How long has Cisco supported new transfer methods? scp? https? That along with USB ports on modern routers makes getting images on to routers easier than ever.

Router#copy ?
  /erase          Erase destination file system.
  /noverify       Don't verify image signature before reload.
  /verify         Verify image signature before reload.
  archive:        Copy from archive: file system
  bootflash:      Copy from bootflash: file system
  cns:            Copy from cns: file system
  disk2:          Copy from disk2: file system
  ftp:            Copy from ftp: file system
  http:           Copy from http: file system
  https:          Copy from https: file system
  ips-sdf         Copy from current IPS signature configuration
  null:           Copy from null: file system
  nvram:          Copy from nvram: file system
  pram:           Copy from pram: file system
  rcp:            Copy from rcp: file system
  running-config  Copy from current system configuration
  scp:            Copy from scp: file system
  startup-config  Copy from startup configuration
  system:         Copy from system: file system
  tar:            Copy from tar: file system
  tftp:           Copy from tftp: file system