People from other instances can and do use our communities and are affected by our admins' decisions. So to say they have no real stake in the matter is not entirely accurate.
That said, there are certain decisions they have no stake in, for example the debate of whether we defederate with x, y, or z.
My own personal line in the sand is what Wikipedia calls "the sixth generation": Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox. They're "retro" to me. Starting from the seventh generation, there was a noticeable bump in the ability for systems to churn out relatively-realistic graphics, with the PS3 and Xbox 360 leading the way, and the Wii embracing its delightfully-modern cartoony style.
Honestly, even as a Windows 11 user, the Films & TV app is the only way I've ever found. You could try youtube-dl but it's unlikely to be able to bypass their DRM even if you can find a direct download link. I'd just go ahead and download it from another source, you already paid for it, you have the right to watch it IMHO.
Unfortunately you would need some kind of electronics in the middle. You can get USB "bridged" or "networking" cables, but they aren't regular USB cables.
However, the electronics could be a smartphone if you have one. Transfer the files from your old laptop to the phone, then to your new laptop.
Ultimately, networking would be the easiest and fastest way to do it. If you're on Windows, you could use a program such as FastCopy to verify the files on the receiving end.
It's already making things hard. Unless you live in a cave (and even if you do, quite probably, IDK) you'll have noticed an increase in the frequency of what's euphemistically called "extreme weather events". These things are bad for us, but even worse for crops, and they're going to keep on getting worse.
I downloaded the Amazon app a while back. The first message that popped up with a "join prime" screen. I very nearly tapped the join button because it was the only button on the screen and I wasn't paying attention - I had to scroll to find the "maybe later" button. They seem to love their hostile UI.
Each instance only needs to hold the data from communities its users are subscribed to. And images live on their host instances anyway. No instance needs to hold the entirety of Lemmy. :)
The throwaway email providers I personally use are: