Posted by Archimedes' Lever on 08/04/07 02:38

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 22:44:56 -0000, Doug Jacobs <djacobs@shell.rawbw.com>
wrote:

>Spurious Response <SpuriousResponse@cleansignal.org> wrote:
>
>> You're fucking nuts. I have it in several formats.
>
>> The Laser Disc format was 37 discs at $20 each. That's $740 for the
>> slow.
>
>$20/Laserdisc isn't a bad price...for laserdisc. However, laserdisc never
>got the mainstream market acceptance here in the US like VHS or DVD. Even
>over in Japan, many laserdiscs were still $60-100 each (then again, so
>were their VHS...stuff is EXPENSIVE in Japan!)
>
>But when you have entire seasons of a TV show on DVD going for as little
>as $16 each, $220 for a HD remastering just seems obscene. $50 - no problem.
>$100 - a little steep perhaps, but it IS a new media, and anyways, the
>red, yellow and blue ST:TOS DVD boxes were $100 each when they first came
>out, so I wouldn't consider this to be TOO bad of a price for an early
>adopter. But $220? For a single season?

I was under the impression that it was $220 for the entire 3 season
compendium.
>
>Worse still, this is in the middle of a format war.


YADA YADA YADA! Whoopie doo. There were dolts claiming Laser Disc
would go nowhere, but it lasted well over 20 years, and was only
supplanted by a smaller form factor, not necessarily a better quality
product. 5.25 inch discs are easier to make, and are also easier to
collect a library of. I hate moving. The damned thing weigh even more
than my album collection!

> Spending $20-30 on a
>single movie isn't that big of a deal, but $220 pretty much means you're
>whole-heartedly betting the farm that HD-DVD isn't going to die out like
>Betamax did in the 80s.

Wouldn't matter. All the studios are turning into pussies and releasing
practically everything that comes out on HD DVD on BluTurd as well.

> (this doesn't mean HD-DVD has to completely
>CONQUER Blu-Ray - the two could still co-exist...)

I think they should. Maybe folks would realize that it will NEVER be
like a wristwatch or $35 DVD players. It IS a high end format
specifically targeting aficionados, just like DVD did when it first came
out, and look how it "bloomed". They never even expected the millions of
sales per title that they are getting, as they based all of their
projections of Laser Disc figures.

>> >You can get the red, yellow and blue DVD boxes that contain the entire series
>> >for less than that.
>
>> I have them. They were NOT that price when they came out. They were
>> $70 each. Just because you can now find them in a group set at a
>> discounted price doesn't mean you have an argument here.
>
>When I first saw them, they were $100/box at Frys.

I guess I got lucky then.

> Then last Christmas, my
>local Costco had all 3 in a collection for about $180.

If I sell mine, many of which have never even been touched (absolute
mint, my entire DVD collection), I can offset the new disc cost fairly
well.

> Just the other
>day, the local Costco had entire seasons of Buffy for $17/each. Yeah,
>sure, Buffy != Star Trek and Star Trek >> Buffy even, but from a
>cost/episode point of view, it does look like Paramount is charging a huge
>amount for HD vs. what other shows are going for on regular DVD.
>
>I do understand that HD remastering takes time and money and that HD is
>still an early adopter's market, so higher prices are to be expected.

I would even venture to say that after a decade, both telecine and
digital re-mastering have come a long way toward being a much more
automated process.

>But I still think $220 for a single TV season is just ridiculous, especially
>since the HD market has still to settle this HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray thing.

I heard it was the complete collection, but do you have a link for this
future release to be?
>
>> > Makes no sense whatsoever.
>
>> You are just some lame tard that doesn't have a dime to your name.
>
>> Some of us have hundreds of discs, and several tens of TV shows on disc,
>> and Yes, I will be buying the HD release eventually. Particularly if I
>> can find it presented as a demo somewhere, so that I can examine if it is
>> worth the trouble.
>
>Why is it that every time someone says they think something is too
>expensive, they're accused of being poor?

These are the same dopes that think nothing of spending a huge wad on
their car rims and tires.

Each person has their own luxury hobbies, and thinks that someone else's
is overpriced.

I think cars are hugely overpriced, and that DVDs and softwares are
cheap. Another bloke would think that cars are proceed right, and that
DVDs and softwares are overpriced as they have no concept of what
intellectual property is about.

>
>I too have 100s of discs - nearly 1000 at last count. Over half are
>various TV and anime series, and a good chunk of my collection is made up
>of imports, so I'd hardly consider myself a newbie to this hobby.

Another example. I think anime is hugely over-rated.
>
>Personally, I've grown tired of the games the producers are playing with
>us, the fans and customers. They release version after version of movies
>simply because they know the fans will keep buying them.

I agree 100%. I am willing to wait an extra quarter year longer for a
studio to offer the best possible product.

We used to get movies up to two years after the theatrical release,
and that was even for the drab flics, and now we get Pirates of the
Caribbean III a mere few months after it played! At least Disney knows
how to put together a decent package on the first roll (I can't believe I
even used the expression "first roll"). Pretty sick that they nickel a
dime us to death to pay for what WE paid for several times over.

It likely means that WE pay for piracy in this manner, and it makes one
want to wait a year or two for a title to "mature" into a decent release
at a decent price.

We shouldn't have to play this game, particularly when it involves our
wallets.

There *should* be a class action suit in there, but I don't ever see
that happening. I just wish they'd stop milking us. WE are their
customers!

> There's the
>regular, no-thrills edition, then the Special Edition, then the 2-disc,
>Limited Time Anniversary Special Director's Edition Supreme! Gotta buy them
>all!

Many titles... many times over. Pain in the ass, since the baseline
title value drops to $2 the moment the register goes *ding*.

> Then there's the practice of releasing TV shows on single DVDs at
>$25-30/pop, then sucker-punching you by re-releasing the whole series in a
>slim-boxset at a 60% discount over the single discs. Farscape anyone?

Great series! I too bought them in the drib and drab mode.

Try to find the original single disc release of the first season of
Lexx at the original MSRP! Good Luck!

> Or,
>how about M*A*S*H*?

I have many, but missed a couple seasons due to a sag in my financial
circumstance.

> Star Trek was perhaps one of the most egregious of
>these.

Yes. I have it thee times over... LD and two DVD, and anticipate not
being able to resist the upcoming sucking sound on my wallet for the new
one worming it's way out of the studio.

Instead of contracting telecine and digitization mastering services out,
they should get a shop set up on campus, and save time and money!

> I'm sure you remember this, right? 2 episodes a disc for $25/each
>with no remastering,

Yep... Laser Disc "masters" were used.

> no specials, no frills? Wow! What a bargain! Let's
>all bend over and ask for another one!

And we did, and they porked us REAL GOOD with it.

>Perhaps some people don't mind it, and have more than enough dispoable
>income to keep re-buying and upgrading their collection. I don't mind
>spending money on something I want, but I do try to spend wisely. And if
>you think $220 for a HD remaster of ST:TOS is a wise buy at this time,
>then we'll just have to agree to disagree.

You're such a TOSser! :-]

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