Question 4: What Is Streaming and What Is Downloading?

1. Downloading: 

When you download a file, you copy it from the Internet onto your local device. You physically have the file, the whole of it, at your disposal. You can play it as many times you like.

2. Streaming: 

When you stream a file, you don’t physically have it on your computer. The file is somewhere on a server, and you are receiving portions (i.e. streams of data) of it at a time. Streaming is very similar to listening to the radio or watching TV – you don’t have to do anything special (e.g. download the file) to see it/listen to it but after the song/movie is over, you don’t physically have it.