I'm quite keen on Amazon; they do seem very efficient and have a far greater stock than any shop, especially when Marketplace is taken into account. Where else would I have found the old, long out of print, Vampire of Mons that I tried to and succeeded in buying the movie rights for all those years ago?

After the BAFTAS I decided I wanted to see The Hurt Locker (which a friend pointed out had been seen by many fewer than Vile Pervert; The Musical), District 9, Shifty and Moon and got all 4 for under £25 on Amazon.

Of course I'm a bit biased as I receive monthly quite hefty cheques for my product from them though not as much as I do from iTunes.

Has the era of the shop finished? My local Books Etc closing in Whiteleys means I can't walk to a bookshop any more.

There's another place I've recently found quite good for old movies - www.moviemail-online.co.uk/ - but amazon are excellent for DVDs and books. One tip I find a lifesaver when I can't find one of the books I already own and need to check on a page reference - use their 'search inside' facility to peruse it online for free. And the US amazon's song title search is great for finding all the cover versions.

I use Amazon too, but it's no substitute for personally handling a book and inspecting it first hand before buying. I do still have a local bookshop, but all of my local music shops have closed and so Amazon is useful for CDs and DVDs.

I must admit that the last book I bought from Amazon I had already handled it in the shop but decided to compare the price online. Amazon were selling it £5 cheaper with free postage.

Interesting - the two DVDs coming from America - The Hurt Locker and District 9 - arrived this morning. The two ones coming from the UK (to the UK) have not yet arrived!

I find Play.com tends to be cheaper for region 1 DVDs, but amazon in the US are now offering a range of classic movies burnt to order on DVD-r, which I guess may well be a growing trend. Some good titles, too.

DVDS?? Good grief JK, have you not got Blu Ray yet? I watched The Wizard Of Oz on this format last week and it is truly wonderful. District 9 looks really good on Blu but if you like your wildlife programmes like "Planet Earth" then there is no other format.

At the risk of sounding like the Judge "a pop group called The Beatles" - please explain why Blu, Giles - and don't they look like DVDs anyway?

The laser is blue rather than red. DVD holds approx four and a half gigabytes of data. Dual layer disc doubles that. Blu Ray holds up to 50 Gigabytes thus giving a massive improvement in sound and vision. Must admit i was sceptical about it myself until i saw it. A Blu ray player will also improve DVDs as well especially when played through a HDTV.

But will most people notice the difference?

I remember reading about a uk supermarket selling bluray players with an offer of a free connecting lead. They sold thousands. But it was eventually discovered that the free connecting lead was not compatable, and reduced the picture and sond quality to that of DVD. Nobody even noticed!