Sci-fi.com has released its eulogy for physical media (tapes, CDs, DVDs etc) which, they say, will be part of modern history by 2010. I can’t see too many tech observers disagreeing with that, but some might argue the predicted expiry date is a little out of whack. I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that physical media is already technically obsolete and it’s only 2006 (at least it was last time I checked). The current debate about who will win the Hi-Def DVD wars is largely irrelevant. Whether HD-DVD or Blu-Ray triumph, one thing is certain: their victory will be very shortlived. Before long the concept of "going online" will seem curiously outdated. We’ll be online all the time, wherever we go. The content we crave will come to us when we need it. We may store some content locally on simultaneously tiny (sized) and massive (capacity) hard disks but we’ll have little need for the physical media we used to covet.
Rest in peace physical media. Your time has already passed.