Hard Disks are dead, so are Blue Rays and DVD

We all know it was just a matter of time and it is finally happening. Solid state storage is a consolidated technology and their pricing will start the downward slope towards commodity very soon. The result? HD will be displaced and they will become a thing of the past. The interesting side effect of that is that, wait for it...., DVD and Blue Ray will become collateral damage in the process, disappearing from the market in the next 36 months.

At the beginning it was Air
Let's go in order, the first clear sign of things to come was Apple's Air laptop. A clear statement that you no longer needed a CD/DVD drive. A closer look would have also told you that if your pocket was deep enough, you did not need an HD either. In fact the only "Air" worthy of that name because it was indeed lightweight was the most expensive version using solid state storage instead of HD. Whereas this was done to save weight it was still a clear sign of things to come.

Here come the net-books
someone finally listened to consumers and they realized that the time was ripe for a portable computer that does not weight more than the kitchen sink. Enter the finally small and lightweight net-books. Yet another proof that web enabled devices (loosely defined as a gizmo that is always online) did not need physical storage media and that solid state storage was clearly the way to go. Case and point: the latest laptops now have memory stick ports. So long DVD, has been nice knowing you.

A moment of silence for Blue Rays
The possibly unintended consequence of the raise of solid state storage is the de facto death sentence handed over to Blue Rays and DVD. The convergence of devices always online and solid state storage makes these media obsolete as well. As technologist I feel sorry for the Blue Rays, they were clearly destined to a short shelf life but I was hoping (and so was Sony) for a fast and furious tale instead of a stagnant and boring one due to the battle with Toshiba and the HD DVD gang. Who won? Nobody. Not even us the consumers as we had to wait for things to settle before enjoying the benefit of high definition media and now it is basically over. Locally I give Sony credit for not crying on spilled milk and moving on already: this week they announced they will partner with NetFlix to deliver movies via IP on the PS3. Yep, that is the way to go boys. Let's all hold hands and let physical media rest in peace.

What is next?
Obviously we can look forward to more lightweight computing devices using solid state storage solutions. We can also expect that multimedia content will be sold on memory sticks for the conceivable future until everybody and their grandma will have internet access 24x7. The advantages of this technology are many but the one that marketing and sales will embrace is that it is cheaper to ship and package since it is considerably smaller and lighter. Just last week I read a press release about one of the Hollywood studios working on this already. It is coming, do not say I did not warn you and stop buying DVD already ;-) Oh and you may want to make sure you do not own stocks of companies who did not get the picture...