likely to go bankrupt. If Amazon, or another company, can be trusted, this would be the solution for Susan’s friends. It would actually be my choice too.
Maintaining a server, worrying about backups, and ripping discs is a pain.
I don’t like the current streaming model for TV and movies. Too many subscriptions to cover all the shows we want available. And more and more, many TV shows aren’t available to stream.
A New Paradigm
What if Amazon, or other companies, sold us digital content – movies, TV shows, music, ebooks – but instead of solely relying on them to always provide that content, they would also allow us to download the content to our own servers?
This would feel like owning – not renting. Amazon would be the backup for when we need to reinstall the content. Sure, some people want something physical to hold, but once I rip my content, the boxes of discs are stuffed into a bookcase I never look at.
If you don’t want to run a server, just let Amazon stream it.
There’s a growing backlash to subscriptions. I know corporations love subscriptions, but people don’t. I hate when I’m subscribed to Netflix and realize I haven’t used it in months. Netflix has a pause policy, but the pauses are limited. I’m about to cancel Netflix because I can’t pause as long as I want.
I hate messing with discs. And I don’t want to steal stuff off the internet. Companies should be able to sell digital content cheaper than manufacturing discs, boxes, and shipping. I’d feel like I owned what I bought. UGREEN and other companies could make servers for those people who aren’t skilled enough technically to set them up and maintain them, but I doubt they will
Most people should just stick with stream subscription services. But for those people who don’t like renting their content, we’d love a new paradigm that feels like owning. I do feel like I own my Kindle and Audible books even if it’s an illusion. I have thousands in my libraries.
Amazon offers a limited form of this for movies and TV shows, but their current pricing is too much. And I like buying complete series. For example, I’d like to own The Big Bang Theory. Currently, it’s $73 for 37 discs. That’s more than I’m willing to pay. The same box, listed as new, is $42 on eBay. The company that sells The Big Bang Theory should be able to sell a digital version for $35 and make the same profit.
However, even the $73 price isn’t bad compared to HBO, where it currently streams. We typically watch 1 episode a night when we’re going through a complete series. 279 episodes is almost 10 months of HBO. That’s $185.00 at the current subscription price. Since we seldom watch movies, we’d need to watch several TV series while subscribing to HBO to make it cost-effective. That just doesn’t happen.
Susan and I watch a single drama and two sitcoms each night. We hardly ever find all three on one streaming service. Considering the math above, you see why it’s cheaper for us to buy complete series on DVD. We also tend to rewatch old favorites, so the overall cost is further reduced.
We’re currently watching Lark Rise to Candleford on BritBox. It’s 40 episodes. That’s costing me $26 for two months of subscribing. I should have bought it for $21 on eBay. Especially if Susan wants to see it again. I was just being lazy that night.
As viewers balk at the subscription model, I hope corporations offer other sales models. The subscription model is great if you don’t worry about money and love convenience. But times are getting weird when it requires a spreadsheet to keep up with all the subscriptions we sign up for.
I don’t want to go back to an all-analog world again. But a digital-owned model might work.
JWH
The above photo is my UGREEN NAS sitting on top of a bookcase. Beside it is a portable drive used for a backup.
Auxiliary Memory 