Digital distribution Facts for Kids

Digital distribution is a way to deliver information and entertainment using digital platforms. Think of it as getting movies, music, books, and games directly to your computer, phone, or tablet. This happens through the internet, so there's no need for physical things like CDs, DVDs, or paper books.

When you get content online, it can be either streamed or downloaded. Streaming means you watch or listen to something right away, like when you watch a show on Netflix. You don't usually save it permanently. Downloading means you save the content to your device, like a hard drive. This lets you use it later, even if you don't have internet.

Special networks called content delivery networks help send content quickly over the internet. They make sure things load fast and are always available. Sometimes, people also use peer-to-peer file sharing to share content.

How Digital Distribution Changed Shopping
Challenges of Digital Content
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How Digital Distribution Changed Shopping

Online distribution has really changed how we buy and get media. It has created new chances for businesses but also challenges for older ways of selling things. This shift affects music, news, and TV. For example, in the UK, a service called iPlayer uses a lot of the internet's capacity.

Music's Digital Journey

When music started moving online, sales of CDs dropped a lot in the 2000s. One reason was that it became easy to download music without paying. This made the music industry change how it worked.

A big help was the invention of smaller music files like MP3s. A typical song that might be 30 megabytes on a CD could become just 3 megabytes as an MP3. This made songs much faster to download.

Moving online has helped music sales grow again. It also made it easier for new artists to share their music. They can reach fans around the world without needing big record labels. Online stores also let people buy just one song instead of a whole album.

Downloading single songs grew a lot from 2004 to 2006. However, after 2012, downloading started to decrease. This was because music streaming services became very popular. By 2023, streaming makes up most of the music industry's income in the US.

Videos Go Online

In the 21st century, online video became very popular. This happened as internet speeds got much faster. Big platforms like Amazon Video and Netflix started their streaming services around 2007.

Today, many TV shows and movies are available online. You can find them directly from the companies that make them or from services like YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. These services let you watch content on computers, smartphones, tablets, or smart TVs.

Many movies you buy on Blu-ray or DVD also come with a "Digital Copy." This lets you watch the movie online or download it to your devices.

Books Become E-books

Books have also gone digital. This means you can read them on special devices called electronic book readers. These readers can hold many books at once, making them easy to carry. They also let you click on links to find more information.

Companies that adapted to digital books saw their sales increase. For example, one publisher saw its e-book sales go up by 68%. Another group of publishers had a 23% sales boost in just three months in 2012.

Some book publishers, like Tor Books, started selling e-books without digital rights management (DRM). DRM is a technology that tries to stop people from copying books. These publishers found that removing DRM did not hurt their sales.

Video Games: A Digital Revolution

Online distribution has changed the video game industry a lot. Gabe Newell, who created the digital game store Steam, explained why it's better than selling physical games. He said that in the past, making games for consoles like the NES was risky because of the physical cartridges. Now, with digital stores, game makers can take more chances and easily update their games.

Since the 2000s, many smaller and unique games have become popular. Digital distribution made it possible for independent game makers and modders to sell their creations. Before, it was too hard for them to compete with big game companies.

Many digital game stores appeared after 2004, like Steam, Origin, and Epic Games Store. These stores offer different features. Some, like GOG.com, do not use DRM at all.

Digital distribution is also better for the environment. Making physical discs and their cases uses a lot of natural resources and can create pollution.

Challenges of Digital Content

One challenge with digital content is that there are many different file formats. This can mean that some content only works on certain devices.

Streaming services can also have some downsides. You usually need a constant internet connection to use them. Sometimes, you can't save the content or move it to other devices. Also, the owners of the content or the platforms can control what you can access.

Even in 2019, businesses were still learning how to best handle digital content. It was a new and changing world for them.

Digital distribution facts for kids

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