 |
We believe the emergence of Divx for digital video discs is
very indicative of this trend: with the cost of producing content going up while the cost
of massive, writeable optical media goes down, it is simply not cost effective to freely
distribute content on cheap media. Content distribution for more expensive material, we
expect, will likely follow a Divx like model, where purchasing the media is separate from
purchasing the content. The problems we pointed out with Divx earlier--the loss of a
user's privacy, for example--are part of the price to be paid for the availability and
convenience of cheap, massive storage. back |