Peddling movies and TV shows on optical media is making less and less sense. Video discs are cumbersome, costly, inflexible, and fragile, to list just a few of their shortcomings. In consequence, physical formats have had their days numbered since the popularization of file-sharing. Despite great advances in file compression, content distribution and broadband Internet, consumers are being sold yet another optical disc format. Blu-ray may have won over HD-DVD, but consumers are the ones who ultimately lose by being fed this new spin on old technology.

So, why are studios so reluctant to ditch physical media in favor of online distribution? Making it harder for pirates to copy and distribute their products is one excuse; but clearly, if you browse any bittorrent site, ripping a disc has never discouraged file sharers. In fact, by snubbing online distribution they’ve denied consumers the easiest and most practical means to access what they want, leading to–you guessed it–illegal downloads!

Another reason, is that promoting a new media format fuels the sale for all sorts of accompanying hardware and new gadgets. I’m talking about entire product categories at Best Buy. The last thing consumer electronic makers want, is for you to settle with your laptop and headphones when watching a video, and yet, this is precisely the trend that is taking place.

Lastly, media companies fear that fast Internet and mass personal storage will forever bring an end to their sense of control over who sees what, when, and for how much. Don’t expect these entities to give into reason and compromise anytime soon. Stuck in last-century paradigms, they view control over consumers as their only means to earn a buck. Radiohead would disagree.

Indeed, control is what Blu-ray is all about. It allows Sony and their partners to milk an old business model one last time. It’ll be their last chance to sell standalone disc players, boxed copies of titles, and a royalty earning proprietary format. Without such items, there are no profits to be made in this decaying business structure.

Even though video discs are on their way out, realistically, it’s still impractical to download and store 1080p copies of feature length films. In addition, even if it were practical, mainstream consumers have yet to bridge the gap between their PC, TV and Internet (although the PS3 has the greatest potential to do this–go Sony!). Does this mean we should let Blu-ray off the hook? Not completely.

The problem for Blu-ray is that it’s off to a slow start, and it’ll likely take years for the public to embrace the new format. With a wide selection of legal movie downloads promised in the near future, it’s reasonable to assume that downloadable HD content is just around the corner.

With disc-less content destined to threaten Blu-ray’s viability, how and when will consumers be ready to handle downloaded HD content? By taking a peek at the file-sharing scene, we can glimpse the latest innovations at work, and what likely lies ahead for the rest of us.

Pirates and file-sharers have consistently met their own needs by creating remarkably advanced services in the absence of commercial ones. The community that harnessed compression technology to squeeze CD’s into mp3’s, and DVD’s into Xvid’s are already using superior codecs to shrink HD content into a more manageable size. In combination with Bit-torrent, or several promising successors that further improve distribution efficiency, all the tools are in place for swift video delivery, legally or otherwise.

Note: I know that videophiles are going to read the above statements and shake their fists! So I’ll clarify: I’m not suggesting that a standard x264/AAC rip is going to rival the 25GB source that it was taken from, just that compression technology is always advancing and will be of key importance to the future of HD content. I won’t be tossing my Blu-ray copy of BBC Planet Earth anytime soon!

With Internet and video compression technologies advancing at such a rapid pace, the comparatively stale Blu-ray format comes at an awkward time. The world is going HD, but also begging for disc-less media. As an HD enthusiast, I feel bitter about supporting Blu-ray, but, to be honest, I’m equally frustrated by the over-priced, under-performing ‘broadband’ Internet that make such physical formats a necessity. To have HD content streamed into our homes legally, effortlessly and at a fair price, it will take the cooperation of media producers, consumer electronic companies and telecoms. Unfortunately, theses entities collectively drag their feet (for a variety of sinister reasons that I’ll leave for another post).

Thankfully, change is coming. Recently, Apple announced plans to rent downloadable movies from their widly successful iTunes service. Even Sony is betting on disc-less media, announcing plans to sell DivX movies digitally to PS3 users.

In the war of video disc formats, mutual destruction of Blu-ray and HD-DVD would of been the best possible outcome. Such an event would of leapt the industry forward, helping to convince consumers that online distribution is ultimately the best and final solution for meeting their entertainment needs.

We don’t need another generation of plastic discs and specialized standalone players. Unfortunately, Blu-ray is here and has already won its first battle. So, let’s just hope that Blu-ray’s success is short lived, and we can move on, in a legitimate way, to what Internet users and file-sharers started a while back–the most revolutionary, efficient and convenient form of media delivery in modern history.