Oh noes teh sky is falling!

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by blacklion

Says who? What's your evidence for that?

Are you referring to the single company comment? If so try here:

http://www.blu-raydisc.com/en/about/...Companies.html

Or the keeping prices down comment? If so try here:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=amb_link_6333352_6?ie=UTF8&rs=387547011&bbn=38 7547011&rnid=1250324011&rh=n:387547011,p_74:1000-1499&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=browse&pf_rd_r= 1QTPXJRNJRMGREX88D0W&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=125768286 2&pf_rd_i=193640011

Or here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstempl...getype=listing

Or here:

http://www.walmart.com/browse/Blu-ra...ems=+&depts=Mo

Or here:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/blu-ray_...new-low-price/

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by blu2

Agreed that is a risk. Another approach is the a user stores their purchases on 3rd party network storage.

We're already at a point where one cableco is about to deploy network DVRs.

http://www.lightreading.com/document...site=lr_cable&

This is why I will never rely on someone else to "hold" my movies.

Dish Network Corp. reported a 26 percent drop in first-quarter net income as the satellite TV company stepped up promotions to reel in customers. Its CEO also warned the company may shut down millions of digital video recorders in a dispute with TiVo Inc.

Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said Monday that he's prepared to shut down the DVRs if a court sides with TiVo in a patent-infringement case. The alternative is to pay TiVo, a pioneer in DVR technology, licensing fees.

"The only thing we can control is to shut down boxes, so we have to, obviously, if we were to lose in the court procedures," he told analysts during a conference call on the company's earnings. "We're prepared to do that. That obviously will have a material negative effect on our business."

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by partridge

As a slight aside, the only thing missing for me is the quick, easy and legal way to take a purchased DVD and make the content available on portable devices like a PSP or smartphone.

If there was some way I could put a DVD or blu-ray into a PS3 and choose a "copy to PSP" option, all above board, that would be superb! Similary some way to move it to a smart phone now that many of them have decent size screens.

That's the missing element for me, I like my media on disc, but I'd like to be able to take it with me to watch wherever I am. Currently the only way to do this is by dubious means...

Blu has a "Managed Copy" feature that's meant to support this function. To my knowledge it hasn't yet been implemented on discs. In future we will be able to make a legal registered soft copy for playback on arbitrary devices.

[Captainhawk1]

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Just watching the video made me think: "Jeez. That looks a little uncomfortable to have to hold upright all the time... If only there was a way to prop it up on the top of your lap... like a laptop..."

Who the F needs a laptop you have to hold up all the time???

That looks like... That looks like... That looks like...

I love how people comment on $hit they have absolutely no first-hand knowledge of. Congratulations on being yet another Internet Expert that makes my day complete.

I got my 64GB 3G iPad last Friday (I pre-ordered) and to be honest, if it was just a big iPod Touch or iPhone sans phone (as I feared it would be), I wasn't going to keep it. It's much more than that and I have been more than pleasantly surprised.

Second you have more than one option when it comes to how you type. I bought the protective case which converts to a two-way stand so you can type on a flat surface (or on your lap) or position it upright to watch video.

Then of course (and if the haters had bothered to do any research they would know this) there's the keyboard dock accessory which I was fortunate to get free from Apple because FedEx had lousy service.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC533LL/A

[Captainhawk1]

Originally Posted by FendersRule

I've built and used PCs for 8 years.
I've built and used Macs for 3 years.

Macs IMHO are better for many hardware and software engineering reasons. I'm tired of PC tards telling me how Macs suck when they haven't touched one or know nothing about their unique advantages. I'm also tired of Mac tards who say that PCs suck, but completely ignore their advantages.

I'm sick and tired of all these invalid opinions. Your opinion is simply invalid if you have not worked with both thoroughly (using them at school does not count), and have an open mind. I bet you this applies to 70% of posters in this thread.

Back in my PC days, PCs were a fun toy to play with. I could do LOTS with them for very little money. All I cared about was gaming, overclocking, modding, tweaking, building, playing. I would never ask for those days back.

7 years later, I do the same with Macs (albeit the increased cost). However, I also get the pleasure of living, breathing, and being productive in a well engineered world (MOSX) without having to worry about addware and spamware being shot into registry (yes, I like porn), or not have to worry about "downloading drivers" anymore. There is many advantages to have less hardware options for this very reason. My degree is in Human Factors, and this is the stuff that I pay very close attention too- usability. It has never occurred to me how fun an OS can be for getting work done (movie editing, building websites, photo editing, music production, iWork). I can turn on my Mac, and be seconds away from a live video conference with my father (no additional software), or I can choose to be productive with an extremely efficient software suite (iLife, which is not an additional software piece). You simply cannot ignore these things.

Quality hardware that is engineered to fit in a desirable case, and best of all, the best engineered OS on the planet by far- that's what I'm buying.

