Posted by Derek Janssen on 08/20/07 22:48

Lloyd Parsons wrote:

>>>What this really means is that the 'format war' for the 2% market share
>>>that these two formats have will be in full swing for the holidays.
>>>Personally I hope it keeps going. This war is the only thing that got
>>>prices down to their current levels.
>>
>>Only the utterly dopiest media-analyst zombie would be gullible enough
>>to believe press statements of "We chose the format", or be blinded by
>>title-association to print "Will Transformers and Shrek win the war?"
>>spins as if they believed them themselves.

(And whether or not anybody's read recent headlines of Dreamworks'
crumbling brain-trust and defecting execs--thus making them very, VERY
easy for outside forces to bribe, not unlike the 1919 White Sox...
Is anybody missing the rather obvious factor of Jeffrey Katzenberg and
his Big Green Pal willing to let DW Animation partner themselves with
Micro so easily, what with Disney now pulling ahead of Sony as main
driving Blu-Ray Evangelism Spokes-studio?

I repeat: This guy is the ultimate *onion* of Weaselry--Every time you
think you've found the final layer...) >_<

> Sure it was a bribe, but so what? Sony and the BDA have been playing
> that particular game for quite awhile now.

Thing is, even though Disney wasn't one of Sony's "bribed" Blu studios
(being in Apple's pocket), they were actually accomplishing some helpful
PR breakout by rubbing Cars and Pirates in our faces, and Sony--and Blu
supporters--were getting some actual technical return on their "investment".

Micro wants Big Studios that they can show off, but don't expand their
buyer base to any influential degree or deliver on the name-bling they
bought.
They want headlines, and they get headlines; what they don't get is
reliable customer interest.

> Here's part of a post I made at avsforum that pretty much sums up what I
> think about the future of hi def dvds :
>
>>If either side 'wins' today, we as consumers lose. Prices stay up, quality of
>>releases won't be as good as they could be, and availability of titles could
>>be in jeapordy because the price of the players is still too darn high to get
>>big sales.
>>
>>I'm firmly convinced that Hi Def DVDs are a niche market and will remain so
>>for quite some time. So now is the time for a dual-format, affordable player
>>to step up to the market. That would help grow the niche to a bigger niche
>>and all the studios can just keep on 'supporting' whichever format blows
>>their collective skirts up!

Well, we've got 'em, *two* in fact (yes, LG's coming out with one that
works, now), just that they've both priced themselves out of the
"curiosity"/impulse newbie market by at least $600--
As of now, HD is only selling with Cheapskates Who Don't Know Any Better
or Saw It On the Shelves First (or with Smartypants Who Can Afford Both,
who aren't particularly a loyalty base either), which is giving Toshiba
false confidence they shouldn't have.

Speaking as one who remembers seeing DVD explode in the two or three
months after DiVX Armistice Day, I can vouch that it's nice to see
prices come down, but that technical innovation only ramps into high
gear when we all have *ONE* machine to fiddle around with in the labs.
Doesn't get distracting or split up the workers.

> And I'm with you on the decision that needs to be made to really
> consider hi def dvds an option for your home theater. I just went
> through a major upgrade at home, here is what I ended up buying over a
> very short period of time:
<snip>

The wave hasn't reached shore yet, but it's coming:
As posted in another thread, I'd just made the leap myself to the "2%
niche market" last weekend (so, guess it's "3%" now? ^_^ ), and on an
impulse purchase at that.

Even then, there were already "Feb. '09" ATSC scare signs up at Best Buy
to sell their 60" flatscreens to an easily tech-panicked public--And for
those already scared into widescreen 720i adoption, judging from my own
household's reactions...oh, it's like the birth of DVD all over again:
Thought I'd forgotten the joy of corrupting inexperienced
tech-illiterate lambs who'd never seen this stuff before. >:)

Derek Janssen
ejanss@comcast.net

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