| Quote: Originally Posted by shoe1985 Doesn't matter, digital downloads will take over in a year or two. Physical formats are pretty much done. Digital downloads are far off for many reasons. With today's average residential internet connection, an HD movie will take days to download under optimal conditions. The only way around it is to compress the hell out of the file, hence ruining the quality. Also, HD movies downloads would require a deal between studios and ISPs, because the ISPs cap the amount of traffic you can use in a month. At 10-15 GB per movie, you could download 3, maybe 4 movies a month at most because you'd be over the limit with more, and that's using your internet connection in a very limited manner for anything besides downloading movies. Also, several ISPs are considering moving to a payment system where you pay by usage instead of a flat fee, so not only do you have to pay for movies, but you also have to pay what would likely to be a huge increase in your internet bill. And to add, if the music industry is any indication, it will be at least 10 years before movie downloads are even considered a threat to physical media. Music downloads may seem big, and almost everyone and their dog owns an Ipod these days. However, stats have shown that Itunes and all of their competitors still make up for around only 10-15% of all music sold (depending on who's stats you believe), and that's after being in the game for nearly five years. Movies still have a long way to come. |