Public perception about the format war (article)

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by N2DVD

In order to get the movies I want, I have to support both formats, and in some case, I will have to settle for SD discs as well. The above mentioned article just shows what it all really comes down to - price point on players AND software.

I think you're very lucky indeed if buying one extra format gives you the movies you want in HD. BD and HD-DVD combined have only around 700 movies (not counting duplicates) so far. What a stroke of good fortune that these just happen to include the ones you want (contrast the tens of thousands of releases on DVD).

For my part the movies I want haven't been released yet -- and probably won't be so long as this stupid format war continues. (Example: Spielberg taking pains to exclude his movies from HD-DVD even though the studio releases on that format.)

Supporting the losing format, which prolongs the war, actually reduces your access to the movies you want on HD disc.

[Xerious]

i agree with everyone else with the pricing issue...

there are $20 mp3 players out there readily available and yet apple maintains a substantial 95% of the market share with their $350 ipod... does price matter? not of the the perception of the the public attaches an iconic status to it.

why upgrade your DVDs to HD DVD when you can go beyond and go Blu?

[HeLLSpiRE]

Just throwing my 2 cents, but I am under the strong impression that the "general public" seriously knows nothing about the HD format wars. I mean I was at best buy purchasing a couple of bluray movies and while at the store, an 'employee' came up to be and saw that I was carrying these movies and actually asked me whether it was any different. The other conversation I heard which was astounding was when a member of this "general public" was inquiring a staff member about the difference between HDDVD/Bluray, as the conversation went on, the employee asked what kind of tv etc etc he had. The person told him that he was still using an old 4:3 television which wasn't a HDTV, but he wanted to watch HD on it

After that I was simply shocked at what the general public really new and thought about this new technology we've all invested so much money in, but back to my other angle. I think a strong deciding factor to who wins will be what companies decide to back what. What I mean is that I know for a fact that my gf loves Disney and if she wants to watch any of the Disney films in HD, she'll have to go with Bluray. Personally I was gonna bite the bullet and buy HDDVD for Transformers (which I will someday), but it would be for a very small selection of movies which I decided wasn't worth it for the cost of the HDDVD. I'll probably go buy one of those bitstreaming players sometime next year when hopefully they're dirt cheap.

[The Laughing Man]

Allow me to interject another thought here.

As someone that works for a marketing/advertising firm never underestimate the power of an ad campaign and marketing prowess.

Look at the names. HD-DVD is a much better, more descriptive name than Blu-Ray. Especially with the changeover coming. All consumers are hearing are 'HD this, HD that'. HD programming, HD tvs, etc. So, when they go to the store and see HD-DVD they know EXACTLY what it is. High definition DVDs.

Blu-Ray is harder to figure out. Unless you were reasonably educated in lingo you wouldn't know, right off the bat, that Blu-Ray is, in fact, high definition.

If you notice, Blu-Ray commercials have recently changed their pitch to, 'Own it today on DVD or High Definition Blu-Ray'. Back a few months ago, they would leave off the 'high definition' part.

That's honestly my concern, consumers are easily led around (dare I say stupid?) and if I may adjust 'Occam's Razor': That which is easier to understand is what consumer's embrace.

I know the Betamax/VHS argument isn't exactly applicable, but one impressive lesson the industry learned from that is that 'perception is reality'.

Oh, sure, home theater and electronics buffs will always embrace a superior format, but the mass market is what dictates what is ultimately produced. Look at the failure of Minidiscs to CDs. Minidiscs was easily the winner. Same quality ease of use, smaller, rewritable. But the public didn't 'get it'. It was smaller so people didn't see how it could hold the same amount of stuff.

The bottom line is that the lowest common denominator of consumer will dictate the winner. And the winner must appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[Teazle]

Originally Posted by The Laughing Man

That's honestly my concern, consumers are easily led around (dare I say stupid?) and if I may adjust 'Occam's Razor': That which is easier to understand is what consumer's embrace.

