I'm finding myself more and more frustrated with optical media and I can't wait for digital downloads and flash/solid state memory to replace it completely.
The Humble CD has been with us since 1982- long overdue for retirement. The problem is that we have put ourselves in a corner with the need for backwards compatibility. Nobody wants to replace their whole collections, which is why DVD players had to be able to play CDs and why Blu Ray players had to be able to play DVDs. Being chained to the 12cm optical disc has meant that innovations had to take place elsewhere- dual layered discs or thinner lasers for example. The problem is that with each progression comes a caveat: DVDs are more fragile than CDs and Blu Rays are like freakin' egg shells.
This is a real bone of contention for me, having to eject and clean a disc three times because the person who rented it before me put their grubby, chow mein finger prints all over it. For goodness' sake people- please treat these discs with a little more care! Inconsideration aside, this is an inherent problem with optical media but luckily, change is coming.
The failure of HD DVD and UMD have prompted Microsoft and Sony to switch tactics. Xbox 360 owners now have access to HD movie downloads and Sky channels, whilst the latest PSP does away with its optical drive completely, prompting the user to buy all their games online from the Playstation Store and save them to internal or flash memory. Also, some films now come with 'digital copies' on the disc: protected video files, for use on specified devices. The latest Star Trek film for example is available for purchase on a 4GB pen drive (it's excellent by the way). Soon the digital copies will be the only ones distributed, either on external memory or downloaded/streamed.
It's not just pre recorded content that will feel the benefit of this revolution though, storage will too. Solid State Drives (SSD) are already available, some high end laptops come with them installed as standard. These boast ultra fast access times and no failure due to wear, as they have no moving parts. More than you can say for their ageing brethren.
This clearly shows a move away from optical and magnetic media, with it's slow seek speeds and susceptibility to jammy fingers. But it isn't perfect. Downloading several gigs of data a month can incur the wrath of unforgiving ISPs and you'll need some beefy bandwidth to stream 1080p footage. Moreover, the copy protection embedded into digital copies means that you will not be able to swap or sell your own intangible property. The rise of downloaded films and games will kill off the second hand market and of course, this is exactly what music, game and film companies want. Cost is also an issue, Solid State Drives work out at around £2.50 per gigabyte, magnetic drives at less than 5p.
Of course, these problems are only temporary, internet speeds will go up and prices will go down, whilst Digital Rights Management will find a happy medium between allowing more freedom and stopping piracy. Conversely, the problems with optical media will take it to its grave. An important factor in all this is that the nuts and bolts for the change are already in place: all computers have USB connections now and most homes have broadband. You may even find that your DVD player can show movies from a pen drive already.
Solid State and flash memory have some significant advantages over optical and magnetic media and are naturally the way that technology will progress. There are teething troubles at the moment but one thing you can definitely say for the new kids: at least you won't be ejecting and wiping anything three times during play- cursing the God of lasers as you do.
Bring it on!
