Going digital...

I know we haven't really talked about this in class yet, but I'm really interested in the move to go to digital by filmmakers, particularly those who are recent converts. I'm thinking of this in the context of Lynch whose new film Inland Empire is apparently shot completely in DV, and is causing quite a raging debate on the web. I also read about a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival headed by Steven Soderbergh this past week that dealt with this topic. I definitely understand the economic/distribution advantages of going digital, and I'm not even one of those people who claim the quality of digital is always shabbier. But, insofar as film is a visual medium and one that depends on a visual aesthetic what does a shift motivated more by economics then by visual appeal? I know that Soderbergh at least has talked about DV entirely in the context of releasing films through different mediums, which to me is a different question then what it does for the aesthetic of film. So, is it a good thing? A sad thing? Will it change how we literally view film?