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Physical Media Is Dead

I'm calling it now, this is my prediction. By the year 2100, we will no longer be using physical media. I may be off on the date, but I know for a fact in a few more generations, physical media will be gone forever.
We're living in an age where children are growing up with tablet computers and ipads, which are still new developments to me, and I'm only 21. I was born in an age where music and movies were stored on cassette tapes. I still have a bunch of VHS tapes from my childhood.
My point is I grew up in an age where physical media was a constant thing. You couldn't just watch a movie online, you had to have a physical copy to watch it. Yeah, you could get a pirate physical copy, but the point is it was still a physical, tangible object you had to physically own.
But now we live in a world where every piece of media can be broadcast to you via streaming or downloads. Almost every building, whether it be a home or a business, has wi-fi. There's rarely a time nowadays, especially in heavily populated areas like cities, that you'll be without a constant internet connection of some kind, even a weak one.
So how come physical media is going to die? Well, here's how.
We don't need it anymore. We're already at a point where we could stop printing books and burning discs, and it could mean huge changes for the world in terms of how much things cost and what kind of impact these products have on the environment. Imagine how many DVDs you own in your house, think of all the plastic that went into making the boxes, the discs, and the paper that went into the covers. On average a person owns 15 DVDs, so let's say ten people each have 15 DVDs. That's 150 DVDs in total. Those ten people could live together in an apartment building, so that's 150 DVDs for a single building.
How about books? I personally prefer holding a physical book, being able to see it and feel it in front of me, but I'm well aware there's no reason other than the aesthetic. E-books are not only safer and better for the environment, they're also a lot cheaper since you don't need to physically print the book onto paper.
With services like Steam, Netflix, Kindles and Spotify, there's no reason to go and buy physical media anymore. Hell, it makes more sense to go completely digital anyway. Take my word for it, in a few years the gangly spotty-faced youth will be burning books en-masse since we no longer need them. DVDs will be relics in museums. Physical media will be, in fact, dead.
Picklebobble · 56-60, M
I think you live in very dangerous times when two individuals create a system that the world comes to rely on !
Namely, Apple and Microsoft.
Add to that the distillation of news to maybe a dozen major news channels worldwide ?
All this tech that we can't do without these days ?
If for no other reason, I think at some point there'll be a reactionary move against a lot of it.
There's no need for e-readers and kindles. Just as there's no need for iPads . But these industries are trying to con-vince you that there IS !
The second you buy into that, then they'll start feeding you a diet of their making. Not your individuality.
Nostromo · 41-45, M
Bingo!

BTW, you forgot Google/Android. :-)
Picklebobble · 56-60, M
Google; Yahoo; e-Bay; Amazon; Facebook; twitter; AOL; Microsoft; Apple; Samsung; BP; ExxonMobil; Walmart; a dozen different banks ! Visa/Amex/ANY form of 'Clubcard'......
Nostromo · 41-45, M
I think you're about ninety percent right. I have problems with the idea that "we don't need" physical media. Rather, I think we're being PUSHED into not needing it by so called 'rights-holders.' They don't want you to have a physical copy of a book, a movie, a song, etc...and they'll do anything to get that control OUT of the consumers' hands.

So you're right about the outcome, but not so much about the motivations/impetus.

(Edit: I'm also militantly old school about this. I won't buy digital media unless I can get an actual, physical copy.)
Sicarium · 46-50, M
All that digital content is still stored on physical servers. We've just moved from VHS and CDs to server farms.
Sicarium · 46-50, M
@Nostromo: You never had total control of that CD and DVD collection. There were always laws against using it in any other way than you were allowed to. It's no different now. Before, you could copy a CD. Now, you can pirate the digital album. Either way, get caught, pay the fine. It has been and still is intellectual property.
Nostromo · 41-45, M
@Sicarium: I had complete control over those collections. I could elect to abide by copyright laws--or not. (In general I did and still do--with the perfectly legal exception of making a single, 'fair-use' copy.)

And I'm not gonna enter into an intellectual property argument other than to say that, as far as I'm concerned, government-created corporations (government entities) have no such rights. Individuals do. Business collectives do not.
Sicarium · 46-50, M
@Nostromo: Exactly. Nothing has changed. You could elect to abide by those laws, or not. Just like you can now, or not. Copying, pirating, it's the same thing.
SW-User
I like how you're looking so far into the future. I don't think we can really predict what will happen but, with DVDs and so on there was a distinction between technology and human. Everything felt in their place. Now with digital, everything feels in one. Today's technology is so impactful with who we are individually, I would say man and technology will become closer a one within 10 years
Nostromo · 41-45, M
Without much of a penchant for prescience one can still follow trends in technology, and there's no doubt about THIS trend--a move to get control of media out of your hands.
SW-User
@Nostromo: the consumer will be in control by the technology and those controlling the supply creation and works of that technology will run things
Nostromo · 41-45, M
@LeahLovee: If you meant to say the consumer will be CONTROLLED BY the technology, you're correct.

Ever since some time in the nineties-technology has taken a turn towards the creepy, slavish side. Where technology once freed humanity, it now seeks to enslave humanity.

And that isn't happening by accident.

 
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