Say it ain't so, Nipper

SO, farewell, then, HMV?

My God, it really will be the end of something truly iconic in our high street if HMV joins Comet, Jessops, Woolworths et al as a long-established firm that is no longer with us.

This news tonight has upset me on so many levels, not least as one of my good friends works for the firm. I hope for his sake alone something can be done and the company will be saved.

Yes, we all know the way people listen to music and watch movies has changed dramatically in recent years.

And if you want my opinion - and yes, label me an old fart if you so please (and I know many of you will) - these changes are not for the better.

This bloody downloading of stuff onto an array of electronic devices has reached unbelievable levels.

But at what cost?

I'm pretty sure that if you asked an average teenager to show you their record collection, they'd look quizzically at you and ask you what a record was.

If you said a CD they might mutter about having a couple of those things in the plastic cases but they don't go in for them anymore.

Instead, their entire music collection is stored on a hard drive of some device or other.

Oh, so you haven't actually got the sleeve notes - or indeed the sleeve - to hold, and read, then?

Again, you'd be asked to explain what a sleeve was.

I am absolutely heartbroken to see this particular "progress" when it comes to music. Is this what it all means to the purchasers of music these days that something can be downloaded and stored without actually physically owning the said piece or pieces of music? If it is - and I guess it must be - then, to quote Private Fraser from Dad's Army: "We're all doomed!"

I've just read a shocking statistic that says 73.4% or music and film is downloaded today.

What is it with people? Don't they actually like to hold CDs and DVDs in their hands any more, never mind vinyl which I still love - and always will.

It also appears that HMV has been one of the victims of tax legislation while the vast juggernaut that is Amazon has managed to avoid paying tax so is making a fortune at the expense of companies such as HMV.

I'm not going to lie - I use Amazon. But I spent more money at HMV in 2012 than I did at Amazon, including a big chunk at Christmas where the queues in the Liverpool One outlet had to be seen to be believed. I have never in my life seen queues as big as the ones I stood in in that store in the weekend before Christmas. Surely to God that branch made a decent buck?

I just hope something will be done to save HMV because we will all miss it so much if it disappears from our high street.

Progress? Yeah, right...