The Death of Physical Media.

       There are a lot of items in the news, currently, that bear some deep thinking:  Cops being murdered in Dallas in retaliation for things that happened in two places that are certainly not Dallas, Bernie selling out to Hillary, Why now, more than ever, we need a viable third party candidate.  I will not be addressing these.  Sadly, when examined, they are exactly what they appear.

       Instead I will address the death of physical media, and why it is a bad thing.  Two items conspired to put me on this track.  First, one friend has decided to do a blog reviewing obscure albums and bands.  Its worth visiting. (Flagrant free plug).  The other item was that another friend called while I was loading a Blu ray for the kids, and commented on how odd it was that I still used physical media.  It is odd, actually.  But a few days later I was truck by an epiphany... or a bread truck... something made me start thinking, anyway.

       See physical media has an intrinsic value.  I do not mean the mere ability to barter it.  But that it exists in an unaltered form.  Like the strange albums reviewed on the site above.  In a the modern world these records would be removed from the servers to make more room for Taylor Swift's newest album.  (Nothing against her, really, but the world needs Captain Beefheart too.  Now more than ever)

        Not only do we run the risk of only being able to select from pre-screened corporate rock, movies, and books, but there is a more insidious trouble lurking here.  Do you own an unaltered copy of Star Wars?  Nope.  Not even that dust covered VHS is the same as the original print.  Wouldn't you like to own a copy of that?  Now what do you think would have happened if you owned a unaltered copy, but on a cloud server, and Lucas Film wanted to "improve" it to the new version.  Guess which copy you would now own.

       I hear many of you yelling at your screens: "But anyone can publish anything they want now.  Virtual publishing works."  Sure, right up until someone needs server space, or someone decides we should be offended by it, or a media conglomerate sends a DMCA takedown request, you can find it.  But where are those things in ten years?  Twenty?

       I'm not saying we shouldn't be using virtual media, but there are inherent problems with it.  Physical media has it's share of problems as well.  The best use of virtual media would be archiving physical media, as virtual media has the capacity to be permanent.

Advance vs. Progress

       Let's take a moment and think deeply about what constitutes progress, and what is merely an advancement.  In order to get a feel for this, I will list some examples of each, and discuss why they are categorized where they are.
       The App Phone (Android, iphone etc.)  This is an example of progress, as it completely altered the way we interact with technology.  The Cell phone of old is merely a telephone, the App phone is a portable computer, and all that entails, that also makes calls.
       An example of Advance, without progress is the battery powered towel dispensers that seem to be popping up all over.  Rolled paper is cheaper than a "c" or "z" fold (pull one and the next comes out) self dispenser.  BUT batteries are costly, become depleted, leaving users with no way to access towels, are environmentally less sound than the NOTHING that would be used to power the other dispenser, and there is one more insidious point.  When you see the Battery powered dispensers, there is usually a soap dispenser that takes batteries, with the same issues, and a toilet paper dispenser that holds four rolls.  Nothing says "this restroom never gets cleaned" like an industrial paper dispenser.
       Some things are less clear cut.  Hybrid cars are certainly advanced, but progress?  No.  All told they are not economically viable, (you won't make back the cost difference) they really don't get better mileage than diesels, (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm) and the batteries are an environmental nightmare.  Especially when you consider that the people buying them are usually trying to pollute less.
       A clean, efficient energy source to produce cheap electricity, with all electric cars powered by graphene (nano-tube) Ultracapacitors (http://green.autoblog.com/2010/12/01/supercapacitor-breakthrough-beats-batteries-with-graphene/), would be progress.  But it would greatly alter the status quo, and will never be allowed to happen.
       CFL, and LED bulbs are an advance, but not progress. (Shameless self link, http://truthdeep.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-would-you-ever-buy-cfls.html)