Comments on: Why HD-DVD and Blu-ray are dead on arrival

By: JC

JC — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:59:20 +0000

Great Post. I have some similiar info on my Home theater website/magazine. I’m going to link to your blog from mine.

http://www.inflix.com

By: Digital downloads will be Blu-ray’s downfall | Venture Chronicles

Digital downloads will be Blu-ray’s downfall | Venture Chronicles — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:32:06 +0000

[...] on February 23, 2008Filed Under Uncategorized | I made this same point over a year ago. The same segment of the market that Blu-Ray is targeted at is also predisposed to online downloads [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:59:18 +0000

The adult content business really isn’t driven by display quality and in terms of distribution they have pretty much figured out that online is far better than anything else for them, not just from economics but also in terms of business practices when their customers strongly prefer anonymity.

BTW, the Dept of Justice just came out with their study on online porn (this is the one that Google fought them about). The results are that only 1% of websites feature porn and 6% of online searches are for adult content keywords. This was a surprise to me as I figured their content footprint was much higher.

By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:53:40 +0000

According to an article in Revenue magazine on the adult affiliate business, VHS became the default because it was the format that the porn industry decided to use. So you might look to them for the direction these format wars are taking (although they presumably have less clout with everything online).

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:52:17 +0000

The movie theatres have really been the ones to suffer as home theatre took off. Why go to a movie when you can watch it at home without all the other people screwing it up for you (and $5 popcorn)?

Byron, I think you might be suffering from a little geek tunnel vision yourself if you don’t consider that DVD sales have been declining as a result of on demand (Comcast alone has 20 million digitals subs). HD isn’t going to revive that when the investment in equipment (not just player but also display) is significant and the bulk of broadcast content still isn’t HD native. You and I are the fringe… I remember paying $700 for a DVD player just a year and a half ago that had up conversion (okay, it also has a 160gb hard drive and a burner) knowing full well that today it is 1/2 that and blu-ray is even better.

The PS3 is an interesting development, I wonder how many people even realize that they can play movies using this device. I think Sony and Microsoft both made strategic errors in not marketing these devices as entertainment systems instead of game consoles. Also, I wonder how long it will be before we see mass market ipod video to display accessories achieve mass in the market and make Apple a market share player in movie distribution.

My point in this post is that while it’s all well and good to invest in and promote HD DVD and Blu-ray, the entertainment industry has more to gain by investing in broadband technology and on-demand business models. Having said that, it’s not one to the exclusion of the other.

By: Byron Deeter

Byron Deeter — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 16:29:41 +0000

That’s geek tunnel vision. Middle America doesn’t move that fast! It’s going to be a long time before the majority of homes can download HD quality video within hours as opposed to days. There isn’t going to be some revolutionary leapfrog event. As the cost of the HD-DVD and Blue-Ray players come down, they’re going to fill a market need for years until fiber to the home is a reality.

As a proud owner of two new Blu-ray DVD players and a 3rd on the way (in the PS3), I will say that the quality jump is amazing and it’s the movie theaters that may be screwed!