I will avoid getting mired in the source vs. output argument of which is better. Long time readers of my posts already know I believe the output end of things matters more than their beginnings (though both are important).
The question I have been pondering as of late concerns our move towards streaming. Yes, I understand vinyl is a critical and wonderful medium—and so too are our silver disc collections—but over the next decade, I believe streaming will continue its inevitable forward march. The lure of a multi-million piece library is just too much to resist.
And if we follow this thread to its logical conclusion, what's the chance that sources will even matter in the future?
We know, from our work on the upcoming Octave server and Memory Player, that it's now possible to gather digital bits together in such a way as to render them identical to each other. That their source will increasingly become irrelevant if we handle them properly.
What that would appear to mean is the eventual elimination of the source as an equipment category. Our source might just be the pipe that connects us to the internet.
What might just emerge is a whole new crop of amazing output devices to enrich our lives.
That sounds pretty enticing to me.
You?
