Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Blu Titan]

The author is as clueless as a doorknob. Basically she is saying that Blu-ray is for the :elitist" because most people do not have the equipment to enjoy it. I guess she has not noticed that HD TVs are very common now days, and are getting cheaper by the week. In fact, my local Costco has a 50 inch LG 1080P HD TV for $750. The price for BD players is very reasonable, and movies can be had at good prices if you are patient. As far a Blockbuster, the demand for Blu-ray movies is great and they do not have enough copies to satisfy the demand. I just don't see young males asking for BD @ Blockbuster, but girls, women, and senior citizens.

[Reboscale]

Hello everyone, new to blu-ray, and the site. I love it, and even though this is my first post, you all have helped me with my setup more than you will ever know. Working for a major electronics retailer (not Wal-Mart ), we have just expanded our Blu-Ray selection to use TWO and a half additional isles, with the addition of "New to Blu" and "Blu-Ray on a budget" sections. Considering the small amount of space these discs take up from a merchandising standpoint, we are talking about a very large selection.
I'm sorry OP, but Blu-ray is here to stay!
Thanks again for everything!

[Propellarhead9]

At this point everyone I know that has an HDTV has a Blu-ray player of some sort. Most of which are PS3s.

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

Blu-ray struggling? Um Blu-ray kicked the crap out of the other format. Blu-ray is growing and growing by the day. So yeah Blu-ray is past the stage of it becoming another Laserdisc.

I never even heard of LD until bluray came out. Blu is doing just fine

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

Yeah, you can't afford a High Def TV, yet you think Blu-ray is a failure?

Worse. She works for a website about cinema/ home cinema (cinematical) and she doesn't have a HDTV !

Checking the comments, I couldn't believe people mentionning player prices ( - I bought my bedroom player for $150 a few months aggo) and discs prices at $35.


Reading this is like being back in early 2008...

[fuwa]

Blu-rays are definitely more prevalent than laser discs. The big drawback was the storage capacity.

DVDs rectified all the short comings of the laser disc and quickly replaced VHS tapes.

The problem as I view it with blu-ray is the software price. Any walk through the Target blu-ray section reveals the majority of blu-rays listing at $30. There are the usual $15 specials but most are movies I would not want to purchase for $5.

I don't know how many times I have been to Target and Best Buy and have seen two blu-ray movies I want to watch and then stop and realize that the price will be $60. Often I end up buying nothing.

Target has many good deals on DVD: $7.50 for a high def remastering of Breakfast at Tiffany's is one that I picked up. Many Hitchock classics are available for $15 or less at Target on DVD.

I now limit my purchases of blu-ray to mainly Disney and Pixar for my daughter and absolute favorites for me that will look noticeably better on blu-ray, otherwise a well mastered dvd upscaled on the blu-ray player played on a quality hdtv is fine with me until blu-ray software prices drop.

I do recommend people to buy a blu-ray player for upscaling dvds and playing select blu-rays.

[jabbayoda]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

Yeah, you can't afford a High Def TV, yet you think Blu-ray is a failure?

I don't necessarily agree with the author of the original post, but what does someone's economic status or amount of disposable income have to do with their ability to analyze trends and stats and come up with a projection for the future? Just because she can't afford an HDTV means she knows nothing about their marketshare? That's a real lapse in logic.

If anything, her inability to afford an HDTV and Blu-ray player supports her argument, because she's using her own situation as an example for the masses -- Blu-ray players and HDTVs are pricey, and purchasing new a/v equipment is just out of the question for the bulk of the population at the moment.

[jabbayoda]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

I couldn't believe people mentionning player prices ( - I bought my bedroom player for $150 a few months aggo)

$150 for a Blu-ray player is nothing to an A/V fanatic like all of us. But for John Q. Whatever, a perfectly good DVD player is probably fine for the moment. $150 is a lot, especially in the midst of a recession with the jobless rate closing in on 10%.

