jamyskis: Yeah, computing tech is another perfect example of what I was talking about with market trending more towards splitting than being supplanted. I know the entire IT industry was in a frenzy about how tablets would make the PC obsolete, and it's never come to pass and doesn't look like it ever will.
It's the same prediction that industry pundits made when laptops came about, that the days of the desktop were numbered. The quiet dissenting voices pointing out that laptops could never achieve the performance of desktop were openly mocked and pushed to the side, because it was a rational view that wasn't profitable, wasn't sellable and wasn't newsworthy. And yet, 20 years later, here we are.
That's not to say tablets and laptops don't have a raison d'etre - tablets are superb as consumption devices and for simple games, laptops for creative processes where the user has to move around a lot or only has limited space. These solutions offer benefits but compromise on certain features to achieve these benefits.
So I'm sure streaming will find its niche for in-home solutions, gaming rentals and demoing, but when local gaming is an affordable, technically and legally superior alternative, there's no way it's going to be replaced by streaming just because the industry wants it to.
It's funny because people are still buying gaming laptops and getting upset that they don't perform as well as desktops that are thousands of dollars cheaper (for instance, saw an ASUS gaming laptop for $1300 with a 750m in it. This is weaker than my 5 year old desktop by a long shot, cost about the same). People are constantly buying laptops for gaming and are surprised when they find out it is ill-suited for it. Why? Because laptops are all they've ever known, or they are always on the go and can't use a desktop.
