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I have been quietly watching the press, including those from my own group, talk about the seemingly final round of the Blu-ray and HD DVD format war. Having attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) along with the myriad press conferences and now seeing everyone (including electronichouse.com) jump on the bandwagon, I have to share my opinion as well.
Go ahead call me a Pollyanna, but I thought the idea behind the format war was to let the consumer choose—right? Yes, I do think it would have been better to have had both sides in the beginning deliver the one and best format. Yeah, right. So that didn’t happen and they left it to the consumer to choose the winner in the end. Yeah, right. This is politics and money at its best.
Because I am in the industry, I will own both HD DVD and Blu-ray players. I am too close to the subject to know if I would have put down the money for both if I didn’t need to do so. Given that I pay monthly for three HD-DVRs, I probably would have. For better or worse, I have also gotten close to the people behind the development of the products for both formats. They are all really good people.
I wince when I see writers (including those from my own group) doing a dance over HD DVD when the war hasn’t been decided yet. Yes, it makes for a good story. Don’t get me wrong, I am not apologizing for them. They have a job to do and I am respectful of their opinions.
The Toshiba press conference at CES was a tough one to get through. I respect Jodi Sally, Toshiba’s V.P. of marketing for the digital A/V group, for not spinning the news that Warner had dumped the HD DVD format in favor of Blu-ray. She appeared devastated. Jodi started by saying “As you can imagine, this is a tough day for me. I have had better.” Good for her for admitting that. She and her team have worked really hard on this and will continue to support the format with products.
During CES I got together with many other people I have come to know well on the Blu-ray side of the fence as well. Understandably, their joy was hard to contain.
Oh droll troll on Aaron. I’m sure as a computer afficianado you may be up to your knees in blu ray discs and usb cables, but as someone who works in the film industry and uses hi-end computer technology, I am looking at the bigger, widescreen picture and that picture does not show the “death” of HD DVD, as the blu ray fans have been “announcing” for nearly a year now. Be patient, haven’t even finished the 2nd act yet and with a twist or two to the plot, all will be revealed in the end.
Dimitri calling others a troll !!!!!
I made my statement previously as a computer afficianado (along with all other computer afficianados who like the best technology). Blu-ray is the best technology. Blu-ray is beating HD-DVD worldwide (smallest lead in the US although still a large lead). Blu-ray is beating HD-DVD in three areas: movies, computers, gaming.
Those who bet on HD-DVD now are in denial or don’t know how to read daily news headlines where more and more folks are dropping HD-DVD.
And troll as you may, I noticed you didn’t make a bet.
Can’t help but wonder who will be stuck with more useless discs in five years time.
This is another reason Blu-ray is the choice storage medium that is being purchased currently (other than having more capacity and faster read/write speeds):
“...TDK’s coating survived a determined attack with a screwdriver and a Sharpie permanent marker with no effect on playability—a remarkable feat considering how easily standard DVDs can be damaged, for example, by children.”
Quote above from a CNET news test:
http://www.news.com/Try-scratching-this-DVD/2100-1041_3-5455621.html
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Dimitri, you do like to resort to name calling since you can’t come up with facts.
I’ve posted facts that can be verified on Blu-ray’s higher capacity, Blu-ray’s higher read/write speed, Blu-ray’s better PC drives, Blu-ray’s better scratch resistance…the other areas such as studio adoption and sales figures are seen by all in the news.