Sony may well regret its victory - Article by tool

[MallardRider]

Yes, sure, Sony will regret its victory - if everyone at home has T1 connections.

Digital downloads won't take off if the infrastructure is not there.

[kali]

Originally Posted by Balian

There are more people on the payroll of Microsoft than we thought ...

Is he part of Microsoft's answer to Phase Hydra:-)

Did anyone ever learn the code word for Microsoft sending shills to forums?

[Elandyll]

Frankly, it doesn't take long to see that the guy is both uninformed and biased.
Rightthere, it shows:

If anything, Blu-ray and HD DVD began to appear even more indistinguishable in the light of the discovery that early Blu-ray discs will be limited to half their 50gb storage capacity,

Wtf? "Will be" ?

[richard lichtenfelt]

Tool freaking rocks.

[Slapper]

Ah, an HD DVDer with one too many drinks. This is the kind of logic that seems to come out of their mouths:

1. Low bitrate is better than high bitrate hogs.
2. Why have 50gig of storage when 30gig is good enough?
3. 2 studios supporting HD DVD is more than enough to sustain HD DVD.
4. Why have lossless PCM when Dolby Digital sounds just as good?
5. HD DVD players are way cheaper than Blu-ray players

And now, success equals failure according to the Red fanboys.

What will they think of next?

[dustin410]

Originally Posted by Joe Cain

Another article positing that digital downloads are the true savior of the movie-buying public...

<yawwwwwwn>

So that's what the artical was about. Couldn't get past the first paragraph. I hate reading fanboy crap.

Digital downloads. Ha! In seven to ten years, granted. But this go-around, it's all blu.

[zMadMonk]

I like how he hides the gem that only 57% of people in his area have internet connections. I had to point out that if only 57% of people have internet (not only that, but high bandwidth internet), where would the other 43% get their downloaded media.

The guy IS a tool. And isn't Debbie Gibson the greatest singer in the world? If he saw no difference between HD DVD and Blu-Ray, no wonder he was confused about dear ol Debbie. Oh, yeah.... its DEBORAH now. Sheesh.

[Clark Kent]

This is becoming a very common meme among HD DVD fanboys because they just realized the format they have sunk money into is going down the drain. Many of them are bitter and really thought that all studios would release on HD DVD eventually. The only regrets are on the HD DVD side.

[EvolutionCherry]

Originally Posted by izomax

That guy must have bought HD-DVD player over Christmas.

Suc*ks to be him, LOL.

You win at life with that.

LOL yes that article was written by a HD-DVD fanboy alright. I would not even call that an article. An article is not bias. It's more like a blog.

[flyingdutchman]

Originally Posted by radagast

All any thinking person has to do is ask himself, or herself, one question:

If hd-dvd had won, would we be seeing these articles predicting downloads as the eventual winner?

Well, I too think that downloads will eventually win out, but not for about 6-7 more years!!!

[fronn]

Originally Posted by Whytewash

That is a little weird...


Sony MAY regret winning, mark my words?!?!?!

I was actually just wondering that myself.

What kind of statement is that? "Mark my words" only makes sense when used with a strong statement afterwards... You don't say "Mark my words, it may rain tomorrow!"

I don't mean to pick on English usage, as I throw it out the window at times... but, really, come on!

The article is just as much full of shit as the title though, as it starts off a few paragraphs in on the (false) pretense that the format's are the same in audio and video department, based on the talk of some store clerk and a comparison between a decent BR movie and a pretty good HD DVD... there's little point in reading past the 5th paragraph (which is actually the second paragraph that actually pertains to the subject). Forget the fact that he uses the older generation as evidence that HD won't catch on... The lunacy of that should be abundantly clear to anyone with... well, no, just anyone.

What the **** kind of reporting is that? Not only is the title terribly made (is it supposed to be ironic somehow?), but the entire basis of the article is silly. I wrote better argumentative papers in high school, and I certainly didn't stoop to using Debbie Gibson as proof I was somehow awesome at predicting the future.

[miokti]

the guy is totally clueless... and falls into the same mentality that HD-DVD fanboys have: that Sony = Blu-ray. The format war wasn't just won by Sony. It was also a win for Panasonic and the rest of BDA. It was also a win for Disney, Fox and Warner. It was also a win for EVERYONE who would rather own HD media rather than having them stored in a hard-drive. I buy at least 4 movies every month.. I'm gong to fill up a hard-drive pretty quickly, specially since I want lossless audio... hard-drive is not gonna do it for me. I don't want to keep adding memory just so that I can buy movies...

[Tanman19az]

Why did he pick Behind Enemy Lines? I dont think that movie is show-off blu-ray at all. Oh and I love all the blu comments on the bottom! haha suck it HD DVD!

