It's been said that the physical disc format, including the DVD and the Blu-ray disc, will eventually become extinct as more customers download movies and content right from the internet. While that scenario is not stopping the Blu-ray disc camp from saying exciting things about having customers buy their beloved movies on yet another format, some are already looking past the latest movie disc craze.

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), always one to take a firm grasp of the future and make it today's reality, has announced that it will begin giving its iTunes customers the ability to rent digital movies in addition to buying them directly from its iTunes store -- and it's already signed up Fox Studios and Warner Bros. as partners in the new venture.

With JVC and other manufacturers building iPod capability directly into new television sets, the ability to rent a movie from iTunes, download it onto your iPod and then dock that unit into a new 50-inch flat-panel television is a scenario that may become reality soon. If it does, then renting movies using the DVD format would start to become stale. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) knows this, which is why it's moving into alternative distribution methods already. Although movies are already available via Apple's iTunes, the ability to rent content from all the major movie studios may be on the agenda for 2008. If so, how long will it be before DVDs and physical media become extinct? Give it a few years.