Digital distribution and 'the cloud' -- the future?

[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.

[ricosuave]

When I was a technical writer, one of the major points of contention was how to manage the digital versions of our files. This was only over a span of a couple of years and we were having issues.

It is a huge problem, and will only get worse as the dependence on digital media becomes mainstream.

[Azure]

Yes and yes.

Making things available digitally is the way of the future, plus it helps combat privacy. The problem I have is platforms like Steam which in my opinion are a hassle to deal with. Great idea, but a hassle.

Music and movies are already more popular digitally, and games will be the same way soon.

[freedogger]

And add to this the new copyright law the PC's are sending our way. If you circumvent the DRM just to keep playing or to access it on more modern devices, look to being eligible for fines or worse.

I try to only purchase content that I can truly own. If it is music, I want an MP3 I can play anywhere. E book- better be a PDF and so on. Sure it is great if the cloud has a copy that I can see use from any machine, but I usually want a copy. If it is charged at a rental rate, then fine by me, the cloud can keep it.

[HotHotHeat]

Why don't you think the market is ready to make software purchases over the Internet? Anyone that has Appe's new OS has already done just that.

Apps will continue to update to stay relevant. Nostalgia is what it is. There's an iPad app for Atari now.

Things may change with the way content is stored/managed, but in my mind it's without doubt for the better.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Bring it on, I finished with physical copies of music long ago, I am trying to best to get all the books I want in digital form, and home movies and TV is the next thing.

I used to love the collection of things I had, sets of TV seasons on DVD, shelves and shelves of books, but I just consider that all clutter now.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

'Digital' is still going to go to a new level. Mobile and social are just getting started as disruptors.

In first 9 months of ipod sales apple shipped 260k ipods
In the first 9 months of iphone sales apple shipped 4.7M iphones
In the first 9 months of ipad sales apple shipped 14M ipads

Facebook gets more traffic than google - and along the way tracks every website you visit. And they are less evil than Google because at least they admit it.

Amazing stuff.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Wthey are more than a tangible asset: they're almost a way of life for some people.

Why wouldn't you think that being digital could be a way of life too? Why would I want to be encumbered with all that dead paper? I feel the same way about all physical media. It's a waste of space, it can't be searched or indexed easily, backup and recovery is difficult, etc.. I'd far rather have access to it all online.

Physical is finite. Online is, for all intents and purposes, infinite.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Why don't you think the market is ready to make software purchases over the Internet? Anyone that has Appe's new OS has already done just that.

Apps will continue to update to stay relevant. Nostalgia is what it is. There's an iPad app for Atari now.

I meant available exclusively over the internet. I have no doubt a more tech-savvy consumer is ready, but the entire market? I don't think we're there yet.

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Why wouldn't you think that being digital could be a way of life too? Why would I want to be encumbered with all that dead paper? I feel the same way about all physical media. It's a waste of space, it can't be searched or indexed easily, backup and recovery is difficult, etc.. I'd far rather have access to it all online.

I didn't say it there couldn't be a 'digital way of life' culture. I am merely posing the question. Yes I do prefer books, but I also have an e-reader and it definitely has its uses. But personally I prefer books.

Your comment about physical media is perfectly valid, though. Sometimes I think I have waay too much ####.

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

'Digital' is still going to go to a new level. Mobile and social are just getting started as disruptors.

In first 9 months of ipod sales apple shipped 260k ipods
In the first 9 months of iphone sales apple shipped 4.7M iphones
In the first 9 months of ipad sales apple shipped 14M ipads

(...)

Amazing stuff.

Indeed. I haven't seen the numbers presented to me before.

[Yeah_Baby]

I have no problem with digital games and music. However I'm a bibliophile. I'm morally opposed to eReaders.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Not in Canada, with our small population and cost prohibitive copyrights. It might trickle here eventually, but we won't be on the leading edge of it IMO. I've seen some cool music apps and uses online briefly, only to get locked out because "lol Canada".

[freedogger]

All it takes is one really epic solar flare or an EMP blast and it's gone gone gone.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

I have no problem with digital games and music. However I'm a bibliophile. I'm morally opposed to eReaders.

So you're going traveling for 6 months and you're an avid reader. You're going to bring 20 books with you? Or 1000 on an e-reader, and the ability to get more books as you go, for example books pertaining to places you visit, or books suggested by people you meet.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

So you're going traveling for 6 months and you're an avid reader. You're going to bring 20 books with you? Or 1000 on an e-reader, and the ability to get more books as you go, for example books pertaining to places you visit, or books suggested by people you meet.

I didn't say I didn't understand the concept. I just think an eReader is a poor substitute for having a real book in your hand.


I like turning physical pages as opposed to swiping a finger or clicking a button. I enjoy seeing my book mark work its way through the depth of the novel as a sense of accomplishment. For me the ritual is almost as important as the content.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

I didn't say I didn't understand the concept. I just think an eReader is a poor substitute for having a real book in your hand.


I like turning physical pages as opposed to swiping a finger or clicking a button. I enjoy seeing my book mark work its way through the depth of the novel as a sense of accomplishment. For me the ritual is almost as important as the content.

I agree with this. No denying the convenience of a kindle. But The feel of a book will be missed in the future, at least by me... especially Hardcovers. I would say even the smell of a new book is part of the experience... Sadly as digital media becomes the norm the thought of experiencing a book this way will become as foreign as the idea of phoning someone, letting it ring 7 times and then simply hanging up okay in the knowledge that they are not home and you have absolutely no way to contact them at this moment.

[Bill Bumface]

I miss the way 2 stroke motor exhaust smells on startup... that doesn't mean I need to spend the rest of my life mixing 50 to 1 oil and fuel.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I miss the way 2 stroke motor exhaust smells on startup... that doesn't mean I need to spend the rest of my life mixing 50 to 1 oil and fuel.

lol, True. Just saying I'll miss it... that's all.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Azure

Yes and yes.

Making things available digitally is the way of the future, plus it helps combat privacy. The problem I have is platforms like Steam which in my opinion are a hassle to deal with. Great idea, but a hassle.

Music and movies are already more popular digitally, and games will be the same way soon.

I wonder if you meant to say piracy?

You are correct either way, but erosion of privacy is a bad thing.

I especially hate the erosion of privacy simply to combat piracy. That isn't to condone piracy, but personally I believe a person's right to privacy is much more important than fighting piracy.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26

lol, True. Just saying I'll miss it... that's all.

I totally understand that feeling. Its like how now there is almost no reason to have a manual transmission anymore. The double clutch automatics are faster and more fuel efficient. There are some technologies that people feel sad to see fall by the wayside, so I understand the sentiment.

[habernac]

My book's batteries are never going to run out either.