[maconomics]

Originally Posted by radagast

All any thinking person has to do is ask himself, or herself, one question:

If hd-dvd had won, would we be seeing these articles predicting downloads as the eventual winner?

My point exactly!

[Kayne314]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

Unlike Universal, Paramount or Dreamworks, we CAN and SHOULD send this galaxy class ******* very worded and impolite e-mails. He was stupid enough to put it at the end of that glorified piece of toilet paper he calls an article so...

sathnam@thetimes.co.uk

Release the Hounds



P.S. I guarantee he regrets writting that article LOOONG before Sony ever feels a smidgeon of regret over killing off HD DUD

Well, I sent him a letter. and I'll post a copy here. It's a tad long but I was mad, and well, I'm mean.

Sathnam,
Re: Article entitled "Mark my words, Sony may well regret its victory in the video disc war"
As I am someone who actually owns both a Blu-Ray Player and an HD DVD player, may I please say this. You failed to do your homework.
Blu-Ray does actually look better than HD DVD. If you had taken the two player home and compared them in a less confusing environment I'm sure you would have seen this. Secondly, audio is half the home-theatre experience, and in this there is NO comparison. Blu-Ray has better audio. Had you compared the two using more than just the speakers on the display in the store, this would have become obvious.
I know this was your opinion piece, but your opinion strode over into the realm of technical forecasting and Home Theatre Advise or Review. I feel you are unqualified in this arena.
Although you prefaced your opinion with the warning and examples of previous failed predictions, I think many of your readers may see this as advise to actually follow with regards to their high definition home theatre.
You speak of high definition download services, as if they are the next big thing. And therefore must obviously be the better solution. I encourage you to actually research the reality of high def downloads. There are several companies that are trying to implement this sort of tech. Some say they are less than 6 months from launch. ( One assumes in the real world this means 2 to 3 years off.)
Research what this would actually require to pull off. The bandwidth requirements, technical restrictions, and storage capabilities of such a service are astronomical. Not to mention Studio support for download services are non-existent, and may remain so for the foreseeable future.
You have done your readership a disservice by predicting HD downloads as the next big thing. To say you don't see a benefit in high definition disc media is one thing. To say the format war has soured you to high definition in general even would be acceptable. However, you have forgone a reality for a pipe dream.
Waiting for an HD download service to be viable to the masses is a bit like waiting to buy a flying car. It's a nice dream, but not really practical or even based in reality. Most industry analysts agree anything viable will be at least 5 years off. And even then, there is no sure thing.
The man that waits for a train that will never come, will be waiting a very long time indeed. You sir, will be waiting by those tracks for a very long time.
Please consider researching the reality of HD downloads. I'm sure that would be a considerably better read, and more informative to your readership. For the reality of the present, give Blu-Ray another shot. It has all but declared total victory in the format war, and IS the superior format with features for the future, right now. If people are looking to invest in a product, It is my belief that it is always better to invest in a reality, rather than an unknown.
Thank you for reading this,

Joseph Kayne
Canada

Did anyone else rip him a new one? I tried to keep mine professional, and somewhat polite.

[tron3]

Nice letter Kayn. I read every word, which is more than what that tool might do. He should get a link to this thread.

Firstly, isn't the downloading of movies a rental service? Secondly, don't you have to repay to watch the movie after 15 days? Aren't the movies of LESSER quality than either blu-ray or even HD DVD? I can almost guarantee you won't be able to burn them to disc. What is the point of spending thousands on a home theater if you have to watch the movie on your pc?

If you don't see the difference then you are not blind, you just don't know how to discern quality. I can see the difference between VHS, DVD, and my blu-ray. Among my blu-rays I notice if the picture doesn't seem up to snuff. Sure enough if I check the bit rates they are sometimes low. But a BD25 is still twice as good as The Bi-Polar Express which was mastered on a 15gb HD DVD and ported over to blu-ray.

While not all my blu-ray movies have the spectacular quality of BD50, they are still much prefered over DVD and beat the pants off of single or dual layer HD DVD respectively.

[Mystique]

Right......

[Kirsty_Mc]

He seems like a total knob head. Makes me wonder what all those BD50s are in my collection (a mirage perhaps).

Yet another thicko that does not know his subject.

[GORT]

Well lets see wasnt it the financial times that reported that paramount was going to switch any second and now its doom and gloom that blu-ray has won and then they bring up digital downloads and we all know who is behind that (M$)
you have to understand that the person who wrote this has no tech backround he wouldnt know 1080p from 720i so dont put any stock in this crap in the UK tabloids out sell the times

[mastertang]

I swear, if some Blu-ray hater says digital downloads one more time...