[Sr. Mints]

While digital distribution is new and shiny and makes things more accessible and easier to manage for the consumer (in theory,) I wonder how the perception of this will look in the future if the products we own are no longer supported or available (or something.) Or the rules change, or become out of favour with consumers.

Take video games for example: I’ve heard suggestions that the next generation of games should/will/might be made available only through digital means— available strictly for download instead of purchased through a brick and mortar store.

While I don't think the market is ready for that quite yet, look how fast the music industry changed. Best Buy had one aisle of CDs the last time I was there. CDs are over., save for a niche consumer market.

If one buys a game on the Play Station Network store, who is to say it will be supported on the Play Station 5? What if one wants to play that game in ten years for nostalgia's sake, or let their kids have a whirl? And of course the last PS3 hacking scandal: what if all our products were just gone one day by malicious means?

As for books . . . since Amazon launched the Kindle, other retailers have been following suit with their own e-reader. It was the Kindle that really brought the book industry into the digital age in a substantial way.

I love the feel of them in my hands, the smell of them as they age. Their portability and the social aspect that comes from lending and discussing a book. And I’ll have them forever and leave them to my grand children with strict instructions to maintain my meticulous filling system and keep them out of direct sunlight.

Okay, maybe they aren't forever: sure they could all be be ruined in a flood or fire just as their digital counterpart could be lost or deleted, but they are more than a tangible asset: they're almost a way of life for some people.

Then there's cloud storage, and the trend of moving content online. Again, it's easier, but having all one's information 'out there,' not knowing who's using it for marketing purposes, how secure it is, etc., just doesn't feel right. Again I bring up the PS3 incident: we have no idea how our information is protected.

Another industry that has shifted towards digital, and maybe the best first example I can think of, is the banking and credit card industry. Based on my own anecdotal observations, I think there's a lot of people taking advantage of the ease and simplicity of online banking. Even my mother has jumped on board, and she still grinds her own flour and uses dial up internet.

I'm curious what others think of this.