I most definitely am NOT.

Why? Loss of rights!

You can’t sell.

You can’t buy used.

You can’t borrow from a friend.

You can’t lend to a friend.

No competition so no need to lower prices.

etc etc.

THIS is the reason the MPAA and all game publishers are drooling at the idea of a world locked to DD only. You think they give two shits about your convince? They just want to make sure that the ONLY way you can buy movie is directly from them, new, at the highest price possible, and on their terms.

You think DRM is insane now? Wait until the world is DD only my friend.

Currently, if you use Amazon to purchase a movie and have a TiVo, you can download to your TiVo and keep it there indefinitely. If you use a PS3 to download a movie, you can store it on your hard drive and you can back it up to an external hard drive.

However, if Sony’s service were to permanently vanish one day… what happens? Or, if Amazon’s service were to vanish… what then? Sure, I still have my downloads, but what happens when the hard drive fails?

These companies seem to want to treat hard drives like permanent discs. That if a hard drive goes bad, it is no different than a disc getting scratched up. However, I can be extra responsible and make sure my DVDs last for 15-20 years or more. With hard drives, however, sometimes they just go bad… at no fault of the user.

I’m all for physical media vanishing from the store shelves… but only if there is a way to backup download media to something safer than a hard drive… whether this means burning it to a disc… or being able to back the file up to your “cloud storage of choice”… while it may seem counterproductive to perform a “backup” of virtual media to “the cloud”… by at least being able to store content through competing providers, there is a backup plan (no pun intended) if one of those providers gets purchased, changes their terms to something undesirable, cancels their service, etc…

I would be willing to purchase *ALL* future movies via download at FULL PRICE… if it meant I could backup my Amazon-bought movies on Sony’s servers (for later re-download)… and Sony’s purchases on Amazon’s servers (for later re-download)… and Google’s servers if they eventually provided such storage capabilities… etc…

Until this point, I’d rather build a library I could more easily protect… on DVD… or Blu-ray…

Asking a question such as “Which of the following devices do you own?” will always yield results that makes it look like ancient technology is super popular and newer technology is “losing”.

If the question were, instead, “Which of the following devices do you expect to sell in a garage sale?” or “Which of the following devices would you sell for the same price you purchased it for if given the opportunity?” would yield a more reasonable result of where technology is headed.

There was a time when almost everyone owned a zip drive for their computer, but we all see where that ended up.

Sitting at home one night I fancy watching a movie, turn TV on start to watch then you get a message on screen ’sorry this service is temporarily off-line’… I use DVD’s and download… onto DVD lol.

I and many others simply don’t like someone else pulling all the strings, it’s like having all your personal information on some data base or ‘trusting banks with your money’.

Say no more ROFL!

A load of so-called journalists just got suckered and made to look like imbeciles. Bravo Harris, bravo!

And your replies to me were filled with insults and personal jabs, pot calling the kettle black much?

“You ask for “proof” but, to me, the proof is all around us. The very fact that you listed MP3/MP4 as valid successors to Vinyl, CD, etc just helps prove my point. Are Vinyl records “still around”?”

…. seriously?

I never said no technology should ever become obselete, I just said the concept of physical media will not become obselete. This dosen’t mean you should continue using 8 track tapes and betamax.

“Look how popular the iPod is. It isn’t popular because it’s a great piece of hardware… because there were plenty of great pieces of hardware (mp3 players) which preceded it. The difference was, the music store was “built-in”.”

Actually, the majority of it’s popularity is simply that it is an Apple product.

When the iPhone was launched, people were talking about the wonders of a cellphone that can go online as if nobody had ever made a cellphone that can go online before.

The iTunes store no longer has DRMed tracks, yet the iPod is still popular over other media players, fancy that. Its because of that little Apple logo on it.

“Netflix, which started off with only physical DVD rentals have pushed hard into the digital content delivery.”

Netflix is more of a rental service.

You pay monthly for access to their entire library at once… but you lose all of your access when you stop paying.

“The fact that the next PSP (PSP Go) will only play digitally downloaded games is just another sign of this trend.”

Oh sure, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that the UMD is a battery-draining, noisy, incredibly slow loading piece of crap right?

Also, games will still be released on UMD as well.

“So, the writing is on the wall. Perhaps you are seeing some other writing.”

Sorry, the only writing here is yours, fiulled with mis-informed “facts” and incorrect claims.

