Red-box will follow Blockbuster's path into history if they don't jump into some non-physical media delivery method.
This isn't an issue for those, like me, with 10/25 mbps fiber connections to their homes. However, I'm aiming to move to a much more rural home within the next two years. I'll probably be one of those searching eBay for DVD movies then.
“I expect DVDs, including Blu-Ray, to go the way of the 8-track within 5-7 years”
I’m kind of mixed on this opinion. Part of me thinks there will be physical media in the future, but I really can’t deny that the industry is shifting to a “download only” method of distribution. There will be higher resolutions, uncompressed audio tracks, 3D video, etc. Even with higher bandwidth in the future, it’d still take significant time for your average user to complete 40 or 80GB downloads.
Games are another form of entertainment that would require some fat pipes to download rather quickly. I recently waited a little over 2 hours for a demo of that new DC Online universe (16GB download) ... I have a 20Mbps connection. If it were something I could buy at a local Gamestop on disc, I would have ran there (not like I would buy that particular title ... it was impressive, but not my type of game).
It’ll be interesting to see how all of this unfolds :-)!
Netflix streaming is totally dependent upon ISP being able to keep up. Netflix does not have to pay for this “last mile” of the system. When ISP’s get tired of chasing their tails on streaming they will start to charge considerably more for high usage connections.
That is the problem with the Netflix business plan. Somebody has to pay and they won’t.