I'd have thought that in this context Ockham's Razor -- usually a principle of ontological simplicity (one should not accept superfluous entities in one's metaphysics) would bear a different analogy. HD-DVD is the unnecessary entity to be excised.

[tiger roach]

Some have claimed Blu-ray is a better name for pretty much the same reasons.

Some say HD-DVD is too similar to DVD and confuses the "lowest common denominator" folks.

[sj001]

Blu-ray just flows off the tongue better, sounds more appealing. HD-DVD is just a garble, too many syllables, say HD-DVD ten times fast, now say Blu-ray ten times fast.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Originally Posted by Teazle

I'd have thought that in this context Ockham's Razor -- usually a principle of ontological simplicity (one should not accept superfluous entities in one's metaphysics) would bear a different analogy here. HD-DVD is the unnecessary entity to be excised.

It's rare that a conversation has me doing additional research to keep up, but wow, this one's starting to get pretty deep!

In regards to the topic at hand, I once again am impressed at the quality of responses that we get here. Wherease other sites have to shut down completely due to fanboyism, this site instead chooses (for the most part) to engage in intelligent conversation. This is one of the reasons why I keep coming back.

But I digress. I also would like to add my 2 cents. This war has absolutely nothing in common with the VHS/Betamax format war. Get real. And as far as the argument in regards to consumers gravitating towards the cheaper format: how do you explain the sucess of DVD?! Clearly it wasn't cheaper than VHS when it was launched, or for quite a few years after, but now I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a wide selection of VHS anywhere for sale. Sure you can get them, but they're getting harder and harder to find, but they're still cheaper than DVDs, so why is that?

Also, as it has been explained several times already, who in their right mind is going to spend several THOUSANDS of dollars on an HDTV and then skimp on thier hi-def video player? Yes, there are more and more HDTVs at affordable prices, but for the consumers that are wanting the best (1080i min.), that's going to translate into Blu-ray when it comes down to their home theater systems as well. And the numbers are proving that very point.

Most consumers are still on the fringe, waiting for a single format to emerge. Many more don't even care yet, because they don't have HDTVs yet and have other priorities. Enough talk about Joe Six Pack. He's not our concern, he's the studios and CE's, and they're doing all they can to educate him. In the end, let's look at the facts: more studio support (more movies available), a variety of name brands to choose from (HD DVD only available from Toshiba), THE major brick-and-mortar rental store exclusive (Blockbuster does not carry HD DVD), and matched pricing against the competition with a better product (fewer limitations due to higher bitrates and overall storage capacity) is all J6P will need to know.

[edit] Personally, for me, the number 1 reason why J6P will never embrace HD DVD under the current environment is the Blockbuster factor. Sure, he can get a fancy hi-def player for under $200, but he's not going to want to buy his titles, he's going to want to rent them. And where is he going to do that?

[vegeta88]

I wasn't exactly alive during the Betamax VHS format war so I was just wondering if exclusivity existed in that war like now.

[werewuf]

For the past 6 months there has not been a "stalemate". The exec that used that phrase recently was being diplomatic. The recent sales numbers worldwide speak the truth and blu-ray's 2-1 and 3-1 advantage, depending on region, isn't just going to fold up and go away. Transformers was released, the $99 Toshiba's were released and BD has still maintained it's sales dominance. Anything said (like the article that started this thread) to the contrary is purely propaganda released to disseminate disinformation, to hopefully shore up the badly losing participant in this war.

[Gio]

Originally Posted by Xerious

i agree with everyone else with the pricing issue...

there are $20 mp3 players out there readily available and yet apple maintains a substantial 95% of the market share with their $350 ipod... does price matter? not of the the perception of the the public attaches an iconic status to it.

god i love my video iPods we have 4 of them in my house
me, wife and 2 kids, they alwasys use in the car, nothing like carrying a couple hundred movies with you at a time