Death of carriers
A rather interesting tendency is happening now, in a sense even a revolutionary one. Factories and factories "producing culture" in its various manifestations throughout the twentieth century are gradually fading away, closing as unnecessary. Fewer and fewer people buy CDs and DVDs; books, newspapers and photographs are less and less printed.
What is behind all this? At first glance it may seem that it has always been like this - that simply new, more perfect carriers of “art and entertainment” are replaced by older ones. However, this is only a tendency of recent years and it will also end soon.
CD replaces audio tapes, DVD replaces VHS - the figure replaces the analog, but the media itself remains. What will happen next? DVD-A will replace CD, Blu-Ray will replace DVD. So what is next? One could suggest that some “ABC” replace DVD-A, and “CBA” replace Blu-Ray.
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But this will not happen. There will be no more carriers, only playback devices.
Why so? All because of the computer. Computer and Internet.
How does this come?
Now I want to consider only the sphere of cinema and music, as the most popular. However, the same trend can be traced in books, newspapers, photos and even virtual games.
So let's start with music.
Audio cassettes are long gone. They can be found except in motorists who did not bother to change in his middle-aged car radio.
Vinyl is not dead just because of the common myth that it has the best sound quality. The myth will shatter in the ordinary consciousness of audiophiles - the records will die.
The CD will also die because for an undemanding audience it was replaced by mp3, for a more demanding one - lossless. Only for a very demanding audience are carriers - SASD and DVD-A. That is, here we can already observe the very tendency of which I spoke at the beginning - the carriers die, everything spreads through the Internet.
As for the movie, there is a similar situation. VHS or “videotapes” allowed people to watch movies at home, just as vinyl records allowed them to listen to music. But, unlike vinyl, the poor quality of “video cassettes” is visible to everyone, so it is not surprising that, despite their late appearance, they have already died officially, as well as audio tapes (they are no longer produced).
The first massive digital format - DVD - is also reproached with a quick demise, albeit mainly due to the advent of Blu-Ray. With great confidence I can tell you that he will not last long. Moreover - most likely he will be the last carrier of cinema.
DivX as well as other codecs, as well as mp3 in music, allow people to even do without a small Internet channel without any media. Now, high-speed Internet allows people to watch movies in real time even in Blu-Ray quality, so it’s not excluded that their official sale will soon also be available via the Internet. In the media just will not make sense.
To be honest, there is no sense in them now, however there is such a thing as a habit. Moreover, people are more likely to become accustomed not only to the carriers, but to their collection. This kind of "cultural fetish" (in the continuation of the "commodity fetish" about which Marx wrote) gives people the pleasure of feeling the materiality of their purchase. People like beautiful covers and how the discs stand beautifully on the stand. People like to show their collection to friends, to be proud of it.
Accordingly, as soon as mania dies to collect and have everything in its material form on its shelf, all carriers will die. This is also due to the fact that you can have beautiful, orderly collections now in digital form, if you wish.
What is behind all this? At first glance it may seem that it has always been like this - that simply new, more perfect carriers of “art and entertainment” are replaced by older ones. However, this is only a tendency of recent years and it will also end soon.
CD replaces audio tapes, DVD replaces VHS - the figure replaces the analog, but the media itself remains. What will happen next? DVD-A will replace CD, Blu-Ray will replace DVD. So what is next? One could suggest that some “ABC” replace DVD-A, and “CBA” replace Blu-Ray.
')
But this will not happen. There will be no more carriers, only playback devices.
Why so? All because of the computer. Computer and Internet.
How does this come?
Now I want to consider only the sphere of cinema and music, as the most popular. However, the same trend can be traced in books, newspapers, photos and even virtual games.
So let's start with music.
Audio cassettes are long gone. They can be found except in motorists who did not bother to change in his middle-aged car radio.
Vinyl is not dead just because of the common myth that it has the best sound quality. The myth will shatter in the ordinary consciousness of audiophiles - the records will die.
The CD will also die because for an undemanding audience it was replaced by mp3, for a more demanding one - lossless. Only for a very demanding audience are carriers - SASD and DVD-A. That is, here we can already observe the very tendency of which I spoke at the beginning - the carriers die, everything spreads through the Internet.
As for the movie, there is a similar situation. VHS or “videotapes” allowed people to watch movies at home, just as vinyl records allowed them to listen to music. But, unlike vinyl, the poor quality of “video cassettes” is visible to everyone, so it is not surprising that, despite their late appearance, they have already died officially, as well as audio tapes (they are no longer produced).
The first massive digital format - DVD - is also reproached with a quick demise, albeit mainly due to the advent of Blu-Ray. With great confidence I can tell you that he will not last long. Moreover - most likely he will be the last carrier of cinema.
DivX as well as other codecs, as well as mp3 in music, allow people to even do without a small Internet channel without any media. Now, high-speed Internet allows people to watch movies in real time even in Blu-Ray quality, so it’s not excluded that their official sale will soon also be available via the Internet. In the media just will not make sense.
To be honest, there is no sense in them now, however there is such a thing as a habit. Moreover, people are more likely to become accustomed not only to the carriers, but to their collection. This kind of "cultural fetish" (in the continuation of the "commodity fetish" about which Marx wrote) gives people the pleasure of feeling the materiality of their purchase. People like beautiful covers and how the discs stand beautifully on the stand. People like to show their collection to friends, to be proud of it.
Accordingly, as soon as mania dies to collect and have everything in its material form on its shelf, all carriers will die. This is also due to the fact that you can have beautiful, orderly collections now in digital form, if you wish.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/48519/
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