A few things you may have missed as last quarter was wrapping up: Toshiba dropped its high-definition disc war against Sony, admitting defeat to Blu-ray discs; and Apple released a new laptop, MacBook Air. Why mention both of these in one article? Well, upon investigating the new Mac, I noticed that it only has four ports and a hard drive. Apple has a slimmed down laptop with no inputs for discs. With just a headphone jack, USB 2.0, Micro-DVI (essentially a digital video/audio output port), and power connection, Apple has removed the conflict for Toshiba and Sony. This brings up a question that has been in the back of my mind for a while; at what point will the Internet be so commonplace for acquiring data that we abandon physical distribution methods altogether?

Ten years ago, it became possible to send songs across the Internet thanks to programs like Napster and some individual websites, despite the music industry’s protest. Now we can download nearly any song we wish, legally or illegally, through similar programs and websites. Furthermore, we are approaching the revolution where it becomes practical to buy a movie in high-definition and download it within a few minutes, if even that. Granted, to support the kind of traffic that downloading movies and TV shows from the Internet would generate, the Internet Service Providers (ISP) would need to upgrade their networks first. With the upcoming transition to fully digital high-definition TV’s and the switch to Blu-Ray discs from DVD’s, it seems that maybe the Internet dream is slightly further away than I’d hope for; however, with a laptop like the MacBook Air being released, I’ve found the pulse that could change the industry a little bit faster.

Although I’m not promoting iTunes as a monopolistic downloading program, follow my train of thought for a moment. With a program like iTunes (or even individual websites), users could purchase and download movies and TV shows and watch them directly on their computer; or with a wireless network set up in their house, watch it on their TV and hear through the home stereo system. However, because of the protective nature of Hollywood, a culture similar to Napster’s early years has developed, pirating thousands of movies from various websites and peer-to-peer sharing programs that already inhabit campuses around the country. And just as the music industry has taken too many years to finally give in and accept that the masses had decided on the new method of distribution, so will Hollywood give in to the masses too late. While the older generations are still attached to their discs and other physical data-containing devices, the younger generations are moving more and more to the Internet for their sources, both academically and recreationally. What this means for the nation, and the world at large, is that Hollywood will continue to be stubborn and complain as they lose millions of dollars instead of truly investing themselves to develop a strong and secure way to distribute films over the Internet.