I seriously STILL cannot believe you thought we had topped out on audio and video tech and we will never need a physical medium better than blu-ray for movies… That alone basically completely discredits your entire argument.

“Maybe you see blah blah blah”

See? Nothing but more jabs and insults. Its liek you cannot resist but to try to act smug.

“You seem to completely ignore the power of the consumer in the marketplace.”

Wrong, if the “power of the consumer” meant anything, then DD-only will never happen, because the consumer would not want to give up their rights. You as a consumer do not speak for every other consumer on the planet.

“The fact that you have taken this discussion to the level of online forums where 12-year-olds argue is why I am not likely to continue this discussion with you.”

I am sorry but you took that level far earlier with your constant insults and jabs, not to mention countless incorrect points and claims. All you claim is “this is what the consumer wants” and when pressed for facts, you refuse to give any, claiming it should be obvious as a half-hearted attempt to skirt the issue. Don’t try to end this with your nose stuck up high, you are just in deep as I am, if not deeper. Do not forget that it was only after the fifth or so time you replied with insults that I finally took it personally.

“I really really hope you are a teenager, because then your attitude would have made a little sense and my faith in society as a whole will have returned.”

I see you are now basically repeating what I said about you only now aimed at me. And yet you STILL claim to have the high ground in this discussion?

YOU started the insults, not me, I hanged on but after several posts as such from you it was clear you were not able to respond to me WITHOUT insulting me.

You ask for “proof” but, to me, the proof is all around us. The very fact that you listed MP3/MP4 as valid successors to Vinyl, CD, etc just helps prove my point. Are Vinyl records “still around”? Sure. So, in that aspect, physical media will still be around for many years to come. My point of things going digital wasn’t to imply that all physical matter in the world would suddenly cease to exist… just that physical mediums would become the minority. That’s all.

Look at music. Look how difficult it is to find cassette tapes with current music. It’s easier to find CD, but it’s getting much more difficult to find music-only stores like Music Warehouse. Simply put, to get music CDs, one now has to resort to places like Best Buy and Target. Even the selections at those stores are limited. There were much larger selections available from the music-only stores, which have been shuttering their doors for the past several years. They claim it’s because of music piracy, whereas I believe it’s due to a switch from physical media to digital media.

Look how popular the iPod is. It isn’t popular because it’s a great piece of hardware… because there were plenty of great pieces of hardware (mp3 players) which preceded it. The difference was, the music store was “built-in”. Apple made purchasing music a no-brainer. The sheer amount of music being purchased digitally is huge, and continues to grow every day. Even people who buy CDs often rip the songs from the CD to put onto their music players and their PCs. It’s all about digital media with the physical media being treated as a backup.

The big three game consoles on the market are pushing harder and harder for downloadable games. In many cases, the sheer number of games made available for download outnumber the number of games on disc. Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that in the gaming world, digital content is still in its infancy. It will be some time before disc-based games start dwindling and, for some games, a disc (especially a Blu-ray disc) will be a necessity. Nonetheless, disc will become the minority special-case rather than the default.

Netflix, which started off with only physical DVD rentals have pushed hard into the digital content delivery. A simple $99 box plugged into your television gives you access to tons of content. Sure, most of this content is second-class… but that’s because Netflix doesn’t charge extra for this service. If they ever implement a pay-for-play service, there will be yet another available service for XBox 360 owners, TiVo owners, or owners of that Roku box.

Gone are the days when only geeks who live on computers know what an mp3 is or that music can be virtual. This hasn’t happened yet for movies, but with places like Hulu.com (or NBC pushing shows on NBC.com) and with various set-top boxes (such as TiVo, Roku, XBox 360, PS3, etc…) streaming and downloading television shows and movies for free or for a fee, the trend is only likely to continue. It’s a growing market. The fact that the next PSP (PSP Go) will only play digitally downloaded games is just another sign of this trend. TiVo’s, arguably the most significant DVRs in the market, can play movies purchased through Amazon Video On Demand and through Netflix. YouTube is pushing for premium content as well, and I’m sure TiVo’s will support this as well. Other DVRs (pushed through cable companies) will likely provide the same service to compete, or will stick with the cable company’s pay-per-view program, possibly extending this to allow ownership of movies.

