Posted by Kimba W. Lion on 10/07/05 11:46

Allan <Spamstillsucks@buffyandkantica22arebrianlamb.net> wrote:

>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2005/tc2005106_9074_tc024.htm

"[Blu-Ray's] supporters are convinced costs will be similar over the long
term."

It costs a lot more, and they figure they can just tell people it doesn't.

"Next-generation DVDs will feature high-definition movies, extras like
movie-themed computer games, and the ability to download film trailers from
the Internet."

OOOH! Download trailers? Nobody's EVER been able to do that before!

"Movie studios, struggling with a sudden slowdown in the $18 billion-a-year
U.S. DVD market, are salivating over the chance to entice consumers with
movies on new high-definition disks."

This is the insanity that is business today. They had an explosive growth
period as people bought into it. That can't go on forever, but they build
business models as if it could. There is no slowdown except from the
perspective of an idiot who thinks it would expand at 100% per year forever.

"Microsoft and Intel, hungry for new growth opportunities, want to expand
their roles in people's lives, helping them manage digital photos or
download the next Batman flick off of the Net."

Heh. "Manage." hoo boy.

"Blu-ray equipped devices are even designed to recognize and refuse to play
pirated movies. Such protections are another big reason Sony has won the
support of studios, such as News Corp.'s Fox (NWS )."

The emphasis is always on what they WON'T ALLOW people to do. UOPs already
plague current DVDs. They should focus on a player that WORKS for people who
want to use it legitimately, and then think about what they can lock out.
(Said from the perspective of just having a DVD from a major studio get
locked in an endless play-the-commercials loop.)

"No company has more at stake than Sony. Long one of the most innovative
companies in electronics, it stumbled badly in recent years."

Sony has always had marketing problems.

"Sony's people have "bet the entire future on this," says analyst Michael
Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities. "It's too important for them to lose,
so they will do everything they can to win.""

Which is not a situation that should inspire trust in us folks out here in
consumerland.

"[Betamax] lost out to Matsushita's VHS, in part because its onerous
licensing terms alienated the Hollywood studios."

Yeah, it had nothing to do with short recording times, a separate extra-cost
timer, clunky design... any of that. They alienated the consumer early on,
and then people just wanted to buy what everyone else had bought. Which
makes sense.

"Then on June 15, the Blu-ray camp decided against using Microsoft's IHD
technology to add interactive features to Blu-ray disks, opting instead to
stick with software based on Java technology."

Gotta love that, tho.

""They have a Trojan Horse that will play a critical role in igniting the
market for this product""

Somebody's gotta learn some new terms. Hands up everyone who thinks a
"Trojan Horse" is something you want.

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