In contrast to downloading, where a music or video file is downloaded in its entirety to the smartphone or computer, with streaming the medium reaches the playback device almost in real time. Immediately after playback, the section disappears again and no storage space is wasted. In the true sense of the word, stream stands for current, in this case for a data stream. This technology is used by many well-known services. Netflix, Maxdome or various media libraries enable the streaming of films and series. Spotify, Apple Music and others offer the same for music. And even YouTube, probably the best-known site for media consumption, is nothing other than a classic provider of streaming technology.

why Streaming?

Quite simply: because it saves storage space and still makes content available in real time. Especially when consuming a two-hour blockbuster, streaming offers many more advantages than a complete download. Because by the time you have loaded this amount of data onto your playback device, the popcorn provided is cold and the beer warm. With streaming, on the other hand, playback starts immediately after a few seconds, provided you have a good WLAN or mobile phone connection. In addition, a certain section, usually a few minutes, is loaded in advance so that any short-term connection problems can be bridged.

What are the disadvantages?

The biggest advantage can quickly become the biggest disadvantage. The fact that you load the film onto your player in small chunks, without noticing it during playback, quickly becomes a nuisance if you have a poor data connection. Thus, annoying interruptions can interfere with the enjoyment of the film, even if these problems only occur from time to time. Similar difficulties can arise if you are streaming music on the road and your holiday trip takes you to the furthest mountain village, where a fast mobile phone connection is still wishful thinking.

Will streaming soon make classic television superfluous?

The same agreements apply to countries in the EEA (European Economic Area) as to the EU - i.e. Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. Contrary to many circulating opinions, Switzerland does not belong to the existing EU regulation. This means that mobile phone operators are able to charge high prices for call minutes or gigabytes consumed in Switzerland. The same applies to all other countries that do not belong to the EU and EEA. The USA, Turkey and some Balkan states are particularly worth mentioning here.