Streaming: The Future of Media?

[Painkiller]

Have we already approached a point where most of us spend more time accessing our media via streaming? I'm noticing a lot less people vocal about sticking to their guns of physically owning their movies, music, and so on.

There are advantages to streaming. You likely pay a monthly service fee to be delivered unlimited content for no extra cost. Also, the lack of tangible media sitting around is certainly more convenient for those living in apartments or smaller homes, and they'll never deteriorate. On top of that, media can also be streamed on a multitude of devices, as long as you can connect to the Internet. No nonsense over having to transport media via discs, USB flash drives, or external hard drives. Leave it all to the cloud to conveniently provide you all the content that you seek, and then some.

Now, what about its disadvantages? Obviously, if your Internet connection sucks, then you'll wish that you hadn't sold off your VHS and DVD collections. Subscribing to a streaming service puts your personal information at risk of being leaked or sabotaged by criminals and other undesirable people. Not only that, but all your recorded data is permanently stored in their databases, and they may be shared with other companies. Think of all those videos that you've rated, made playlists from, and shared on social media. It's pretty much like that, but even less anonymous than you'd think.

As far as my personal thoughts on streaming, I frankly don't care one bit about it. I just know that I'm not going that route anytime soon, be it movies or music. I'll always prefer to download and physically store my media. I want to have full control of my stuff for personal use, instead of entrusting it to those in higher ranks who couldn't care less about the feelings of each and every one of their customers.