BD and Digital Downloads!

[Johnny Vinyl]

I hope this thread was posted in the right forum.

Found this at CNET, and you may have come across it yourself, but I thought it was an interesting read and maybe something to get opinions on from you guys/gals.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...l;txt#comments

My personal opinion is that both physical media and digital downloads will coexist very nicely for many many years to come, if not always. I also agree that younger and perhaps more technically-savvy consumers will gravitate toward the digital download option, making it the format of choice for the majority.

I personally prefer a physical copy of my media formats, which I why I still buy CD's, DVD's, BD's and Vinyl. (I know Vinyl doesn't fit this equation, but Im a collector of it).

I would consider digital downloads if I could be assured they were of identical quality as the physical media counterpart. Also, that the price would be significantly less (no $9.99 digital download CD's, when I can buy the physical copy for $11.99 or even less). Additionally, are our current broadband connections even good enough yet? I don't think so.

In summary, I think there are still way too many obstacles in place for digital downloads to truly take root in the majority of homes. The media companies need to develop a fair price strategy, address DRM issues and/or any other schemes to limit what we can do with our digital download copies. I'm not going to address what the broadband providers and computer industry needs to do in terms of bringing digital downloads to us at speeds and reliability levels that make downloading a more seamless exercise, as I'm not technologically-savvy enough to address them. But I'm sure there is still work to do for them on that front.

What are your thoughts?