And at the end of the day, I can boot my Mac Pro into Windows 7 and play Counterstrike.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I need to get back to my HTPC (which is running Windows 7) and watch something...

^^^ One of the best posts yet.

I fall into the category of having used both and worked on both for years and yet at home, all of my computers are PC's. Nothing against Macs, it's just a cost factor for me and I'm comfortable enough with PC's that any issues that may arise, I can easily resolve.

OTOH, we own two iPhones and the aforementioned iPad and I thoroughly enjoy both products and would never go to a different smartphone (based on owning Blackberry products and using other smartphones for trial periods) because nothing compares to the iPhone. As far as the iPad is concerned, well no one has anything really comparable to it right now to begin with but the fact is that Apple has been good to me as far as reliability and Customer Sevice is concerned and that really goes a long way.

Also, I think part of the reason Apple products are so popular in general is because of the ease of use and reliability factor. Seriously, my daughter had the iPhone figured out in 10 minutes when she was 2 years old. Now, like I said, it's a six-of-one and a-half-dozen-of-the-other for me with computers between Mac and PC but then again, most people aren't as experienced with computers as I am and frankly most people want everything to work out of the box. I saw a documentary about the history of Apple and apparently the BS in the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads about Mac users being young and hip is just that... BS. According to the documentary, the largest segment of Mac users are middle-aged guys in their 50's and 60's. That would make sense to me because of the fact that Apple's entire mantra is about making computing idiot-proof, care-free and completely user-friendly. I have no question that my mother-in-law could use a Mac... my mother-in-law can't figure out how to SMS on her phone.

But really, it's personal preference. Taking a dump on one computer over the other is really pointless because as pointed out, each has their advantages and disadvantages.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Rob71

This is why I will never rely on someone else to "hold" my movies.

agree. I don't trust anyone. That is why I buy instead of rent. I don't care if it si virtual (i.e.DL) or hard (i.e. disks or something else) given that it is easy and simple and works. But I am not a renter and will never trust someone else to have my best interest at heart. Imagine amassing a library and the place goes out of business (let's face it, it can happen and your only copy is on their server) , Imagine due to copyright issues a movie is pulled (such issues arise all the time with movies and let's face it, we have seen it on youtube many times), imagine that it is no longer PC enough (like Disney not releasing song of the south).....

I need physical control on it

[Buddy Christ]

I do not care really what happens, that is too far away.

Live in the now

[kslee]

The next generation of blu-ray disc will probably be Super Blu-ray disc with resolution of 2160P, just like the case of SACD vs. CD, a complelely new improved format. Another way of improving the current blu-ray format is by adoption of new disc material like the one used by HQCD, a polycarbonate plastic with improved transparency. Perhaps a 8K digital scanning process like the one used on 'Baraka' will also enhance the picture quality of blu-ray disc.

[Bluniko]

Regardless what comes out next, The big companies will make sure its DIFFERENT enough from the last format, so they can CASH IN on our hard earned money!! ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY guys! Consumerism!!

So on the next format we gna need a brand new set of PLAYER, TV, CABLES and all the other bits and pieces that will cost thousands of dollars!

LOOK At 3D tV for example - I just bought a LED TV like a year ago, and now the 3D TV is out my TV has already become obsolete!!! I have to pay another 3Gs to get the 3D TV!!! SCrew this! and ALSO I NEED a new BD Player that supports 3D!!!! coz mine which I got 6 months ago isnt good enough anymore!

BLU RAY WILL NOT LAST 10-20 years NO way.....Companies will develop new things to make people always wanna buy! Think about it!

Stop being so narrow minded, who cares what comes next after BD?? is this the REAL big issue now?? There are other bigger things out there that we should be worrying about right now....

PEACE

[kslee]

Originally Posted by Bluniko

Regardless what comes out next, The big companies will make sure its DIFFERENT enough from the last format, so they can CASH IN on our hard earned money!! ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY guys! Consumerism!!

So on the next format we gna need a brand new set of PLAYER, TV, CABLES and all the other bits and pieces that will cost thousands of dollars!

LOOK At 3D tV for example - I just bought a LED TV like a year ago, and now the 3D TV is out my TV has already become obsolete!!! I have to pay another 3Gs to get the 3D TV!!! SCrew this! and ALSO I NEED a new BD Player that supports 3D!!!! coz mine which I got 6 months ago isnt good enough anymore!

BLU RAY WILL NOT LAST 10-20 years NO way.....Companies will develop new things to make people always wanna buy! Think about it!

Stop being so narrow minded, who cares what comes next after BD?? is this the REAL big issue now?? There are other bigger things out there that we should be worrying about right now....

PEACE

I absolutely agree with you that this kind of video media format change always repeats itself in history starting from VHS/BETA, LD, DAT, DVD and now BLU-RAY by replacing its predecessor and sometime several media co-exist at the same time. Without these changes, electronics manufacturers and film studios cannot create incentive to induce people to buy. Changes mean more profit-making.

