Simon Andrews at Big Picture writes:
"The price of memory has fallen dramatically - one megabyte cost around $7000 in 1956 when IBM launched the RAMAC 305 - and now its a matter of cents. The consequence of this? The CTO of Liberty predicts that a high-end PC or laptop in 2010 will have 60 terabytes of memory. To put that in perspective, you could save two hours of TV programming everyday for 75 years and still not fill the disc. What happens to the TV industry and the ad industry when that happens?"
One answer is that 60 terabytes won't be as much as it seems today, given our memory glut fest. Two hours of programming five years from now is going to take more space as TV goes high-def. I guess the 1956 guys couldn't imagine how one could fill a whopping 80 gigs with little more than a few games, some music and porn pics.
Another answer is more complicated and is a subject of my thesis. TV may follow the podcasting model when shows are automatically preloaded onto viewers' TVs and then unlocked either for a fee or in exchange for viewing a certain number of ad minutes.