So, the writing is on the wall. Perhaps you are seeing some other writing. Maybe you see something that indicates that fewer and fewer people are buying digital music and that CD sales are on the incline. Maybe you see newer and newer devices opting to keep harddrives out of the systems, to not have Internet access, and to prevent downloads. Maybe you see new music-only and movie-only stores cropping up everywhere and going gangbusters selling CDs and DVDs. Maybe you see this kind of activity, and if so, I’d be interested in seeing this side that maybe I haven’t been able to see.

In the meantime, from what I have seen in the marketplace, the writing is on the wall. Digital distribution is on its way to becoming the majority and physical media is on its way to becoming the minority.

My disdain for GameStop is mine along from experience. I miss the old Electronics Boutique. They gave more wall and rack space to PC games and new console games… and now this is gone. From experience dealing with the staff in the three GameStops in my area have made me really dislike visiting the stores anymore. I now focus on Best Buy and Target for those purchases.

You seem to completely ignore the power of the consumer in the marketplace. If you already think we are all just victims of retail outlets, then why are you so vehemently defending the retail outlets? The only reason they can take advantage of people with digital downloads is because it is a small market at the moment. Once it becomes the majority, and the number of people relying on it are the majority, people will speak with their wallets. There will still be a little bit of “reaming”, such as that which happened from CDs. Remember when people were promised by the music industry that the only reason CDs were more expensive than tapes was because CD technology was new… and expensive… and that the costs would eventually come down to BELOW cassette costs, because it costs more in material for cassettes? Well, the cost didn’t come down. The new explanation? Because CD-quality is better than tape-quality, so you’re getting what you’re paying for. Nonetheless, digital downloads is competition for physical media… so the existence of digital downloads is competition everyone should be happy about, because it will drive down the price of the physical media as it starts becoming the minority. Rather than making higher-quality audio CDs, you may start seeing higher-quality audio downloads as the option, further driving down the price of “lower-quality CDs” once high-quality becomes the majority-rule of the market.

The fact that you have taken this discussion to the level of online forums where 12-year-olds argue is why I am not likely to continue this discussion with you. I really really hope you are a teenager, because then your attitude would have made a little sense and my faith in society as a whole will have returned. If, however, you happen to be (gulp) in your thirties like me, I will have lost all hope for society. If your best argument is to come up with insults like I broke my computer’s retractable cup-holder, then I would much rather leave this pointless discussion. I’m not trying to change your mind. I gain nothing from this. I’m not looking to have my mind change, though I would appreciate some new knowledge (like maybe you have some statistics about market trends that I’m not aware of) and maybe this knowledge would be enough to make me realize that what I have been seeing all around me isn’t really happening nation-wide, which I am willing to accept that it hasn’t. I don’t live in a big city, but I don’t live in a small town. I live where they used to hold the TED talks for many years until they recently changed the venue. I don’t have a PhD, but I don’t think one needs to have a PhD to be intelligent or observant. If you have a PhD, I applaud you. I know many people (in real life, not on the Internet) who have PhDs and I enjoy discussions with them. Of course, they don’t just start insulting me like 12-year-olds because they don’t have a better argument. Oh well.

I said physical media in the future is here to stay too, not just Blu-Ray.

“My views don’t single-handedly matter… but the reality is, you’re in the minority.”

Got any proof of this or is this just a “because I want it to happen” kinda thing? you ignore everythign I said and just claim “this is the truth!” with nothing to back it up.

“I’m for ATMs, digital distribution, paperless bills, paperless payments, etc”

I KNEW you DD nuts woulden’t be able to resist trying to claim people who are against it are practically Amish. Sorry but you will need something better than assuming I refuse to use any new technology. I quickly tossed away tape-based music/vidoe for disk based, and tossed away cd players for MP3, that does not mean I will jump on EVERY new technology. DD kills FAR too many of my rights for me to ever accept it, and MILLIONS feel the same I am afraid.

“As for Blu-ray, do you really think the human eye can visually perceive more of a difference warranting yet another format to hold more resolution?”

Yes actually, and THIS is a perfect exacple of why you cannot see the big picture. You only consider ONE aspect, reoslutinon, You cannot see the whole picture, you only focus on one thing and don’t see it as progressing.

First of all, YES, the human eye can see AND tell the difference from 1080p easily, in fact, computer monitors have been able to do DOUBLE that if not more for years, and the difference is quite noticable. Second, there is more than just reoslution. Framerate, color depth, audio quality audio channels, etc etc

Its this kinda singlemindedness that made you claim the absolutely asasinine statement that video won’t need above blu-ray.