[Anthony P]

BLU RAY WILL NOT LAST 10-20 years NO way.....Companies will develop new things to make people always wanna buy! Think about it!

I hope so I would be happy to have the option of something better then BD. but I think people need to be realistic as well. BD came out in 2006, it was big news in 2004 we where all discussing the two competing formats (HD-DVD & BD), in 2002 the BDF was formed and a name given. If you read tech journals you could read of interesting work on .1mm or blue laser disks all the way back to when DVD launched http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Scienc...echnology.html (note 1996 when the original article appeard DVD had not launched yet and in 1997 when it won the award DVD had just barely started, that is why they call it CD)

Tech takes a hell of a long time to go from concept we can read about that might be interesting to real tech we can buy in stores. You need an idea (it should be able to do X), then a prototype (can it do X) then manufacturability (no use having a tech that costs 10k$/player or 100$ per disk to make) then once all is “doable” then you get everyone together to make a format (like the BDF) and then the politics start. 20 years is extremely far away so who knows, 10 years is on the cusp of doable if everything gowes right for the nef format and everything goes bad for the current one (after all no use pushing something new if something old is making you the $). But if anything was going to replace BD in let’s say around 5 years we would already have a good idea what it would be, and we would have had for some time now. So I don’ty think the 10-20 year time frame is unrealistic

Like you said "Regardless what comes out next, The big companies will make sure its DIFFERENT enough from the last format" and so we would need to be seeing something that can be real different on the HW front ( not necessarily the look, but the specs DVD was 8.5 GB BD is 50GB....). Can you tell me of something viable that can offer a lot more then BD?

[tron3]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

agree. I don't trust anyone. That is why I buy instead of rent. I don't care if it si virtual (i.e.DL) or hard (i.e. disks or something else) given that it is easy and simple and works. But I am not a renter and will never trust someone else to have my best interest at heart. Imagine amassing a library and the place goes out of business (let's face it, it can happen and your only copy is on their server) , Imagine due to copyright issues a movie is pulled (such issues arise all the time with movies and let's face it, we have seen it on youtube many times), imagine that it is no longer PC enough (like Disney not releasing song of the south).....

I need physical control on it

AMEN. Back in the 80's the Intellivision game console had a game called "KC Munchkin". I never saw the thing, but there was a law suit and Intellivision lost. Apparently, the game was exactly like Pac Man under a different name. They were ordered to stop selling the game. Naturally, everyone who already owned the game held onto it like grim death.

Having your BD player connected via network cable is also suspicious. Who knows when a company will one day have the gall to disallow the playing of the movie on your player in your own home. It will never happen? Yeah, people been saying that about lots of things.

[Weirded Wonder]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

imagine that it is no longer PC enough (like Disney not releasing song of the south).....

Disney still releases Song of the South, just not in North America.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by beardmoen

Disney still releases Song of the South, just not in North America.

I know that they have released it elsewhere, but it was irrelevant so I did not want to get into the details. In the end it was not Region 1 so it cannot play it in a R1 DVD player. But even more importantly the discussion was streaming from a server where you don't have the copies locally of the movies you buy, in that scenario the MSP will definitely know where you are located so it will be easier to restrict then with DVD. I guess I could have added in NA but I don't know where they don't have an issue and where they do.

[iam1bearcat]

what will happen after blu-ray...

... we all die.

[Show spoiler]but seriously, we will.

[Show spoiler]

[jazzrocking]

Japan has already made sure that something better will soon be here, and it's called Ultra High-Definition. Japan, along with two other countries, want it a reality by 2015.

[nublu]

Well it'll probably be called INDIGO if you go by the visual spectrum chart ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, BLUE, indigo, and violet). So someone should claim intelectual property rights on the name now!

...unless the Mayans are right of course and we are toast in 2012.

[Jimmy Smith]

An upgrade from 1080p to a 2k format is not substainial enough of an upgrade to make most people rebuy there movies.

Whatever the next generation of movies will be will have to be in 4k resolution. Footage shot on film should be Ok for this but there is a problem for computer animation and many digitally shot movies. Most digitally shot material while it may look great today is captured at sub-4k. Very few CG animation in movies was rendered at 4k either. Even Avatar was rendered at 2K and thus would need to be re-rendered to benefit from 4k screens. 4k screens will probably start out with the primary purpose of upconverting Blu-Rays. I suspect Blu-Ray players that upconvert Blu-Rays to 4k to be out before the next half decade. Like upconverting DVD players they won't match native 4k content but they will make Blu-Rays look better then they ever have. Which is a definute plus for me.

Given how fast digital bandwidth is growing compared to how slow the move to 4k content is in (even most theatrical projecters are 2K) I suspect that any move to native 4K content will be primarily through downloads. I honestly don't expect another physical disc format.

[jlafrenz]

Holographic Discs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc

[iam1bearcat]

wow. i actually already wrote what i just wrote.
...*sigh* lame...