"Daddy, what is a CD-Rom?"

The new digital format was officially won by Sony. Blue-ray will replace DVD to be the choice content holder. Toshiba, sadly, has to write off billions of dollars worth of investment. To others, it would seem that at least, once this war is over, the world will settle on a settle format to deliver contents. And all the economies-of-scale yada yadas will come in. Sony would seem to secure a steady source of income in the near future. Wal-marts, Poh Kims and HMVs can safely import Blue-rays and the economies-of-scope yadas yadas will set in. Bottomline, Consumers win.

Or so it seems. If indeed the world is that great.

While the outright war between HD-DV and Blue-ray raged on, a silent killer emerges. Like a battle between good and evil, which ever blazes on, the silent killer is a paradigm shift by its own right. Yet, it is only an improvement, to be truthful. Come to think of it, the shadows of this silent killer has already worked its magic. The Americans, Europeans , Japanese and more Ang Mos have already relied their daily dosage of songs and videos on this silent killer.

From gramophones to cassette tapes to large LDs to CD-Roms to DVDs to Blue-Rays, this path of evolution will morph quickly to nothingness. Nothingness? Yes. Nothing is something that is basically nothing but once you realise that nothing is something, then that something will become nothing. Ok, I want to say is that from plastic discs, the next generation will live in a world of nothingness. Where songs and videos are delivered through the web. Where I buy songs and videos directly online and have them downloaded to my iPods, MacBook Air and iMac.

Therefore, to Sony, it is of no gratification that they have won the High Definition format war. The battle still rages on. I have read that, the industry only expected a life-span of 1 to 1.5 years for Blue-ray. An extremely short period, considering the amount of capital used for R&D and marketing efforts. Can't even recoup the initial capital outlay.

This is one area that is of fundamental shift in the industries that deal with deliverance of contents. HMVs, Poh Kims, Warner Brothers, Play Music, Hollywood and the long, long list of whos and whos. Up this point, I must complain.

I have waited for iTunes Music Store to arrive for more than 3 years. 3 years. Gasps! Apple has made a foray into the online retailing of music and videos and it has proven its strengths. The potential is unlimitless. No longer would anyone has to pay for the whole album for one song, no longer do we have to tolerate the pain of storing CDs or DVDs, and no longer do we have to painstaking making sure that my brother, Desmond, has put my CD back to the exact CD case. All contents would be downloaded to the computer, preferably a Mac of course. Furthermore, with videos, I can download the shows into my iPod Touch and carry them with me on my trips.

Of course, the reason for the long 3 years wait is because of the tough resistance from the industries which I have mentioned above. True, we are talking about wiping out of a long line of established companies and shops, but ultimately, we are talking about consumers' satisfactions and needs and I can't fathom the resistance.

But, this is a resistance that is bound to crumple. To be utterly destroyed. The reason? When is the last time you have bought a CD? Sharing of songs are so common between people. One person buy it and the whole HDB will have the songs. One trip to China alone will allow one to get shows and serials at dirt cheap price. So what are the establishments protecting against? Resisting against? It is a war lost. As demand decrease (for normal piece of original CD), yada yada, supply will contract. Once supple is reduced, naturally, the costs will be driven higher. All these yada yadas can be learned in schools. I am just want to say, PLEASE GET iTUNES MUSIC STORE INTO SINGAPORE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. As a conclusion. Online distribution of Contents Rules!