© NATHANIEL NOIR / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
It was in 1997 that DVDs first started appearing on the high street. They were smaller and cheaper than laser discs, more loaded with extras than video cassettes. Over 6bn were sold in 2011 alone. It’s often forgotten that Netflix, these days a streaming behemoth, started out as a mail-order DVD rental service (with offerings more extensive than any physical shop and with the bonus of no late fees). But by the end of 2021, sales had fallen to 1.2bn. In a recent conversation with a group of 18-yearolds, half told me they’d never seen a DVD. One asked if they were like CDs.