Why are people soooo slow to adopt new technology?

[me_inside]

Seriously Blu-ray and HD-DVD are almost 2 years old and have less than 5% market penetration!!!! WTF!!!! People, Blu-ray players are less than a car payment now-a-days....what is the hold up!!!!!!

[justincredible]

What percentage of homes have HDTV's?

[me_inside]

Originally Posted by justincredible

What percentage of homes have HDTV's?

About 35% by January 1st from what I have read.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by me_inside

Seriously Blu-ray and HD-DVD are almost 2 years old and have less than 5% market penetration!!!! WTF!!!! People, Blu-ray players are less than a car payment now-a-days....what is the hold up!!!!!!

The whole format war is the reason. Not like going to DVD which was fortunately a unified format.

[mgonzo2u]

No, in the US, all the old people have the money and they are not quick to act to change.

Why do you think the FCC had to push back the change to digital TV another couple years (to 2009)? The masses were not, and apparently still not, ready for the change over.

Old folks drag their feet on everything except voting to save their SS check or to back AARP on something that will benefit them at the expense of the young's back breaking taxes going forward.

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

No, in the US, all the old people have the money and they are not quick to act to change.

Why do you think the FCC had to push back the change to digital TV another couple years (to 2009)? The masses were not, and apparently still not, ready for the change over.

Old folks drag their feet on everything except voting to save their SS check or to back AARP on something that will benefit them at the expense of the young's back breaking taxes going forward.

There are certainly exceptions to this. You can find several counter examples just on these boards. Some of us "old folks" were using 1325 line video systems well over 30 years ago.

Additionally, the 16 - 25 year old crowd typically has more disposable income than the 50+ year old crowd.

Also your last paragraph is, in general, rather offensive.

[mgonzo2u]

Perhaps such statements are found to be offensive because of the reality and truth of said statement.

The US is old. The boomers that are now retiring and due to retire are loaded with major bucks, 10's of trillions of dollars are tied up in their wealth, that is fact.

The US largest voting block is found in the senior class, that is fact.

The largest lobby against SS reform is from the AARP led lobby, that is fact.

Facts hurt sometimes.

Its OK to the older folks though, they got theirs and its just easy enough to say that the younger generation isn't hard working like they were, so hummmmph.

[Zyclone]

because it costs money to upgrade and alot of people can't justifiy (spelling?) the cost of getting a HD TV then a player then HD films.

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

Perhaps such statements are found to be offensive because of the reality and truth of said statement.

No, they are offensive because they are based upon your opinions.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

The US is old.

The best data I can find states that only about 30% of the U.S. population is over 50. About half are under the age of 40. I wouldn't claim that makes the U.S. old.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

The boomers that are now retiring and due to retire are loaded with major bucks, 10's of trillions of dollars are tied up in their wealth, that is fact.

"Boomers" are just starting to retire. This means that the vast majority of them are still working. Why are they still working? Because the vast majority of them are not "loaded with major bucks".

Do you have any data that shows the average person aged 60+ has a significantly greater wealth than a the average person aged 45? Of course you don't.

But let's look at your claim for a moment. You claim 10's of trillions in wealth. Let's assume 20 trillion -- a safe lower end number based upon your claim. Now, census figures put the "boomer" group at between 70 and 100 million people total (depending upon how you define that group). Let's take that upper number just to be safe. This then equates to approximately $200,000 in wealth for the average boomer -- or $400,000 per couple. This does not sound even close to reasonable. For every Bill Gates there are thousands of people in that age bracket living paycheck to paycheck.

Additionally, the U.S. is not "old" compared to many countries around the world. Compare the mean/median age in the U.S. versus other countries such as Germany. The answer might surprise you.

The real issue with regard to leading edge technologies, such as Blu-ray Disk, is disposable income. It is a fact that, as a fraction of their total income, the "boomers" have much less disposable income than 20 somethings or 30 somethings. The "boomers" are paying off morgages, putting children (and in some cases grand children) through college, saving for retirement, etc.

Disposable income is the key. The days of the "boomers" being 30 something "Yuppies" are long gone. Their days of "conspicuous consumption" are long gone. Today the 20 somethings and 30 somethings are still the ones with the disposable income to go after new tech.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

The US largest voting block is found in the senior class, that is fact.

Wrong. The most recent data I have available shows the number of U.S. citizens between the age of 18 and 50 is about 1.75 times that of the number of people between the age of 50 and 110 -- based upon U.S. Census data and projections though 2004. I doubt that number has changed significantly in the past three years. Changed yes, but changed anywhere near enough to justify the claim, "The US largest voting block is found in the senior class, that is fact."? No.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

The largest lobby against SS reform is from the AARP led lobby, that is fact.

No. This is *not* fact. As a member of AARP for many years -- and someone who watches what the PACs do of those groups of which I am a member -- I can state, based upon personal knowledge, that AARP is actively lobbying to get Social Security reform in the U.S. They are lobbying to intelligently reform the system -- not make wholesale changes just for the sake of change or make changes just to privatize the system.

And... because the Social Security system needs certain fixes before many of the >50 but <65 crowd starts depending on the system, most of these people do want it fixed. Someone who is 50 today does not want the current system in place 30 years from now when they very likely might still need it and the system not be viable.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

Facts hurt sometimes.

If they were facts and not just myths. But your "facts" are just that -- no better than urban legends.

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

Its OK to the older folks though, they got theirs and its just easy enough to say that the younger generation isn't hard working like they were, so hummmmph.

I never said the younger generation isn't hard working, that myth is just as stupid as claiming older people are wealthy.
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But... getting back on topic with the thread...

I believe the primary reason for what appears to be slow uptake at this point is the format war. Many people either remember the Beta versus VHS fiasco or know people who are old enough to remember.

The secondary reason is this is a double uptake: High Def TVs and High Def Media. The leap to these is not cheap. When there are many, many 1080p TVs for sale at prices under $1000 and many, many players under $300 then the ramp up will happen. (Most of us in this forum are bleeding edge/cutting edge/leading edge/early adopters and as such money is secondary to getting the best you can get.)

In order to move into mainstream prices have to come down a bit. I am not talking about $500 TVs and $99 players. But the average consumer is not going to pay $4,000 on a great TV and $500 on a player then turn around and buy a $30 disk per month for the next 10 years.

Also there seems to be a bit of a lag due to the switch to digital happening in 2009. I've talked to many people who equate digital signals with high def. (They are *not* the same, but many people equate them.) Many of these people have told me that they recognize they need to make some kind of move by then, but... they intend to wait until they have to in order to make the move. That way they will be able to take advantage of whatever the technology base is at that time -- and not get stuck with old technology bought before the switch. I don't believe this crowd is a very large percentage of consumers, but I've heard it too often to think that this is a trivially small group.

[tru2blu707]

I would say price is a big factor in converting people to HDM(understatement im sure). also the move from dvd to blu ray is not a big a leap as vhs to dvd. alot of people have invested tons of money in dvds already and arent willing to upgrade just yet. but remember...theres already over 2million ps3s in homes here in the US alone....that is potential right there.

[jorg]

Originally Posted by Shadowself

No, they are offensive because they are based upon your opinions.



The best data I can find states that only about 30% of the U.S. population is over 50. About half are under the age of 40. I wouldn't claim that makes the U.S. old.



"Boomers" are just starting to retire. This means that the vast majority of them are still working. Why are they still working? Because the vast majority of them are not "loaded with major bucks".

Do you have any data that shows the average person aged 60+ has a significantly greater wealth than a the average person aged 45? Of course you don't.

But let's look at your claim for a moment. You claim 10's of trillions in wealth. Let's assume 20 trillion -- a safe lower end number based upon your claim. Now, census figures put the "boomer" group at between 70 and 100 million people total (depending upon how you define that group). Let's take that upper number just to be safe. This then equates to approximately $200,000 in wealth for the average boomer -- or $400,000 per couple. This does not sound even close to reasonable. For every Bill Gates there are thousands of people in that age bracket living paycheck to paycheck.

Additionally, the U.S. is not "old" compared to many countries around the world. Compare the mean/median age in the U.S. versus other countries such as Germany. The answer might surprise you.

The real issue with regard to leading edge technologies, such as Blu-ray Disk, is disposable income. It is a fact that, as a fraction of their total income, the "boomers" have much less disposable income than 20 somethings or 30 somethings. The "boomers" are paying off morgages, putting children (and in some cases grand children) through college, saving for retirement, etc.

Disposable income is the key. The days of the "boomers" being 30 something "Yuppies" are long gone. Their days of "conspicuous consumption" are long gone. Today the 20 somethings and 30 somethings are still the ones with the disposable income to go after new tech.



Wrong. The most recent data I have available shows the number of U.S. citizens between the age of 18 and 50 is about 1.75 times that of the number of people between the age of 50 and 110 -- based upon U.S. Census data and projections though 2004. I doubt that number has changed significantly in the past three years. Changed yes, but changed anywhere near enough to justify the claim, "The US largest voting block is found in the senior class, that is fact."? No.



No. This is *not* fact. As a member of AARP for many years -- and someone who watches what the PACs do of those groups of which I am a member -- I can state, based upon personal knowledge, that AARP is actively lobbying to get Social Security reform in the U.S. They are lobbying to intelligently reform the system -- not make wholesale changes just for the sake of change or make changes just to privatize the system.

And... because the Social Security system needs certain fixes before many of the >50 but <65 crowd starts depending on the system, most of these people do want it fixed. Someone who is 50 today does not want the current system in place 30 years from now when they very likely might still need it and the system not be viable.



If they were facts and not just myths. But your "facts" are just that -- no better than urban legends.



I never said the younger generation isn't hard working, that myth is just as stupid as claiming older people are wealthy.
.
.
.

But... getting back on topic with the thread...

I believe the primary reason for what appears to be slow uptake at this point is the format war. Many people either remember the Beta versus VHS fiasco or know people who are old enough to remember.

The secondary reason is this is a double uptake: High Def TVs and High Def Media. The leap to these is not cheap. When there are many, many 1080p TVs for sale at prices under $1000 and many, many players under $300 then the ramp up will happen. (Most of us in this forum are bleeding edge/cutting edge/leading edge/early adopters and as such money is secondary to getting the best you can get.)

In order to move into mainstream prices have to come down a bit. I am not talking about $500 TVs and $99 players. But the average consumer is not going to pay $4,000 on a great TV and $500 on a player then turn around and buy a $30 disk per month for the next 10 years.

Also there seems to be a bit of a lag due to the switch to digital happening in 2009. I've talked to many people who equate digital signals with high def. (They are *not* the same, but many people equate them.) Many of these people have told me that they recognize they need to make some kind of move by then, but... they intend to wait until they have to in order to make the move. That way they will be able to take advantage of whatever the technology base is at that time -- and not get stuck with old technology bought before the switch. I don't believe this crowd is a very large percentage of consumers, but I've heard it too often to think that this is a trivially small group.

lol thank you for that post good to see you here

[Geech]

Originally Posted by me_inside

Seriously Blu-ray and HD-DVD are almost 2 years old and have less than 5% market penetration!!!! WTF!!!! People, Blu-ray players are less than a car payment now-a-days....what is the hold up!!!!!!

It's not just the players. It's the TV & Cables as well

so in actuallity about $1500

& people are poor, Like me