What I Learned from Ripping a DVD For the First Time

• More software developers should be like the ones behind MakeMKV. Giving out product keys every month? Ironically, that's the kind of behavior that makes me want to buy a license!
• As long as we're praising software, the people behind VLC Media Player are probably going to Heaven. Free, open source, feature-rich, and supports basically every video format ever conceived by man. Ridiculously impressive.
• Nothing like breaking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to make you realize how dumb the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is.
• I never realized how much legwork my Blu-Ray player is doing in terms of making my DVDs look good. It doesn't look bad by any means, but the difference between a raw DVD and an upscaled one is noticeable. Here's hoping my TV has a built-in upscaler that won't artificially sharpen anything.
• A ripped DVD (movie only, of course) surprisingly doesn't take up a ton of space. Even before removing a few unnecessary audio and subtitle tracks, my rip of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was only about six gigabytes. Ten copies of that movie could fit on a cheap USB drive.
  
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an awesome movie. Like, seriously, you should go watch it right now.
• Ripping a DVD takes a long time to do, but something about it feels almost exciting, and that makes it worth it
• If you rip a DVD, you now not only have the benefits that DVD provides (like owning your media), but you also get increased portability and physical space. It's the next level of sticking it to people who want you to own nothing and be happy. While I'm still going to keep my case full of DVDs, this is a very good choice for the ones that don't fit. I highly recommend doing this.