interesting commentary on the format war

[Matt X]

...interesting commentary on the format war, look for article "Determination or Desperation?" : http://www.homemediamagazine.com/

"Now, the consensus is high-def discs won’t be a serious business until Q4 2008, and studios are anxious not to be branded the boys who cried wolf. Hence, a certain sense of desperation. One champion of HD DVD played up the fact that standard DVDs look better when played on an HD DVD player, implying consumers should buy a machine even if the HD DVD format remains the underdog.

That kind of talk is exactly what we don’t need. It only fuels consumer indifference — the same indifference that years ago sank both rival next-gen audio formats and ultimately sent music consumers online."

...sound familiar to theories on a certain "800-pound Gorilla"'s motivations in this war?

[xtop]

and it really is a shame both audio formats have all but pretty much died off.

bad news if that's what their camp is going to spread

[tiger roach]

Originally Posted by xtop

and it really is a shame both audio formats have all but pretty much died off.

I really had high hopes for SACD. It's just that for most folks, MP3 is good enough.

Video is different - anyone can appreciate the look of a movie in high-def.

[Matt X]

Originally Posted by tiger roach

I really had high hopes for SACD. It's just that for most folks, MP3 is good enough.

Video is different - anyone can appreciate the look of a movie in high-def.

hell, as far as audio (music) goes, after listening to some friend's rigs, I'm sold on going back to VINYL. a nice tube amp and a decent record player are in my cards someday..........(that's if I can stop buying BR's long enough to save the $$$ )

[Seretur]

Yeah, vinyl... gotta love that crackle and pop.

SACD is an amazing format, even if it's niche.

Anyway, I can't believe HD DVD crowd thinks that their gear is superior to Blu-ray even in DVD upsampling. That's just the height of delusion...

[EricJ]

Am I the only one who's NOT blaming SACD-vs-DVD-A on a "format war"?

It was in the same boat as Digital VHS:
- The non-tech public had no idea, and was never specifically told, what the upgrade was or why they should switch,
- OR why they should pay $500 for an untested piece of hardware (the first mistake most companies make with a new format), and
- The format seemed to be using DVD for a purpose nobody really intuitively used it for, just because of old studio traumas about the CD revolution.

Now, normally, this would all be a cheap parallel to Hi-Def, except for:
- The reviews for the format weren't very good,
- Hard-disk CD sales were decreasing (as opposed to movie disks, people don't buy DVD's just to watch one or two chapters)
- Portable players, carrying light and easy electronic downloads that you didn't have to stare at, went mainstream, cheap, available and saturated,
- It takes a LOT less time and effort to download a song than to download a movie, even in a now easy and legitimate format.

You can look at a hi-def movie and be sold, but being sold on hi-def audio took a heck of a lot more persuasion and niche-expertise.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Seretur

Yeah, vinyl... gotta love that crackle and pop.

That's only a problem if you don't look after your records. I've got records 20+ years old that are as silent as the day I got them. But then I'm careful with them...

[radagast]

Originally Posted by xtop

and it really is a shame both audio formats have all but pretty much died off.

bad news if that's what their camp is going to spread

And Toshiba would rather both dud and BD die than lose to the BDA.

[Hayashi]

Originally Posted by Matt X

That kind of talk is exactly what we don’t need. It only fuels consumer indifference — the same indifference that years ago sank both rival next-gen audio formats and ultimately sent music consumers online.

Why do you think when Toshiba was gonna give up on HD-DVD back in 05 but Microsoft pushed for them to keep it... Microsoft just wants to do what Apple did with music, but its never gonna work lol.