Did audio stop at Vinyl? Tape? CD? MP4? Do you think NOW it will stop at MP4? Anybody who says yes probably also said yes to the tape or cd being the end-all back in the day.

“There MIGHT be ONE MORE STEP beyond 1080p… but there is going to be little reason for something like 10800p”

MY 5+ year old monitor can go far beyond 1080p, you CLEARLY know nothing about what you are talking about and just resort to claims of me being outdated or fearng change to try to attack my anti dd-only stance. Typical, I have dealt with DD zelots like you before. At times you are worse than Mac Fanboys who believe that Macs cannot crash and have special hardware…

“Nonetheless, I can understand your frustration… the market moves in a direction that deals with the majority… and being in the minority, it heads in a direction that you prefer it didn’t. You shout loudly, but you aren’t heard. It’s frustrating, I know.”

How about you get off your high horse, shut the **** up, and actually debate like a rational person instead of going “cry some more” when you clearly have NO actual debate against my topics and can see your points being torn apart? This is about the dozenth time you resorted to this majority/minority bullshit with no proof other than to stroke your ego and make yourself feel better.

“if a Joe Schmoe wants to open up his own video store or game store, he’d have to have tens of thousands of dollars or more to invest, and he’d only be able to have a single store in one area. It’d pale in comparison to the chains that exist today. So, with physical mediums, there are virtual monopolies where only big-box stores can sell you the stuff. Once everyone shifts to virtual, all mom-and-pops will be able to create online stores and use various marketing tactics to turn a profit, putting more pressure on the larger stores, helping to drive down prices and improve customer service.”

Oh please, this crap has been TRIED before. It failed, hard, every time. The publishers are not going to let “Joe Schmoe” as you put ti have access to their encryption/DRM keys when he dosen’t know the difference between a computer and a hole in his rear, and neither will the developer when they can have 100% control over the content. Do you really think Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo woudl allow 3rd parties to sell downloadable games from a service that is not theirs on their consoles?

You are doing nothing but presenting wildly idealistic scenarios that any moment of thinking will make it obivous why they won’t work out.

If the world goes DD-only, only ONE thing will happen, total monopoly and the end of right of first sale for any media. They would have ZERO reason to actually provide ANY of these inane services you keep dreaming up, each one being more ridiculus than the last.

“I would imagine that the groups who would want physical media to survive are the ones behind GameStop, probably THE most corrupt corporation in the world next to Big Tobacco.”

…. seriously, do you have zero mind of your own and just go by what message forums and random tech blogs tell you?

Seriously? You HONESTLY tried to pull a “GameStop is the devil!” argument?

Just keep digging your grave deeper and deeper, with every post you make youself look like more and more of a fool who dosen’t know what he is talking about.

What next, are you going to claim that there is no difference between 2.0 and 7.1 audio? Or that there is no need to have a connection over 10Mbps? That you broke your computer’s retractable cup holder?

I m starting to wonder if you was even BORN before 1993.

And please, don’t pull that “I have a degree in (whatever)” bull, anybody can claim they have a PhD on the internet, if you don’t believe I have 50 PhDs then just give me a few minutes in photoshop.

My views don’t single-handedly matter… but the reality is, you’re in the minority. I do see where you’re coming from… and the same goes for those hanging onto the Vinyl revolution… but I’m just cluing you into what has been happening and what is likely to continue happening. You can say “it’s not going to happen” just because you’d prefer it didn’t, but that won’t change a thing. The market is not you… it’s not me… it’s the collective. And it just so happens that I’m in the majority of the collective. I’m for ATMs, digital distribution, paperless bills, paperless payments, etc… Anything that uses less physical resources and junk and takes up physical space, the better.

As for the size thing, yes… software keeps heading in this direction because software is increasingly including more video and audio content. I can forsee games including the equivalent of 10+ hours of hi-def video content. At some point, the cost to produce the content might not be worth the income… but the gaming market is booming right now, so games are going to keep getting larger and larger until that economy bottoms out. So, there is likely still going to be physical media for games (especially for console) for quite a while. Of course, broadband speeds are also increasing by leaps and bounds… so the physical media may eventually end up in the majority for those who cannot afford the top-of-the-line broadband or who live outside of its reach.

