By Jayson Jarmon, CEO, LuxWorldwide.com
One of the first great promises of the Internet age is the convergence of various media systems into a single, unified information management system that would be easily accessible and extensible – in short, a blurring of the lines between the personal computer, the television, the telephone, the motion picture, etc. With each passing year, that promise has come closer to fruition, but it has been in fits and starts and there are still plenty of half-measures bridging the old and the new.
One such measure is optical media, which is a bridging technology between the old days of the floppy disc, and the fully digital future. The high-definition DVD debate currently raging on in the industry (that is, the debate as to which high-definition technology will prevail, Blu-ray or HD DVD) is really rather silly in some ways, since the entire issue of portable media is likely to be a moot point in a digital future where films and television are stored not as optical artifacts in one’s DVD collection, but in purely digital form in one’s entertainment data structure. Films, music, television and other digital media are becoming increasingly available as download, and the economics of distribution suggest that all of the physical trappings of the optical disc and the tape will be abandoned as faster more powerful machines and better connectivity come to hold the day.
Another halfway measure, it follows, are those who deal in portable media as intermediaries. As we have seen, companies like Tower Records which tried to hold on to the old model of CD and DVD sales, have been delivered a death sentence by the market (I wouldn’t invest in Hollywood Video right now either). Intermediary business structures such as Netflix have flooded into the market using a library model, allowing the digital ordering, payment , and management of media (in this case movies), but relies on physical mail to deliver physical discs to physical addresses. It too is a halfway measure that will convert entirely to a digital delivery system when the business conditions are correct.
Finally, let’s talk about the motion picture theaters. The economics of theatrical distribution reduced the movie palaces of old to the strip mall multiplexes of today, and now the only way that the theaters can compete against television, video games, and DVD, is to raise prices, introduce more expensive concessions, show commercials, and even try to break into the corporate meeting space business. Sadly, when digital film distribution becomes the rule shortly, the theater experience as we know it will be over.
So, go to a movie, grab a record at the local record store while you can—it is an experience your children will be unlikely to share. And while you’re at it, grab a newspaper … we’ll be talking about that next time …
