Posted by Smarty on 12/22/07 19:09

I agree Richard that Canon could chose to "downgrade" the HV20 in the next
consumer model, and thus force Canon buyers into their new, more expensive
step-up model in order to upgrade. Also, the HDV format has taken on a very
unique niche in the market now that AVCHD has become mainstream, and the
combination of great performance and low price may be a market space where
Sony, Canon, and others may avoid doing more HDV products. HDV may become
orphaned, elevated to a prosumer-only category, or continued in the same way
next year as it has been up until now.

I am anxious to see how Sony replies to the HV20. Despite claims to the
contrary, I personally have never felt that Sony's offering this year to
compete with the HV20 was in the same league, and I literally dumped both of
my Sony HDV camcorders within a short time after I ran direct comparisons
between them and the HV20.

A lot of ink has been spilled writing about Sony in the era following the
founder/CEO Akio Morita, and how their greed and bean counting have spoiled
the company. I for one would be delighted to see Sony eat a big slice of
"humble pie" and suffer the consequences of their short-sighted and
non-consumer-focused attitude.

Smarty


"Richard Crowley" <rcrowley@xp7rt.net> wrote in message
news:13mpnps239f6720@corp.supernews.com...
> "Smarty" wrote ...
>> I, for one, am eagerly awaiting this next launch, anticipating the
>> possibility that some or all of the relatively minor criticisms
>> voiced in this and other Internet threads will be addressed. Even if they
>> make no substantial improvements, the HV20 will remain an instant classic
>> in my opinion, breaking new ground in an area in which Sony once had
>> substantial headway.
>
> OTOH, they could take the other approach and "dumb-down"
> the model so that they can release a more expensive "prosumer"
> version now that they know they have a sleeper on their hands.
> Something that Sony is famous for. Sony would have no
> problem maintaining their headway if it were still run by engineers rather
> than marketing gerbs and bean-counters.
> Maybe there will be enough "classic" HV20s around after the
> new model announcement to get in on the bounty.

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