As for Blu-ray, do you really think the human eye can visually perceive more of a difference warranting yet another format to hold more resolution? People, for years, said that there will ALWAYS be a need to continue to increase the number of colors that monitors and operating systems could support. Once everyone reached 32-bit video, and the market momentum stopped. Now, you no longer see operating systems or monitors advertising the number of colors they can support. Now, it’s all about resolution… but even resolution is tapering off. There MIGHT be ONE MORE STEP beyond 1080p… but there is going to be little reason for something like 10800p, as the human eye is simply not going to be able to discern the difference. In 30 years, if we reach 10800p, then you can send me a note and say “I told you so”… but I just don’t see this happening. There are much more important things to accomplish in the world (such as dealing with poverty or dying celebrities) than to try to get computers to generate more colors and higher resolutions than our eyes can even tell apart.

Nonetheless, I can understand your frustration… the market moves in a direction that deals with the majority… and being in the minority, it heads in a direction that you prefer it didn’t. You shout loudly, but you aren’t heard. It’s frustrating, I know. But at some point, you just need to either accept it… or make a good enough case for your opinion that you sway the masses, and you become the majority.

You also seem to be very close-minded about how digital distribution of the future will work. You are looking at how it is NOW, and you aren’t wanting THAT to take over. It won’t. It will be different. And I don’t think your complaints will be as valid anymore. You won’t just buy your games from the Sony-only store, for instance… there will be other retail stores where you will be able to choose where you purchase your digital file… for every physical store that exists today, there will be virtual stores online. Why the market would head in this direction is because it costs less to have a virtual store than a physical one. It’s easier to market. It allows more competition. Think about it… if a Joe Schmoe wants to open up his own video store or game store, he’d have to have tens of thousands of dollars or more to invest, and he’d only be able to have a single store in one area. It’d pale in comparison to the chains that exist today. So, with physical mediums, there are virtual monopolies where only big-box stores can sell you the stuff. Once everyone shifts to virtual, all mom-and-pops will be able to create online stores and use various marketing tactics to turn a profit, putting more pressure on the larger stores, helping to drive down prices and improve customer service.

I would imagine that the groups who would want physical media to survive are the ones behind GameStop, probably THE most corrupt corporation in the world next to Big Tobacco.

Except stores that sell Blu-RAy disks, which have been around for far less time than downloadable media, are more common than stores that carry digital media, especially digital media, oops, there goes the “its new!” argument.

“As for the extras that discs have… personally, I don’t care.”

So you feel your personal views should dictate the entire market? Wow, how self-centered.

Many people DO care about such things however, just because DD fits you perfectly dosen’t mean everybody cares for it, nor does it make them “dinosaurs” for not preferring it.

“I agree that the size of media continues to get larger and larger, but there is a point where it won’t matter anymore and everyone will stop focusing on making the data larger.”

Im afraid it does, espeially for software.

The stupidest thing a person can think is “I will never need and more space for such a thing”. Physical media WILL grow and audio and video WILL find a need to use that larger media.

I USED to make the same mistakes too, thinking that’s it in terms of size for some type of digital recording, I was wrong, every time.

You are a fool if you think that BD quality is the highest audio/video quality we will ever need and never need a medium that holds more data for it.

“Nobody is rushing out to come out with discs that are “better than CD quality. As a result, MP3s (at a decent bitrare) aren’t going to continue to get larger and larger every year. I feel that movies have reached the same apex.”

Not only do such higher quality audio formats exist (most CDs are a mere 2.0 sound), but MP3 is ALREADY outdated and getting replaced by higher quality formats (that take up more space).

“Why would a company every sell songs that allow people to sell or trade the digital media? Competition.”

Ah, but see, that is the beauty of DD (and why every content provider is drooling over the idea of locking people into a DD-only world)….. IT ESSENTIALLY ELIMINATES COMPETITION! What competition is there? You can’t buy an exclusive track from someone else, you HAVE to buy it from them, and since there would be no way to buy used or sell yours (which is kinda pointless as there is no such thing as used digital data) there can be no competition and therefore no need to lower the price.

Google does it because its core business model is to provide alternatives and open products. They make them open so its also easy to move TO them as well, and they are banking on you preferring Google over the alternatives.

Plus, this is YOUR content, not somebody else’s.

“As for your comment about software, I’m rather surprised. The last time I purchased software on a physical medium was 1993.”

Good for you, most people didn’t even have internet access back then, or a modem above 9.6Kbps.

Now most people have 10Mbps broadband connections yet STILL prefer physical mediums.

