The economics of the file industry also favor aggregation. Because digital files can be copied without degradation, the marginal cost of adding a new user is effectively zero. This has led to the consolidation of popular media into massive conglomerates that control vast libraries of files, locking them behind subscription paywalls.
Popular media—the films, series, memes, and music that define our zeitgeist—are the finished products. But the FILE Industry is what makes them resurrectable .
The heroes of the FILE Industry are the "migration engineers" who move petabytes of data from old servers to new ones, ensuring that Seinfeld or Stranger Things exists for your grandchildren.
This industry breaks down into three verticals: