Posted by Lloyd Parsons on 01/09/08 01:29

In article <13o86m59dthdl5f@corp.supernews.com>,
Tarkus <karnevil9@atlantabraves.net> wrote:

> Lloyd Parsons wrote:
> > In article <wtKdnaf0du_LkRnanZ2dnUVZ_o2vnZ2d@centurytel.net>,
> > "XPickel" <Xpickel@nowayatall.com> wrote:
> >
> >> "Mark A" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> >> news:jWRgj.36634$k27.21095@bignews2.bellsouth.net...
> >>> "XPickel" <Xpickel@nowayatall.com> wrote in message
> >>> news:cf2dnTd-Zv6FdB7anZ2dnUVZ_ournZ2d@centurytel.net...
> >>>> If Paramount dumps HD-DVD it's all over.
> >>> Then they will, because the studios are desperately trying to end the
> >>> format war.
> >>>
> >> Just like everyone else, they whish there'd never been one.
> >
> > As a consumer, you should have loved the war. What do you think forced
> > those prices down so fast? It sure as hell wasn't either side's mfgs
> > wanting to.
>
> Yeah, because CD and DVD needed a format war to drive prices down.
>
> Oh wait, no they didn't!
>
> VHS prices, for that matter, didn't really drop until Betamax was out of
> the picture, and people could embrace one format. My first VCR cost
> about $1200, when Betamax was still a factor. Could you imagine what
> that would be in today's dollars? Only when VHS went mass market did
> the prices drop significantly.

You are looking at it wrong. This was new stuff, when DVD came on the
horizon, prices stayed high for a very long time in comparison to what
has happened in the HiDef DVD market. The phony war caused that to
happen.

Now that the war is over, expect to see less of the 'special' sales and
give-aways for awhile. Massive amounts of money have already been lost
by the BD camp, they will want to keep prices as high as possible for as
long as possible to recoup that money. It is simple economics.

The kink in the ringer will be how fast they think they can get to
mass-market appeal. But the obstacles are there for that. You cannot
take the current product to mass-market, too many operational issues and
no all-inclusive specification is out there quite yet. And the slow
load times of all but the PS3 and Panasonic BD30 is still very much an
issue, so is the constant firmware upgrades.

Mass market buying won't occur until :
1. Product stability - no more firmware upgrades
2. Product specification written nearly in stone.
3. Pricing of at least one entry level player that meets whatever
specification is finalized at sub-$200 pricepoint.

Until that happens, hidef dvd remains a niche product.

and the clock is ticking on movie download services....

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