With internet speeds constantly increasing, more and more people are able to stream music and videos online reducing the need for CDs and DVDs. Add in the lower cost of streaming options versus the alternative of going out to a theater or purchasing DVDs and you can see why, for the first time ever, the amount of online movies streamed legally will outpace the number of DVDs sold.

IHS Screen Digest is predicting that 3.6 billion movies will be streamed in 2012 with only 2.6 billion DVD and blu-ray purchases occuring. This is the first time that online streaming has out-paced DVD purchases. But, I must now call into the question the study, just for our readers. When you purchase a DVD, you get to keep a copy of the movie in question. However, some of the main providers of online streaming are more akin to Blockbuster where you are renting a video and don't get to keep a copy.