I saw this over at blu-ray.com:

Digital Sales Cool Off

Here's the artical it's quoting:

Film studios scramble as digital sales cool

Here's why digital sales have slowed down:

1. With iTunes, the market leader, you can only watch their DRM-protected content on iTunes, iPods, iPads, iPhones and the Apple TV.

2. With Zune Marketplace, next in line, you can only watch their DRM-protected content on Windows PCs, the XBOX 360 and... well... the Zune, but who actually owns one?

3. With the PSN Marketplace? PS3 and PSP.

4. CinemaNow? Devices with CinemaNow established on it.

So on and so on and so on. Too many choices, but no "universal" format. You can watch a DVD in practically anything now. Blu-ray? Almost the same thing.

What? Blu-ray.com posted negative articles on Digital? That's so weird!

Digital is a clusterfuck. Until Studios figure it out, it will be total chaos.

No mention of the bit torrent market.

Vendor lock-in didn't seem to be a problem when iTunes files had DRM for years. Video games also seem to be immune, although I suppose people understand that it's not an easy process to port to different platforms.

I guess the overwhelming popularity of the iPod made proprietary music viable, and there's just no equivalent for digital video. But I see this as more of a sign that rentals (including streaming) will be more prevalent in the future. I wonder if people are just rejecting digital purchases, or purchases of any format.

Keep in mind Digital Sales and Rentals are two different things. Who would buy a movie for $15 digitally when its $10 on disc?

I own one and I LOVE it. Nah just kidding. I do own one and I mainly use it for music. I have a couple of 30 for 30 videos on it but 90% of it is used to download music on to.

I think it has a lot to do with mindset. I'm very wary of buying movies and/or tv shows digitally, but I'm more than happy to rent via amazon, itunes, etc. I have a buddy who watches a TON of stuff via Netflix streaming and Xbox, but when it comes to actually buying the media he still goes for the physical format.

Not very enticing with the bandwidth caps most major IPs now have in place.

Yeah...this is going to be the big issue in the next few years. Is it really going to be worth it to pay for Netflix, Hulu, etc., then have to pay extra for at least 8 to 10 MBPS internet THEN have to worry about 200 to 300 GB caps?

I think itunes will be offering 1080p movie downloads soon. Still, most download prices are too high and you have to store/back-up them yourself.

Amazon VOD is nice with streaming AND downloads, but again, prices are still a little too high but the Prime deal is good. I'd probably go with this if I had an extra computer.

I think netflix streaming is the winner.

True, but that would actually favor purchases over rentals (streaming). If you purchase a downloaded movie, it's on your local storage and you could watch it a second time without incurring any more bandwidth. With streaming or a rental past the window, it has to be downloaded all over again.

The only universal market that exists.

Funny. Good stuff.

Love that Chuck clip

If I purchase something I want to be able to hold it in my hands. With music or CD's it was easier. Why buy 6 songs I don't care for to get 6 I do? With a movie it's all or nothing. I'm not going to buy a movie with limited playability even if it's cheaper than a disc i can play almost anywhere

The media industry is fucking itself by:

1) its own stupid rules;

2) not providing extras from previous versions;

3) Re-packing the same titles in so many versions, consumers just get in a habit of waiting.

HINT TO THE MEDIA INDUSTRY. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. You can't fool the consumer repeatedly. They eventually figure it out and with the net, it's even easier to spot a bad release with few ported-over extras from previous versions.

The real problem for the content owners is that consumers are overloaded with options now for entertainment, which drives the price of all available content down as the market fractures into micro-segments. Physical media is going away to a great degree, but digital is never going to make up for the lost revenue. The music industry was the canary in the coal mine.

That's my thought, but who knows. People bought DRM-protected itunes music (crazy IMO), but then again, they could at least burn a CD from it if they wanted.

DRM'd digital copies are worth absolutely zero to me. I won't even bother with them for free.

If they wanted, but not only are the files addled with DRM, they also sport a crappy 128kbs lossy bitrate!

I've never paid for a single digital file in my life and I never will.

Amazon throws credit for online videos to anyone that even looks at their way. I've bought stuff just because I'd rather use it than lose it.

The article itself is sensationalist junk. Why not also use this part and proclaim that both physical and digital media is failing because sales are slowing? Sales of all products slow down at times and go up at others, it doesn't always mean doom and gloom or a product will be sure to succeed.

Amazon and iTunes are both 256kbs now and are DRM free. Still not great quality, but better than it used to be...

I really don't like buying anything digital. I've bought 2 music albums, but never rented/bought a digital movie or e-book. I have never bought an App either. I have bought quite a bit of DLC for video games but to me that feels more tangible.