Archived: Ask the Insiders: Judgment Day Edition

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Yes.
The author is a very astute fellow.
I’m not familiar with him but, Bill Hunt is lucky to have him as a contributor.

Read it………everyone.

it's pretty much like the music industry....just add in the promotion aspect and it's pretty much what generates sales..

when the retailer is convinced, there is a domino effect on everything else..

[milou6]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Folks, I know we are bored, what with a dearth of news and many insiders busy before CES or still on holiday, but sometimes "no posts" is better than clutter.

+1

[g.k.]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Yes.
The author is a very astute fellow.
I’m not familiar with him but, Bill Hunt is lucky to have him as a contributor.

Read it………everyone.

If you are implying that there is something brewing on this front, then that is very good news indeed.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by g.k.

If you are implying that there is something brewing on this front, then that is very good news indeed.

I wouldn't read too much into everything PM says..

I think he just means this article gives a good explanation as to how this shit works out...and what we should look out for...

[spicynacho]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Sorry to hear that, max. Patience!

I find it disturbing that HD insiders have so much clout over BD insiders, when the opposite is obviously not the case.

It's not clout over each other, it is just a difference in the corporate code's of conduct between their respective employers. MS has a more cavalier attitude than sony. More over it is the relative importance of the product to their company. Amir can get away with it because their aren't that many people that care about HD DVD over their, they have already begun to write it off. They probably have the accountants closing the books and determining how much they need to right off as I type.

On the other hand, BR is a product which gets face time with the CEO of sony and has come up on multiple occasions. Have you ever heard a Bill Gate's soundbite on the state of HD DVD??? You can be sure that if it was a Toshiba insider laying the smackdown against a sony guy, toshiba would be just as ready to kick him in the backside, like Sony did to max.

[Azumi]

Question to Penton:

According to a Wall Street analyst who's been covering the company for years, Apple might begin to support Blu-ray in full force at Macworld later this month.

Since Apple is a very secretive company, let me phrase the question in a way that might be answered:

Apple is the computer company with the biggest influence in Hollywood (Pixar, Disney, iTunes...), and Steve Jobs could probably run any film studio if he ever decided to quit its company.

So, can this influence play a role, particularly within the film studios? Would the new WB management be more willing to listen to Steve Jobs rather than Toshiba and Bill Gates?

[Polyh3dron]

If you go to any of the pro media places in Hollywood where productions get their tape stock and disc stock from, recordable BDs are readily available, the other format, not so much. They don't really get used by any productions I've been around yet, but when they want to make high def discs, BD would be the logical choice just because of its availability.

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Polyh3dron

If you go to any of the pro media places in Hollywood where productions get their tape stock and disc stock from, recordable BDs are readily available, the other format, not so much. They don't really get used by any productions I've been around yet, but when they want to make high def discs, BD would be the logical choice just because of its availability.

This is where size does matter, and the main reason I want the BD FORMAT to win.

[OokieSpookie]

To our insiders...
Which studio do you think will make the biggest impact at CES?
(or for that matter which presenter)

Edit to say "non warner" because apparently people are still leaving milk and cookies out for Warner Claus at CES even though pretty much everyone in the know has said not to expect a Warner decision at CES and are afraid that it could cause the question to not get answered.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

To our insiders...
Which studio do you think will make the biggest impact at CES?
(or for that matter which presenter)

That's kind of loaded, don't you think?

Maybe something like, "Excluding any sort of WB format exclusivity announcement, what studio do you think will make the biggest impact at CES?"

The above might be a question they can actually answer.

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by Esox50

That's kind of loaded, don't you think?

Maybe something like, "Excluding any sort of WB format exclusivity announcement, what studio do you think will make the biggest impact at CES?"

The above might be a question they can actually answer.

I do not think anyone other than the most rabid believe that there will be a Warner announcement at CES so it is a non issue in this question I would think.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by OokieSpookie

I do not think anyone other than the most rabid believe that there will be a Warner announcement at CES so it is a non issue in this question I would think.

I have no idea what to expect. However, a WB announcement, if one of the Insider's knew of such a thing, would be the show stealer and the answer to your question. They obviously wouldn't be able to comment.

I wasn't making a judgement one way or the other whether it would happen, but I do think it's prudent to take it out of the equation for that very reason and to get a better answer to your question (if one can be provided).

[marzetta7]

Great suggestion on the article Penton. I enjoyed the vast amount of logic in that article and I can imagine how it makes HD DVD proponents squirm.

[malwa]

Arim just called out most of the blu-ray insiders in one post. He basically said you guys are liars. total garbage.



Quote:
Originally Posted by theflux View Post
If a person using a pseudonym posts factual information, does that make it less factual somehow?
If they provide no way for you to verify their information independently, then yes, it does make it less factual. And it may take it as far as fiction. I have seen countless things mentioned by them, where I have personal and first-hand data to be false.

