[opendtv] Re: NeTVs Really Are the 'Next Big Thing'
- From: Olivier Houot <olho_avatar_i@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:04:36 +0200
"Vudu, another purveyor of HD movies and TV programs over broadband, was
recently acquired by Wal-Mart as the retail giant shifts its focus away
from packaged DVD sales to downloads and streaming."
I am always doubtful regarding this recurring view of the upcoming
obsolescence of optical media due to broadband.
Where are you supposed to keep all the valuable contents you have paid
for? On hard disks ? Not a technology you can trust, in my opinion.
For reliability , nothing can beat a substrate that retains information
passively, with no electronics at all, just by virtue of small holes
etched into a substrate. So the downloaded contents should logically end
on optical disks, after all.
Of course, for temporary rental of movies, i have no problem with the
broadband option. But for movies you really want to own...Or any kind of
family archives, for that matter.
One recent french report dealing with reliability of consumer data
medias recommended the way of the Century disc. Not the one from
Mitsubishi, mind you. They appear to have stolen the name and applied it
to a product that is clearly a joke in comparison to the original.
The original was created by Digipress, now part of Plasmon OMS. One of
the option is a disk of hardened glass with no metal at all, that can be
read by a modified reader. Just as in Thomson's short-lived videodisc
format of 1980, they have also studied the possibility of having data on
both sides and reading either one by just refocusing the laser through
the transparent substrate.
I don't think the product is in great shape commercially right now, but
at least the technology exists. And you can imagine how long such a
recording could last physically (logical obsolescence is another
matter).
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