I have been wondering about this issue for ages.
As for me, living in a small town, out of nowhere, its really impossible for me to find any games shop nearby. Unless if I visit a nearby city (which is miles and miles away), I probably have a good chance to see one.
Therefore, my only source of games at the moment is non other than the internet. Just like what I do right now, downloading games from this forum and enjoying it.
Great example of digital distribution of games are Steam, GOG and many more.
I do like physical copy of games since there are many advantages of it such as I own it, I will not loose it, it will stay in my shelf for a longer time period, I can hold it (I mean the case) and many more.
But currently, my concerned is owning the digital copy of games. I'm scare of hard drive failure, I may loose it without any warning or whatsoever, the game's provider probably close and I may not be able to reclaimed my games download and so on. Still, digital copy is my only source at the moment.
Even though, I'm aware of the fact that I can loose my digital copy but it is still a good alternative for me at the moment. With digital copy, I don't have to go out of my house, I just have to download them, it is cheaper and I have my own way to get good games for free, I can make a backup of my games copy on external hard drive (so I may not loose them), I don't have to meet a courier (since my social skill is shit) and so on.

What do you think is better or what do you practice right now? Owning physical or digital copy?