The court system is a good way to look at this as they search for the truth in their dealings (OK, no jokes here ). What do they do at the start of hearing? Have you introduce yourself. Can you imagine a jury believing someone who doesn’t even tell you their name, let alone who they work for and at what level, so that the veracity of the information can be ascertained?

And then we have to look at why they don’t use their real name. When pushed to explain, Talk said that he doesn’t want to use his real name because his company and the government (!) may not like what he is saying on the forum! These are the exact words he used. Do you really want the sources of information to have this kind of caveat attached to their posts? Doesn’t this make it easy for them then to promote rumors and theories that are completely false without the checks and balances that would keep them from doing so?

Again, look at this thread. They talk about a HD DVD PRG group meeting as if it had anything remotely to do with Warner making a decision to change. If you knew these guys, you would know that they would have no way of knowing what that meeting is about since they would not be invited to it. But since you don’t know them, you can’t make that call.

Quote:
Obviously you can't always trust a masked man, but I have noticed that often you attack their anonymity rather than their information directly.
That is an unfair and incorrect characterization. I go after their information 99% of the time. That is what I did in this thread. Go and read the first posts. And I have done the same in AVS. But the last 1% has to do with who they are. If their claim is preposterous, then the only argument back is to question who they are to know what they know. That is the price they pay for wearing a mask and shooting from behind a fence.

Besides, they take advantage of the situation by putting me and my employer in bad light all the time (the words Microsoft and a-man are used more than any other names I am sure). Yet, by hiding their identity, they don’t give a chance for people to question their bias. What if I told you that Penton works for Sony or is a hairdresser who hears conversations from his customers and repeats them. Would you put equal weight to what he says in both cases?


Quote:
Take everything with a grain of salt, and remember that even people posting/speaking under their real names have nothing stopping them from lying to you.
Really? You read the same forums I do? I have yet to see a BD fan take anything Penton says with a grain of salt. If anything, if he says something, they believe it 10 times more. If there is something I don't understand is why folks act that way and not the way you say when they don't even know what these people do.
Look
, I actually enjoy the fact that they are afraid to use their real name. It is great source of pride for me that I work for a company where they are OK with me participating the way I do. And the fact that over 5 years of doing this, I haven't been fired or reprimanded once in any way or shape for my participation in these forums. And that when BDA companies escalate my posts to top execs of the company, they support me in my stance here as they have on a number of occasions. I walk with my head up high, being able to do what I do. So by all means, have them continue wearing their mask. It is you all who are not served by them doing so, not me….

[JAGUAR1977]

Originally Posted by MarekM

little bit of topic, question for paidgeek (or any other who can compare those two releases):

are audio and subtitle specs for Monty Python's Life Of Brian US and UK edition same ? (dolbytrueHD,and if US edition have czech subtitles)
what is more in US 2 disc edition compare to 1 disc UK edition ?

thank you,
and happy new year to all

Marek

Did some research when I bought the UK edition and apparently they are both 1 disc, they certainly have the same extras.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by AmirM

What if I told you that Penton works for Sony or is a hairdresser who hears conversations from his customers and repeats them.

[HUMOR]Everyone knows that hairdressers (i.e. hair stylists) are for women and barbers are for men. So Amir just admitted that he goes to a woman's stylist!!! That explains a lot!!! [/HUMOR]

Looks like Amir's panties are in a bunch over there...

[Crackbone]

Originally Posted by Esox50

[HUMOR]Everyone knows that hairdressers (i.e. hair stylists) are for women and barbers are for men. So Amir just admitted that he's goes to a woman's stylist!!! That explains a lot!!! [/HUMOR]

Looks like Amir's panties are in a bunch over there...

Amir invaded the thread I started and honestly he's so full of it I can't even figure out where to begin.

The little tidbit about MS being able to replicate Disney type efforts via VC-1 on HD DVD made my head spin, no doubt.

I love when Amir tells me that I am crazy, considering I have the discs in hand and can see the fruits of the labor.

[Steverhcp02]

well what Amir doesnt understand is most "insiders" dont get paid to relay insider information. they do it to relay information and answer questions. you would think a man that has written books on engineering and is supposedly smart enough would understand the difference from being a paid company spokesman sent to message boards to A) talk up his product and B) talk down a competitors as being different than guys who know people and are trying to keep their jobs and the people they knows jobs while still leaking and relaying inside information.

this guy is out of touch, imo. Sorry to comment here, but i think his claims are just outlandish.

[nhaase]

You know, when a trial attorney know's he has a bad case and will likely lose, he attacks the credibility of the witness(es) on the stand, instead of the content of their testimony. This guy may as well be Johnny Cochran reborn.

Also, has he ever heard of "witness protection," where they change identities?

Idiot.

[JadedRaverLA]

Penton, come clean! Are you, or are you not, a hairdresser at Sony? Amir really laid down the gauntet on that one.