A friend and I were having a discussion recently. I asked him what he thought the next method of distribution for films and music would be. My thoughts were that we would have to come up with some new method that was convenient, sturdy and didnt involve compression (as CDs and DVDs do, thereby limiting the picture and sound quality, although not very much). He simply said that it was not going to happen; in the future its all going to be distributed on the Internet.

Ive heard this argument before. My grade ten IT teacher assured us that within five decades (and this was four years ago) we would no longer be purchasing CDs. With the advent of broadband we we are going to see purchases of music and movies online, streamed to the computer or another device. Ive always thought this was relatively unlikely. I could be in the minority, but I really like the CD and DVD cases. Theres something a bit more tangible to them, more of a feeling of worth for funds . Plus they look kind of good lined up on a shelf like some new-age library.

Having thought about it for a while now I have no doubt that the Internet is set to become a major distributor of media. When you ponder it, it makes sense. Low to no production and distribution costs; you just provide a download location when all the people send you funds . Cutting out the middle man has always been an good way to save money, and in this case youre cutting out the shop owners, couriers and manufacturers. This should lead to substantial drops in prices (and loss of jobs... but... I have no defence for that. Youre just going to have to find yourselves a new career. Sorry. On the positive side your entertainment costs will go down, so you wont need the job quite as much