Amazon.com, great pioneer of the digital book, declared that, starting from April 2011, electronic papers/hardback sales have overtaken the paper ones 105 to 100: small achievements, you will probably grin, but if it is not this that hints us the future evolution of multimedia, what else?
I will take it from far…
Nowadays, one’s cultural baggage is discernible by the size of the bookcases available in their house – and obviously by the quality of the papers there stored -, but in the future? Sooner or later, like it or not, all this is going to change: all the contents we keep in a physical form, so CDs for music, DVDs for films and books for literary works, tomorrow will not be recorded on medias, but they will be much more ethereal and impalpable indeed.
It is a phenomenon which, after all, has started years ago and keeps evolving during time. Apple’s iTunes Store has been, in 2003, the first attempt of music sales in a digital form, featured by a very positive feedback. In recent times, Amazon.com has taken and extended the idea in a significant way, offering not only music purchase under a download form, but also software, films and books. All the bought items were then to build a personal shelf which could be accessed from any location. Google as well, with its Google Music project, is testing its new music purchasing and selling service.