In a digital world you don't own stuff, you just license it

[Will E Worm]

The End of Legacy Media (Newspapers, Magazines, Books, TV Networks)
August 23, 1998



Most current media formats will die and be replaced with an integrated Web medium in five to ten years.

Legacy media cannot survive because the current media landscape is an artifact of the underlying hardware technology. Whenever the user experience is dictated by hardware limitations, it is a sure bet that something better will come along once these limitations are lifted.

Why are traditional media separate? Why do you have to chose between either
•seeing moving images of an event on TV
•reading the full story in the newspaper
•reading a reflective analysis of the underlying issues in a magazine

Why not all three in a single medium? And why not link the coverage to archival information from an encyclopedia, an atlas, biographies of the people involved, historical novels that bring the relevant countries' past to life, and many more books?

The answer is obvious: You can't screen a film clip in print, you can't broadcast a long article on television, the newspaper presses don't wait for weeks' worth of research for the reflective story, and it would be too expensive to send magazine subscribers a small library of books just in case they wanted deeper background information.

In other words, current hardware prevents true media integration. Even so, there have been attempts: Newspapers often include a Sunday magazine and the better ones assign reporters to work for long periods of time to research and write extensive background articles that go far beyond yesterday's news. Sometimes books are rushed to print to cash in on public interest in a high-profile event.

Click for more: Article

So, why have they not died and been replaced yet?

According to this prediction this should have come true in 2008.


The reason is people still want to buy physical items. No one owns digital anything.

You're wasting your money on digital items.

In a digital world you don't own stuff, you just license it


A federal judge has reminded us of a fundamental reality: if it's digital, we don't own it. In an unfortunate but unsurprising ruling, District Judge Richard J Sullivan sided (pdf) with the Copyright Cartel – specifically, Capitol Records in this case – against an innovative startup that was providing a marketplace for used songs.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/05/digital-media-licensed-not-owned



Think You ‘Own’ What You ‘Buy’ on the Internet?

Think again.


http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/you-bought-it-but-dont-own-it-and-thats-wrong-114163

 

[tvstrip]

If you ever buy digital games (Steam, PSN, XBO, etc) it actually tells you in big bold letters it's only a licence. A lot a physical media advocates point to this, saying you're only "renting" digital games, not buying them.

But what's the difference in reality? Yeah, you can sell your used physical product but not a digital download; I think that's a big reason why it's licensed. I think we can all agree just because you bought a digital copy you shouldn't be allowed to resell it multiple times.
And yes,if the licence expires and you need to redownload the game/movie that's a problem. But what if you have a backup or it's drm-free & you can perpetually use it?

So what's the significance really?

 

[sean miguel]

I've an aversion to physical media. It may as well be papyrus or a stone tablet. It just seems so archaic. I've over 700 songs and scores of movies purchased digitally that are stored online and are available at will on multiple devices as long as I have an internet connection.

My gaming library is for the most part digital download. I pre-order an upcoming release, it downloads in advance and I can play it the moment the release date hits. And with no sales tax or shipping charges, not to mention the clutter of all those discs and their cases.

 

[Jack Davenport]

You can own the intellectual property rights.

 

[meesterperfect]

This is what they want to apply to the currency of all countries who let them.
You don't physically own your money, it's just a number that stays in a bank for the bankers to play around with.
If that's not a form of slavery I dont know what is.

 

[Luxman]

There is a danger to using too much digital media, especially now with more and more people using cloud servers to store their data.
History can be easily changed or rewritten if most knowledge exists as digital media.

For example, if an ebook on Amazon is banned, they can delete all copies saved in clients accounts, on their Kindle readers, or PC's, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, etc., without our knowledge or asking our permission.

They did it last year, ironically one of the books was 1984 by George Orwell. I'm not sure if that was a coincidence or intentional as a warning to the possible control governments or other self interest groups have over our published knowledge.

http://biggovernment.news/2015-12-0...om-deletes-books-from-your-kindle-device.html

When I read an interesting or important article, I usually right-click on an empty space on the page and click "Save as" or "Save Page as" to save a copy to my HD, and about once a month I backup all my downloads to an external 2TB USB portable HD, in case the article is deleted or changed.
I also do the same for videos and pictures.

Big Brother is literally watching almost everything we do online and also wherever there are cameras.
All devices have cameras and microphones, so it's easy for anyone with the right knowledge to covertly listen to or watch anyone with a cellphone, tablet or laptop.

 

[Supafly]

There is a danger to using too much digital media, especially now with more and more people using cloud servers to store their data.
History can be easily changed or rewritten if most knowledge exists as digital media.

...

Big Brother is literally watching almost everything we do online and wherever there are cameras.
All devices have cameras and microphones, so it's easy for anyone with the right knowledge to covertly listen to or watch anyone with a cellphone, tablet or laptop.

That is why I only rely on cloud services for data that is not vital and would be missed.

And I will never change one thing:

If I want to permanently save something, it goes mon an external drive - or I get a dvd or cd.

Concerning books - I still are almost completely reading books like they were made for centuries.

I might use more ebooks, but right now, I am satisfied with the way it is.

 

[acenipplelicker]

I've an aversion to physical media. It may as well be papyrus or a stone tablet. It just seems so archaic. I've over 700 songs and scores of movies purchased digitally that are stored online and are available at will on multiple devices as long as I have an internet connection.

My gaming library is for the most part digital download. I pre-order an upcoming release, it downloads in advance and I can play it the moment the release date hits. And with no sales tax or shipping charges, not to mention the clutter of all those discs and their cases.

If your computer breaks and you need a new computer can you still get at the songs, games and movies on the internet.

I know I had cloud service possible with Norton if I stop using Norton can I still use and access the cloud even if I am not paid up. not sure I trust the cloud reliability.

reply please

 

[darkwarrior3007]

This is the reason I buy physical copies of products; games, books, movies, music etc... So that I actually own it.

 

[grabcock101]

very interesting