Why downloadable content may not be the next big thing....

[jon s]

A lot of analysts have been saying that Blu-Ray will be a short lived format. Why? They say that downloads will be the next big thing. I disagree with that for a number of reasons...

1. The biggest reason is bandwidth. Time Warner is planning to charge users by the amount of bandwidth used. They are about to use this model in Texas if it has not been in place by now. The reason? Most of the bandwidth is being used by video downloads, 5% of the users use up 50% of the bandwidth. users exceeding the cap will be charged a higher rate. if successful, they will probably go nationwide with this plan. All of the other ISPs will probably jump on the bandwagon as well

2. Downloadable content may be hi-res but it ain't high def. Compression is so high on the content, they look like SD-DVDs or worse.

3. on a rental basis, you have 30 days to view the content. Once you start it, you have 24 hours to complete it.

4. you don't have any special features.

5. i don't believe the download will support high def audio to reduce file size.

6. most users want something in your hand if you gonna want to watch it in the future. If you download 10GB of data for each movie and you eventually run out of space, what then? A 500GB hard drive is only 50 movies at that rate. And 10GB is not much better than SD-DVD which is 8.5GB.

7. download speed. My download speed tops out at 5 Mbps. That's megaBITS per second, not megabytes. It takes 30 minutes to download a gigabyte. A 10GB movie wud take 5 hours!

So it may be awhile before download really takes off. For me, a long while. If the internet providers start charging by bandwidth usage... downloads will never happen for me.

[Hero_Sky]

Exactly why downloadable Standard movies didn't take off either. Remember Moviescheme? They tried to push that onto people, but that failed miserably.

[crystal_sun]

While i'm still alive today, the movie download will NEVER be a part of my life.

[ajkj9]

i don't see this workin out either. While it's kinda cool to have I am legend and some comedy central presents stuff on the ps3 hardrive, it would be so much better to have blu ray or even dvd for better quality

[CheapChildren]

I can understand downloadable rentals, but purchases?

[Riley]

winner

[ScarredLungs]

I think there are many reasons this "downloading hype" will never work. First, Comcast customers could not really take an active part in downloading uder the current set-up. Plus, people want DVD's with special features and to be able to take them where every they go. That would not be so easy if it was downloaded.

[kolasi]

they cant be that good of an analyst to even think hd dls will be any good or even go anywhere.

[jon s]

i can see why downloadable music so popular... smaller files, limited usage (all you do is listen to them... no other options....). Movies are a different beast. bigger files, have special features, different soundtracks, subtitles.

[Mr. Hanky]

The ironic thing to all this download stuff is that the first potential casualty might just be dvd, rather than reports of threatening hdm. Wherever you find hd-style downloads just a bit on the impractical side with current and future infrastructure, the comparably compressed sd-style download might be just practical enough to make it viable for the means available to j6p consumer.

Imagine if "the masses" are even indifferent to the full-spec of dvd? Instead of 740x480, they might even tolerate 480x320 "sd" downloads, if the download happens (relatively) in a snap and takes only a smidgen of space on a modern hdd? Naturally, the fans of full hd resolution would never chase after this...and that may very well be the genuine demarcation for download vs. hdm (and also the justification for having both around for the longterm). There will be the "480x320 convenience crowd" and the ultimate quality hd crowd.

[EvolutionCherry]

Originally Posted by jon s

i can see why downloadable music so popular... smaller files, limited usage (all you do is listen to them... no other options....). Movies are a different beast. bigger files, have special features, different soundtracks, subtitles.

Exactly. Downloads are for music not films. Until they can encode a movie file with HD 1080p picture with all the extra trimmings we get on BDs and DVDs, downloads will not happen.

[jd213]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/01/18

[Hero_Sky]

I just hate how Hd-dvd supporters simply want blu-ray to fail because blu-ray won. They can't accept that we won so they want to start supporting hi-def download.