The end of Sony's optical media production is just the next logical step in the development of dematerialization.
For several months now, most manufacturers of "optical" equipment have been ceasing production. Most recently, South Korea's LG announced the complete shutdown of its Blu-ray chain, after having stopped all innovation in this field six years ago. LG was one of the leading manufacturers of Blu-ray players, but today's announcement is even more significant for a sector in full decline. This time, it's the very founder of the entire Blu-ray industry who is almost completely throwing in the towel.
In a simple, almost cold press release, Sony effectively announced the end of all Blu-ray recordable production. Perhaps even more importantly, Sony's announcement concerns the entire "optical" sector: the company is also ceasing production of Mini-Discs, MD data discs and DC mini cassettes. In a nutshell, Sony no longer believes in optical media, and confirms this by stating that "no successor is planned". Blu-ray is slowly dying, and there are no plans to replace it.
Well, "nothing" isn't quite right, since Blu-ray's replacement isn't yet to be found - it's already here. Of course, we're talking about everything to do with cloud storage and streaming. Why turn to Blu-ray when movies, TV series and video games are just a fiber away? Let's just say that when the Internet connection goes down, you're still glad to be able to slip a Blu-ray into the player! That said, if you have a working player, you'll still be able to get new discs, since pre-recorded Blu-rays are not affected by Sony's announcement. Not yet, that is.
