from the short-run-vs.-long-term dept
Remember all that hype about the paperless office? The paperless home? Heck, even the paperless life! Well, so do some Sony executives who think
the persistence of paper proves that Blu-Ray discs is here to stay. Speaking at an expo in Denver, Sony SVP Andy Parsons said, "I'm fond of recalling the old visions of the past that the paperless office would completely obliterate the need for paper. It seemed like a very reasonable, logical prediction decades ago that turned out to be completely wrong." The only problem with this self-promotional position (besides the fact that recent research shows
younger people aren't interested in using paper) is that it ignores the many formats of information that have come and gone. Paper is unique in its ubiquity, but Sony should know all about formats which die; after all, they invented a couple. While discs may be around for a while due to existing infrastructure, the clear trajectory is towards digital only as evidenced by the swing towards net-centric devices like Apple's MacBook Air, the iPhone and Dell's new netbooks. As bandwidth and net-connected devices increase, shiny pieces of plastic will disappear (for everyone but the collectors) along with their tape-based predecessors.
Filed Under: discs, formats
