when it comes to most rare shows you can go to youtube and watch the show by putting the name in the search box. So it kind of makes a collector's list of shows not that appealing when youtube has made it easy travel back in TV time. Agree?

Yes. I think torrents and downloads have affected it as well. I averaged maybe 10 trades per month a few years ago. Now I'm lucky if I do 10 a year.

Where do these people that put these tv shows on youtube get them ?
Trade for them ?

Yes. I think torrents and downloads have affected it as well. I averaged maybe 10 trades per month a few years ago. Now I'm lucky if I do 10 a year.


I was able to get the entire series of the Ropers from Torrents and not trading.

Where do these people that put these tv shows on youtube get them ?
Trade for them ?

It's probably people who the shows in their own collection.

Not to me, I hate having to wait for things to buffer for ages. Not to mention that copyright hounds could remove things like that at any given moment. Also, nothing to me beats watching the classics on your television.

Not to me, I hate having to wait for things to buffer for ages. Not to mention that copyright hounds could remove things like that at any given moment. Also, nothing to me beats watching the classics on your television.


That's true but if you had a 1975 CBS airing of the Price is Right that was also on youtube the copy on you list wouldn't have the same appeal.

YouTube and downloading has most certainly cut down the entire trading community. I think the big change over the last decade has been both good and bad.

The sheer enjoyment, satisfaction and comradery you could get out of trading is long gone. Due to the time & effort you had to put in, the end result was much more rewarding - especially when you finally tracked down a certain show you've been after. Occasionally I'll see a video on YT that I remember took me months or even years to find. And now its a mere click away. Most people (particularly the younger crowd who can't fathom the idea of VCRs) won't ever appreciate the convenience. In other words, hey you kids get off my lawn!!! :mumble:

But what trumps all that is overall availability which is unarguably at it's all-time high. There are a few people who are genuinely appreciative of it and that's why YT and downloading are a good thing. It does diminish the collectors value of many things but it's for the benefit of the community. Hard to argue against that...

Youtube is cool I admit that but the quality you get on YT is not good in most cases.

That's true but if you had a 1975 CBS airing of the Price is Right that was also on youtube the copy on you list wouldn't have the same appeal.

Ultimately I think Youtube is good if you're just wanting to see something one time. If you want it at your disposal for watching whenever, DVDs are still the way to go. If you watch it once then want to see it again six months later, the copyright police may have already snatched it down.

Just a few weeks ago, Sony claimed copyright infringement on episodes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, which caused several YouTube users that I know to take down all the episodes they uploaded of those two game shows so they wouldn't get another copyright strike.

Just a few weeks ago, Sony claimed copyright infringement on episodes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, which caused several YouTube users that I know to take down all the episodes they uploaded of those two game shows so they wouldn't get another copyright strike.
^This is why trading is still the most viable option.

These companies must have quite a few spies spending a lot of time watching YouTube.

youtube just doesn't do it for Me..I watch maybe 1 or 2 episdoes of a show to see if it is something I've be interested in but like others have said nothing beats watching it on a tv..especially when My tv trumps my pc sceen in size lol

Seeing that I am a current YouTuber myself, I do agree that trading went down dramatically, but there comes a point where you have to continue trading in order to remain viable on YouTube. Its a lot more than just downloading FLV files.

You tube is something I have only watched 3 or 4 times. To me watching something there and not owning it yourself just isn't worth it. I like to know I have the shows I watch anytime I want to watch them and not have to worry about somebody taking it away for whatever whim may occur to them. Nothing better than holding a show in your hands (while it's in a cover of course) knowing it's yours anytime you want it. I don't like having other people or companies like youtube being in charge of what I watch. Besides until there's a way of taking something off of you tube and putting it onto a DVD, I really don't care about it.

Well you can in fact take video off YouTube and put it onto DVD with some technical know-how. But between reduced video quality and the fact most stuff is available on DVD, it is rarely worth the effort.

You tube is something I have only watched 3 or 4 times. To me watching something there and not owning it yourself just isn't worth it. I like to know I have the shows I watch anytime I want to watch them and not have to worry about somebody taking it away for whatever whim may occur to them. Nothing better than holding a show in your hands (while it's in a cover of course) knowing it's yours anytime you want it. I don't like having other people or companies like youtube being in charge of what I watch. Besides until there's a way of taking something off of you tube and putting it onto a DVD, I really don't care about it.

AMEN! :thumbsup: I do not know how many times I found something to watch, but then UToob's "Copyright Police" forced that clip to be removed. I've also heard about people who own a "Kindle" device have a book they purchased for the device get removed (They'd be refunded) because of some legal technicality. As for my DVDs, if they want them, they can have them AFTER THEY PRY MY COLD, DEAD FINGERS FROM AROUND THEM! :angryfire

Now we're talkin'. Here I agree with you 100%. I saw some Tom Snyder interviews that I'd love to have on DVD, but since either it's impossible to do or I don't know how to do it, watching it on Youtube only makes me sick that I don't have it on DVD for myself. And besides, who knows if it will be there tomorrow. With DVD you know it will be there 20 years from now much less tomorrow.

When I discovered that most of the things in my collection was on youtube, it took the fun out of trading.

Part of the fun for me in trading was obtaining rare shows that couldn't be found no where else but from me. When that changed I retired

Are most things really on Youtube? I'm not an expert, but I tried recently to watch an episode of Rawhide, it wasnt there. Is the Bob Newhart Show there or all episodes of Mannix season 7 & 8. It seems from my very limited experience with Youtube, most things are NOT on Youtube, at least the things I have looked for. Though the Tom Snyder interviews were an exception. I wish my computer had a Video Out jack the way it has an audio out jack, at least then I could record it onto a DVD recorder, I really don't even like going to Youtube unless I can copy what I want to DVD. If I can't it just makes me mad. So I don't go there, it's best for me that I not know what what I'm missing, keeps my blood pressure down. I stopped trading merely because people didn't have what I was looking for and what they did have I didn't want. I don't like having to tell fellow traders, you don't have anything I want, so forget it. So I just don't trade anymore. That's why I "retired", youtube be darned, has nothing to do with me.