I hate to admit it, but Duncan Riley from TechCrunch is probably right. Downloads will not kill Bu-ray anytime soon:
Blu-Ray will likely be the last big/ mainstream physical media technology ever and it will have a strong future. The various factors needed for mainstream digital downloading and viewing will eventually combine to finally kill Blu-Ray (and the domination of all physical media) sometime between 2010 and 2020.
Physical media for such large file sizes is still easier for most consumers. 20 years ago I would have though that PayPerView would have killed VHS and other formats, but it didn’t.
The things digital movie providers need to focus on are:
-Uniform Pricing/Unlimited viewing plans (like Netflix)
-Better compressions/smaller files sizes (shorter download times)
-More flexible time periods (let’s face it….24 hours is not that much)
-Easier TV viewing for “mere mortals” (Apple TV is great)
-Simultaneous international availability (reduce piracy)
-Subtitles
-DVD extra content(I don’t really care about this…but it’s important to a lot of people)
Last but not least the fight for Net Neutrality needs to go on and has to be won. Otherwise hello Blu-ray…till 2050!