Anyway, I disagree with the OP. Blu-ray is here to stay, but it's going to have to be happy with a shared market -- DVD is here to stay for a good while, too.

[benricci]

Originally Posted by jabbayoda

Just because she can't afford an HDTV means she knows nothing about their marketshare?

Apparently it does, since she stated that blu-ray makes up about 6% of sales, when it's actually closer to double that amount.

And she fails to note that blu-ray sales were up 91% in the first half of 2009, and BD rentals grew more than 60% in the same time period.

So yeah, basically she's unqualified in every respect. Not only does she not have a firm handle on technology, but her analysis is pathetic at best, given the incredible growth blu-ray has achieved in such little time.

[Another_Dude]

To: Monika
From: Another_Dude
Subject: Your Cakehole


Shut it.

[VinnAY]

kinda hard to stomach 24.95 discs at Wal-Mart when the economy is bad. Sure there are sales and BOGO's around, but the mainstream pricing in the B&M stores isn't jiving with the economy right now.

[bandit29]

I blame Best Buy and their rip off prices.

[benricci]

So shop somewhere else. It's not that hard to find good prices.

[bandit29]

Originally Posted by benricci

So shop somewhere else. It's not that hard to find good prices.

I do.

[kefrank]

Originally Posted by benricci

Apparently it does, since she stated that blu-ray makes up about 6% of sales, when it's actually closer to double that amount.

According to who? She stated that Blu-ray makes up about 6% of home entertainment sales, which is consistent with this video business article from three months ago. Is there a more recent article that shows a different breakdown of home entertainment revenue?

I don't entirely agree with her conclusions however. Blu-ray is most definitely helping to offset declining DVD revenue. If it weren't for Blu-ray, the overall revenue numbers would be even more dismal. It's not rapidly overtaking DVD, but I don't think anyone expected it to do so. The measure of Blu-ray's success is not whether or not it can overtake DVD completely. If it eventually does, then great, but all it really needs to do is help fill in declines in home entertainment revenue, which it is doing.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by jpaul1972

I dunno about anybody else, but I don't think I've even been IN a Blockbuster in 5 years!
And speaking as a dumb consumer, I see many more blu-ray players and disks sitting on the shelves of retailers than I did Laser discs.

I never saw a single laserdisc in a retail outlet.

I don't think I've ever seen a laserdisc in person.

Anyway, as I was just explaining to a friend, it doesn't cost thousands to be ready to enjoy Blu-ray. A 32 inch TV can be had for much less than 500 bucks and a player can be as cheap as 100. And sound systems, although claimed by many here to be more important, aren't needed for the general person to get something from Blu-ray that DVD cannot. I know I enjoyed Blu-ray plenty in the time I had it before I got my surround sound. It's because I had never had surround sound with DVD either!

[Rblu-Dblu]

I don't get all the price complaining. I haven't spent more than $23 on a bluray since last december. You deserve to pay $30+ if you're too lazy to find a better deal. Especially if you read this site, there are deals all over the place.

[Propellarhead9]

I only bought 3 Blus that I paid more than 15 bucks for. Granted I buy a lot of mine used.

[bandit29]

Originally Posted by Rblu-Dblu

I don't get all the price complaining. I haven't spent more than $23 on a bluray since last december. You deserve to pay $30+ if you're too lazy to find a better deal. Especially if you read this site, there are deals all over the place.

Obviously.. you don't get it...average consumers don't do what you, members here and I do. Blu-ray growth will be slow until B & M stores lower their prices for the average consumer. Until then, I'll shop online.

I do think Blu-ray players have come down faster in price than DVD players did.

[donaldheil]

Wow! It seems like nowadays, ANYBODY can write about ANYTHING. No need for expertise, just write the first thing that comes to your mind...

I wonder if crap like this deserves to be even considered here. The main problem, I know, is that they are to be read (potentially) by the general public, to add to the confusion.

Why are people interested in killing the Blu Ray format?

I wonder if something like that ever happended to DVD when first appeared.

I don't know. It looks like there still bad HD losers out there...