Is Physical Media Dead?

In a recent column in PC Magazine about the high-definition format war, Dan Costa claims:

no matter how you dress up a disc, it’s still a physical entity that needs to be mastered, packed, shipped, sold, and stored on a shelf—and that’s not what consumers want.

I really think he is wrong about that. Consumers have proven to like physical media and continue to purchase it in large quantities.

I would agree with a different comment he makes, that “all current technology trends point to a future dominated by digital distribution.” As storage gets cheaper and bandwidth gets faster, digital distribution will clearly be a bigger factor than it is now and will certainly take over in certain areas, but I do not believe that physical media is ever going to go away, particularly in the mass consumer distribution area.

Happy Birthday

Thirty-two years ago today.

June 7, 1975: Sony introduces the Betamax video recorder.

Revolutionary for its day, the Betamax format was on its way to becoming the industry standard until the appearance of JVC’s VHS a year later. Betamax was probably a bit sharper and crisper, but VHS offered longer-playing ability, which made it possible to record an entire movie on one three-hour tape. The two formats were locked in a struggle that was eventually won by VHS.

One item in the article I find amazing, “Sony built its last Betamax recorder in 2002.” Who was still buying a Betamax deck at that point?

Do You Watch TV On Your Computer?

Despite claims to the contrary by cell phone manufacturers and content providers, an article in the current issue of PC Magazine highlights a Jupiter Research study showing that an overwhelming majority of the people surveyed have no interest in watching TV on anything other than a TV set.

I’m sure this will change as the younger generations (who are more used to these activities) get older, but I find it hard to imagine that anyone would be satisfied watching crappy quality video on a 2-inch cell phone screen when they have a 60-inch HDTV with gorgeous video and full surround sound at home.