Comic Collecting - What Does It Mean?

Rather an odd question, coming from someone who has collected comics for 30+ years, but I have a reason for asking.  You see, I have always gotten comics for one reason, because I like the stories.  I like reading comics.  Recently, though, I have heard that there are some people out there that buy comics and don't read them.  I don't get that.  Saying something like, "I've got a complete run of <insert character> but I've never read them" makes me say:

It just doesn't add up for me.  Is that what collecting really is?  Have I been doing it wrong for all these years?  What do you think?