Is Digital The Way Forward???

[Alex]

So I was reading this article on IGN that talked about digital copies of music, films etc and comparing it to physical copies.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1063797p1.html

The guy writing the article is obviously a big supporter of digital, saying it allows him to save space due to not needing to put physical copies somewhere.

Now what are your views on digital vs physical???

I like digital but I don't think it will replace actual copies. Some people mention it is better for the environment etc and admittedly I agree with that but you also have problems.

If your hard drive get's corrupted your screwed and unless your allowed to re-download the film/game/song for free again your going to have to pay for it. If you get bored of the game/song/film you can't exactly trade in a digital copy can you.

This is why I prefer physical copies, because you can trade it in if you do get bored of it, it also gives me a sense of satisfaction knowing I have an entire collection of films and CDs and if they get damaged you know it's your own fault.

 

[RedStar]

I could argue that a corrupted harddrive is equivalent - well no, actually I'd say it's much less likely - than a movie/game/music album getting scratched. This is why, when I get an album shipped from amazon, I rip the songs and then never let the CD touch anything ever again in fear of it getting damaged.

Personally, I prefer physical when it's convenient. If I have a reasonably fast way of obtaining it and I can easily afford it, I will usually opt for physical because I like the feeling of having a real album over only having an mp3 file. That's just me, and it sounds like OP feels the same way. I'll have to admit though, digital is very convenient and I really do think it will replace physical after a while; starting with music. In the link you posted, the guy makes a pretty good point about how not everyone has an uber connection capable of getting you your movie/game in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[ABMorales787]

Thats would be a terrible move. Sony has to deal with all the pirated content generated by PSP hackers, imagine if you obtain copies of PS3 games over the internet. Hackers would swarm in and do everything in their power to hack it. Then when wheres the revenue gonna come from? They've managed to slow down PSP hackers with the PSPGO but its only a matter of time. Some things would work great over the internet, others don't. Games shouldn't be one.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I can see why digital could replace hard copies, but having a digital copy of something is risky. It's more convenient because you don't have to worry about scratches, but you DO have to worry about something far worse.... data loss. I try to keep a hard copy of every important game/file that I have. For video games themselves I keep a hard copy of the game itself, and for important computer files I back them up to a jump drive once a week (usually during ECW.... not really sure why, it just randomly turned into a weekly tradition over this summer)....

I learned the hard way to back up important files. I had thousands of MP3's and some video game files that I downloaded for games of mine that the hard copy no longer worked. During a thunderstorm in 2003, lightning hit our thunder rod, and I lost everything on my computer. EVERYTHING. I was devastated. Ever since then I have backed up important files and preferred having access to a hard copy at all times despite how much more convenient a digital copy is.