Online may be the inevitable future of multimedia, but it's definitely not the best future.
I have to disagree with you
I understand the appeal from a backwards-compatibility perspective, but all those "cloud" features that many hold in such high esteem rely on operational servers. Those servers and the software they run on have finite life-spans just as the Vinyls, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays etc. do. This is where the problem comes in. When you are relying on some external entity (such as a publisher, like EA or an online retailer like Amazon) to keep your product alive for you, then you are completely at their mercy. Physical media still provides some measure of control over the lifespan of your product.
As long as you are able to provide a medium on which to use your product, you can use it. For example, I own a turntable that has seen better days, but it still works and still plays Vinyls that my Dad owned in the 70's. Obviously, those Vinyls won't last forever and neither will the turntable, but as long as I can maintain both in a usable condition, I can use them. The same priniciple applies to the usability of games and other forms of media. I'm not totally convinced that the servers provided by Valve, GOG, EA, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix (the list goes on) will still be operational 20 years down the line.
The music example is slightly different as I believe that it ages better than games, but I hope you see the point I am trying to make: Online = someone else determines the lifespan of your product. Physical medium = It is possible to extend the lifespan of your product if you wish to do so.
I understand your point of view but you need to remember that not all media is distributed equally. In other words, you might have a permanent online library of music available to you through Spotify, but you may instead decide to buy and download music for offline (detached from the service) use and in which case you'd use a different provider such as iTunes or some other web-based service.
Similarly, to touch on Jim Sterling's video in the OP, you have multiple services available for online distribution for PC through which you can download games without DRM (read: better than a disc) such as GOG and flexibility is one of the many advantages to the PC.
The only difference in this regard with consoles is that you ultimately rely on the manufacturer (Sony/Microsoft) to keep their online services going. But you also rely on their consoles and, in that way, you are tied to that manufacturer and their lifespan however which way you look at it.
Dare I bring the word 'piracy' into this discussion? I must. You surely know about ROMs and console emulation. A console's lifespan reaches its end, who cares, whip out the emulator and voilà , life goes on. Similarly, through piracy, you are bound to find any number of disc images of games that you might not be able to buy any more for console.
Again, online saves the day. It might not be legal but if it exists, a functional copy is out there--it's the dream of anyone who is afraid ever "losing" their content because of a service being discontinued.
It's also important to remember that a service won't one day simply disappear and certainly not without warning. There will also always be others to take its place (read: buy up the service and continue it). This is what happened with Stardock's Impulse service when it became GameStop's brand new digital distribution platform.
Online
is better and I definitely believe that it
is the best future for all forms of media whether for convenience, longevity, quality and availability or just because it gives you more freedom to choose.
My point is that with a console you
will be tied to the manufacturer whether you buy their discs or use an equivalent online service. If the console or your disc breaks one day at the end of its lifespan then that's it, game over. You'll be playing it on a PC with an emulator and a pirated ROM
However, if a manufacturer focuses on an online environment you may be able to play those games way into the future regardless of which generation of console they release because of the probability of cloud computing and digital ownership on a single account across generations. The services would be unlikely to ever be terminated since they would almost certainly bolster their income through subscription or through continued success of their games/platforms.
