Didn't you buy two copies of the same guide because one had a loose page? And you know damn well why people harass you for wasting money, it's not something I assume you want to get into here, but it's definitely not a simple physical vs digital the way you're presenting it.
Nope I didn't buy a second copy, what had happened was the guy listed it as in good condition. and when i got it the binding was loose, and several pages were falling out, not just one several. so I contacted the seller and he offered to buy me a copy in better condition for a little bit more money, and well he did.
What's up with islands? Get more land.
What's up with deserts? Get less sand.
Real games are worth real money. The files on a computer are worth crap. It's like anything in life, the real deal is always more then the knockoff and that's why retro collecting is through the roof right now.
I have to say that is is actually the one place where digital copies of games are superior. If your xbox or ps3 gets stolen you can report that and be able to re-download the games on a new system. Same goes for games over steam.
If you choose to pirate your games it's even simpler. Just download them again.
Depending on the situation I'd go anywhere from blowing it off, to pointing out something 'stupid' they do with money that gets frittered away into vapor, or asking them how they'd like to 'own' something for another five years they care deeply for, have it taken away, and never have it again because the creator is done with it how they'd feel? TO then follow up pointing out this item is 10 years or so old, still fun, cheap, and I get lots of use out of it while you paid the same or more and can't because your long term 'rental' err 'ownership' as expired. I think any of those would work, and if not, well then walk away as they're too dumb to get into an argument about it as they'd never get it at all.
What if you had the same xbox with all your digitally downloaded games on it gets stolen way down the road when xbox live is no more?
Where as a collector I could pull my copy of nights into dreams off the shelf and still play it 20yrs from now if I wanted.
Besides downloading all your games takes long anyway. Some of them you can't play if you are not connected to the net for some odd reason.