Again, just because YOU prefer digital mediums and clearly jumped on the bandwagon at an absurdly early age does not mean everybody else does or prefers it.

I already mentioned the tons of downfalls of physical medium, WHAT pray tell OTHER than not having to drive to a store or wait for it to be delivered (which personally feels like the epitome of increasing laziness) does digital downloads provide over physical mediums? Is that slight convenience so you can spend another 30 minutes in your chair seriously worth everything you would be giving up as well as all consumer rights and right of first sale?

As for the extras that discs have… personally, I don’t care. I admit that I feel downloads should be priced slightly cheaper than the physical media due to the lack of the nice case and the extras on the physical media. Otherwise, I never ever check out the extras. For me, personally, it’s a waste of time. If I had 2 hours to look at extras, I’d rather just watch another movie on my to-watch list.

I agree that the size of media continues to get larger and larger, but there is a point where it won’t matter anymore and everyone will stop focusing on making the data larger. Look at music. It has pretty much reached a cap. Nobody is rushing out to come out with discs that are “better than CD quality”. As a result, MP3s (at a decent bitrare) aren’t going to continue to get larger and larger every year. I feel that movies have reached the same apex. With Blu-ray, 1080p and the high quality sound, there really isn’t much more of a need to go further. In fact, while audiophiles and videophiles can tell the difference between DVD and Blu-ray, there are also many who don’t. Sometimes it is because they don’t have a high enough quality television, and in other cases it’s just because they don’t care as much. When I buy a Blu-ray, I do so for big special-effects movies like Transformers. If I’m getting something like “The Holiday”, I don’t really need high quality video or sound that goes above and beyond DVD, so I just get the DVD quality.

Why would a company every sell songs that allow people to sell or trade the digital media? Competition. While it may seem like a backwards move, a move to make consumers more at ease can also be a lucrative move. For instance, one of the goals Google pushes for with each of its products is the ability for users to export their own data so that if they wish to use another provider, they can bring their data with them. Previously, the usual way of doing business on the web was data-lock-in. It was the smart business move. So, why wouldn’t Google do this? To put people at ease. If you know you won’t be “stuck” you might be more likely to try it out. Once one provider does it and people start making the switch, other providers will do it to not be out-done.

Is this guaranteed to happen? No. Might it? Sure. We can only hope.

As for your comment about software, I’m rather surprised. The last time I purchased software on a physical medium was 1993. For me, software was the first to go all digital. Next was music. Movies will be next. For software, if I need to “prove” that I own it, I just show the confirmation email when I registered for the software… or the license number.

Only very grudgingly have a FEW stores started carrying DRM-free tracks, the majority have massive DRM still in place. And movies are far worse.

On top of these, for movies, there is almost no DD service that can give you all a disk has (extras, subtitles options, BD live, etc) nor is the quality as good.

The fact that as network speeds increase, so does the storage capacity on physical media increase to outmatch it always holds true

Back when it was excruciating to download a floppy, we got CDs. When CDs were no problem to download, we got DVDS. When DVDS became not much of a chore to download we got BD disks that still haven’t even reached their max 100GB, or possibly higher, size.

On top of that, WHAT reason would anybody have to allow people to buy “used” digital media or sell it? There is zero reason whatsoever, since there is only losses in it for them, not profit, why would they ever allow the consumer to do that? Not to mention that there is technically no such thing as used digital media, since it cannot be suspect to wear and tear like a disk. Sure, you could sell a used LICENSE, but still, again, why would the content provider ever allow it? I dunno about you but I don’t like the idea of being tied into a single store with all sales final and all prices final.

“Personally, I think we SHOULD be pushing for all digital. You talk about “virtual 1s and 0s” but there are also 1s and 0s on that CD of yours. The 1s and 0s are no more “virtual” on my hard drive than they are on a CD I have burned or one I have purchased.”

Except they are sold on a physical medium that you CAN easily sell, shop around for, buy used, etc. On top of that, they are a standard, any device designed for it can play it, you aren’t restricted to what devices the content provider feels you should use.

“And you’re right about DRM… it has to go… but it HAS been going, just very slowly. ”

ONLY for music,the biggest pusher was Apple………. who has a complete OPPOSITE opinion when it comes to DRM for anything else.

By the way, I am talking about ALL forms of content, not just movies and music, I mean software and games as well. I sure as hell do NOT want software to become a DD-only world.