Blue Laser Discs Have Already Failed?
According to this Audioholics writer, HD DVD and BD have already failed, and he goes on to give 10 reasons why he thinks so. You’ll have to go to Audioholics to read the reasons behind picking them, but here they are:
- Nobody likes false starts.
- Format wars don’t sell players.
- HD DVD and BD are NOT quantum leaps in technology.
- Studios are conservative, greedy, and unmotivated.
- PS3 can’t save the world.
- Those who ignore history… [SACD and DVD Audio]
- People want technology that’s 15 minutes ahead of its time.
- Enthusiasts are getting tired (and smarter).
- A skeptical news media doesn’t help.
- Broadband and IPTV to compete?
Number 1 I definitely agree with. Both HD DVD and BD have had miserable starts. And that doesn’t look good.
Number 4 is true, but that’s not a reason this won’t work. By all accounts the DVD cash cow is giving less and less milk. Studios want to replace it with something, and they understand an HD version a lot better than internet or cable/satellite distribution.
And while it’s true that the PS3 can’t save the world, it’ll give me a nice BD player!
10 Reasons Why High Definition DVD Formats Have Already Failed
Check out our new sister blog on Home Theater, HTBlog.net
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
The text of #8 reveals what this really about.
This is a sour grapes article written by an audiophile pooh-poohing the popularity of the expanding videophile trend.
The author makes a logical blunder by loosely grouping audiophiles and videophiles into the same crowd. Sure there is some overlap, but main difference is that the audiophile dinosaurs who remember 8-track are a dying breed. Most audiophiles are the guys that are still clinging to vinyl even though the music industry can’t put anything worth listening on CD, let alone vinyl (and then they were actually shocked that SACD and DVD-Audio never took off).
Consumers do not spend money on purely audio systems like this guy used to back in the day. Home theater is new big thing. HDTVs are flying off the shelves. There is a demand out there for high quality video to actually be watched on them.
He’s flat wrong on IPTV. There is not enough cheap bandwidth in the US to make IPTV financially viable before 2010. By then the format war will be settled and prices will plummet.
June 22nd, 2006 at 1:22 pm
1. It’s still too early in the cycle to call this a false start. Untill each format has at least 3 players out there, I don’t believe that format has started.
2. Actually with more studios behind Blu-ray there will be more exclusive content there. This argument doesn’t hold water
3. It’s too early to tell if this is a quantum leap since software to assist publishers in creating truely interactive menus and content is not mature yet.
4. Again this harkens back to my answer in #3. Can’t flood the market with “beta” software. Need to prove what can be done before this happens.
5. I don’t fully believe this arguement. It will be a blu-ray player that is half the cost of a regular blu-ray player, and parents that already by their son a PS3 then later find out that they have a hi-def player too?
6. There is an artificial push happening. This person does not know about the DTV going on in 2k9? This will push people to digital sets and more people to HD ready sets. Then they will want content for those sets. He has this one flat wrong.
7. no comment
8. Some enthusiasts are getting smarter because they most likely have been burned in the past. I agree that standards bodies need to work on more open standards without soo much wound up in legal litigation.
9. Media, (us included) can confuse people who don’t keep up on every minute of news. We do need to communicate better.
10. You think people are splintered by only two standards for HD DVD’s? There are literally 100’s of DRM and other streaming schemes out there that people want to push on us. This will frustrate people more than bring them together. This technology will eat up 1-2% of the market, but will need another 5-10 years to really become something of a household item.