Concerning physical records, I feel the same way. I buy few items online, not only because of the silly DRM, but because managing storage and backups is a headache.
I concur with Richard's comments that consumers are just putting it all on computers, but every consumer I know has difficulty keeping track of what they have and where it is. Computers grow old and die when they are not stolen, and forums are full of panicked people realizing that they have lost all their music, photos, etc. or are blocked because they can't figure out how to transfer everything. In that regard I was very impressed with the native Apple OSX migration utility which clones everything -- data, applications, configurations, accounts and rights -- to a new machine automatically over firewire. Just be sure to do it before the old machine dies... There are user-friendly backup solutions coming online, but local search still has a ways to go in indexing metadata across formats. I suspect that lots of today's ephemeral data will be difficult to view or listen to years later. If local data is DRM'd, one may as well accept that it will have no longevity whatsoever. My friends who are recording studio owners are doing offline backup with client-specific external hard drives, they have become so affordable that they just bill the client for one, throw everything on there when the project is done, and label it with the client's name. Firewire and USB will be around for long enough I suppose. For longevity, portability, and ruggedness, I vote for books and discs. On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 1:20 PM, Darren Stephens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > All of this is true enough, but (and there's always a but) you still have > the physical artefact, don't you? Even if it's gaffer taped with a hundred > others, you still have the physical object you shelled out your money for. > The digital stuff is, by your own admission, descended from the objects. > Brands may be virtual but I for one prefer to buy the disc. Why? Because > there's something tangible to show for the transaction after completion, not > something ephemeral that is rather difficult to pin down. There is something > that is identifiable as being of worth. > > > > That's not to say I don't buy the ephemeral stuff – I have purchased stuff > on my iPod – but I am certainly more cautious about buying items that way. > How unusual I am I can't say. > > > > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 7:08 PM > > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > Subject: Re: [backstage] HD-DVD / Blu Ray > > > > > > > > > On 20/02/2008, Ian Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I don't know guys, it may have been said multiple times but the only winner > in this battle must be the online services. > > However I'm still left wondering when the general public will get their > head around non-physical media. People seem to like the look and feel of > physical media like CDs, Vinyl, DVDs. > > > > > > > > > I was talking to Dave about this in Edinburgh. > > > > > > The thing is, the current evidence suggests that this might be a false > assumption. > > > > > > From a physiological point of view, lots of marketing efforts does indeed go > into selling "things" to people. However, the modern liberal international > capitalist system puts a lot of effort into promoting "brands", which a not > things, but virtual. > > > > > > It is quite a logical step to say that brands therefore exist in cyberspace. > They have value only as something that is possessed by a company that hey > can use. > > > > > > I've got three enormous boxes that I have all my CDs in. I gaffer taped > them up when I finished MP3ing them, which was years ago now. How many > times have I unpacked them? None. > > > > > > I've got a Vista Media Center with all my music on it, and I can copy and > play this (using www.orb.com) anywhere. It's connected to the TV and has a > remote control, and does my videos and all my thousands of photos. I can > access all this lot from where ever with one remote control. > > > > > > I'm not alone. Everyone with an MP3 player (say an iPod) can carry around > an amount of music you couldn't carry around in a transit van if it were on > vinyl. > > > > > > Look, I'm such a nerd that I bought all of Star Trek (not Enterprise, > obviously but with the Cartoons), Doctor Who and Blake's Seven on VHS and > they took up the whole damn loft! Now I can have it all on a box smaller > than half a VHS cassette. > > > > > > And if that's not enough. To quote from Down The Line, "What is point DVD?" > > > > > > The weirdest exam result (was the A) I got for an AO Level in "Science in > Society", so I've known about the idea of "peak oil" and "climate change" > for ages. I recon that if we are going to run out of the oil and stop > killing the planet, then the easiest thing for people to give up is buying > data stamped onto heavy plastic carted around by lorry. It's just so > unnecessary! > > > > > > If you are investing, invest in fat datapipes not past-it plastic. > > > > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/19/musicnews.netmusic?gusrc=rss&feed=technology > > > > > > > > Cheers > > zzzzzIan Forrester > > This e-mail is: [x] private; [] ask first; [] bloggable > > Senior Producer, BBC Backstage > BC5 C3, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > work: +44 (0)2080083965 > mob: +44 (0)7711913293 > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Woodhouse > Sent: 20 February 2008 13:31 > To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk > Subject: RE: [backstage] HD-DVD / Blu Ray > > > On Tue, 2008-02-19 at 15:26 +0000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > What I /heart/ about the pre-2K bit of plastic is the way it takes > > control over your TV/DVD and insists that you watch the copyright > > notices > > Sounds like you need to get yourself a better DVD player. > > -- > dwmw2 > > - > Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please > visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. > Unofficial list archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ > > - > Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please > visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. > Unofficial list archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > k/ > > > > > > -- > Please email me back if you need any more help. > > Brian Butterworth > http://www.ukfree.tv > ***************************************************************************************** > To view the terms under which this email is distributed, please go to > http://www.hull.ac.uk/legal/email_disclaimer.html > > ***************************************************************************************** > - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. 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