An open letter to the HD video industry

[tron3]

You have heard all the opinions in the world, but the facts are before you eyes, let's point them out.

If one more studio supports HD-DVD exclusively, this war goes on indefinately. If one more studio stays neutral, this war goes on indefinately. As a result, NEITHER format will receive widespread acceptance. PERIOD.

Should another studio accept a cash offer from Toshiba, you can justify it by saying, "The stock holders will be happy." Ok, what about next year? What makes the stock holders happy NEXT year? Who do you fire for the mistake of not unifying the format to make the stock holders happy at that point? Does it pay dividends to fire someone? NO. No matter what, next year comes.

Will Toshiba offer yet tens of millions of dollars every 12 to 18 months to keep you exclusive to HD-DVD? This only artificially inflates the numbers of HD-DVD. Why? Consumers have no choice in which format to buy in high definition for that single movie. To us adopters, DVD is no longer an option. That is EXACTLY why most consumers will NEVER adopt either format. DVD will live as long as VHS. There is little profit to be made in selling DVD players any more. All the fancy upsampling in the world will not create a new surge of sales in DVD. Look at how Superbit failed. It also was too little too late.

Everyone speaks of the Beta vs VHS wars of the 1980's. The mistake was ONE company tried to have it all. Toshiba is repeating Sony's mistake and throws good money after bad. Unless you missed the revolution, this is the Internet age. People find out information in minutes and you are powerless to hinder it. The Intenet is bigger than all of us.

HD-DVD was a wonderful idea and concept. But still a day late and dollar short. People know quality when they see and hear it. All the layering and compression in the world still will NOT make a souped up DVD into blu-ray. Longer movies simply do NOT fit on HD-DVD without a compromise. Consumers are not willing to settle for "good enough". You both promise the next generation of home video entertainment, but who actually delivers the goods?

Consumers are growing weary waiting for a winner. Once a deaf ear is turned, you lost us for good. If this war presses on, the adoption of both sides could slow to crawl. Eventually you BOTH will have to abandon the format where you invested millions. Simply because not enough people will buy into it to make it profitable. You both will lose millions in dollars and unmeasurable amounts in consumer confidence. Who is going to explain that to the stock holders? No amount of money buys good PR nor consumer loyalty.

Digital downloading is not the answer. The vast majority of people want the hard media. These are movies, not music. They are much harder to store and backup. Hard pressed media is the format of choice for the forseeable future, NOT hard drives and PC's. You can NOT expect to undo the concept of hard movie media as it has been with us over 30 years since the inception of VHS and BETA. Even decades longer if you count 8-track, cassette, and vinyl records. Most people want to "own" not rent their media.

Toshiba, the world is inreasingly blu. Be willing to drop the gauntlet, and Sony be willing to give them a good deal for making peace. I for one do not want to be a sore loser or worse, a sore winner! Unify, and watch the growth potential for you both. A unified format paid off handsomely for CD, VHS and DVD. We are waiting for the next big thing that doesn't threaten our investment. Further more, let Paramount buy out of the contract.

I do not have to explain that HDTV is still a growing industry. Now, you have a sure way of adding on to that future growth. Both consumers and stock holders will be happy. The growth is indefinate at this point. But only if you unify and agree on one format. HDTV would never have succeeded under the same principle in which you both operate for HD movie media. It had to be ONE standard.

Cheaper dual format players will allow HD-DVD adopters to keep their investment in movies. I'm sure many have spent hundreds and thousands as we have on the formats prior. They deserve that option. Many could justify the cost of a player for a new one, but NOT thousands in movies. No one has to come up the loser. Toshiba, you owe them that support.