Now I am a little old fashioned in that I like to have my movie collection on display in nice neat cases in the massive bookshelf on my wall, but I am also progressive in that many of them are now BluRay discs to compliment my already overflowing dvd library.
And there is no stopping progress. Unless you are Amish. Disney is releasing a new technology that could remove the need for physical media forever. The on demand digital media delivery system will be called Keychest.
Using digital cloud-computing concepts that could be coupled with physical product, you’d be able to pay one price for permanent access to movies or TV shows that are stored on a remote server, so you don’t download it but you can always access it via a wide variety of devices, including cell phones, cable services, PCs and Blu-ray players.
You, the consumers, would access the content by purchasing a digital “key” or password.
For example, if you purchase the password to classics like Aladdin or blunders like Race To Witch Mountain , you can then watch the movie on your laptop, then continue on a TV, then view the ending via mobile phone.
Of course as soon as a new idea is presented, it only takes about 4 seconds before someone else comes out with something similar and wants that to be the standard.
Digital Eentertainment Ccontent Ecosystem or DECE that includes Sony, Fox, NBC Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount and Lionsgate was already working on a similar digital delivery service. The difference is that DECE is using a proprietary format while KeyChest would be using the existing file formats.
Yay, another format war!
I have no doubt that one day digital delivery will be the only way to buy movies, and physical media will be a thing of the past. Making music and movies affordable, and readily available is the key to reducinging piracy.
And any format that allows me to view and experience my content on multiple media platforms is a good way to go for me. But until they perfect the tech, I will keep adding to my library.
I have severe doubts about this…remember Divx (not the codec, the disc)? Permanently available on a server is only meaningful until they turn the server off. Give me physical media any day, no one can take that away from you.
Are they really saying this is cloud computing? That’s funny. It really isn’t. It’s no different than the client-server model we are using right now. I really don’t understand why they don’t embrace a P2P method of distribution… I look forward to seeing the service though… I’m ready to get rid of my physical media. I did it in 2001 with all my CD’s… walking in to a used CD store and saying I wanted to sell 300 CD’s was priceless just by the look on the owners face.
OnLive is doing something almost exactly like this for videogames. I forsee this being more popular than OnLive though, because of the simple fact that there will always be lagtime when playing a game on a remote server. (OnLive hosts the game on a remote server while the player play on whatever platform from wherever they are.)
I actually wondered when this was coming ever since I heard of OnLive. This distribution method makes more sense for movies. It will be intresting to see how well or poorly this catches on. I personally am a fan of having the physical product.
I always have mixed feelings when I
buy a DVD because I feel like there’s no point if they’re going to come out with a new form of media availability