Sad stuff (why the PE HD DVD is doing so well on Amazon)

[DrinkMore]

Pathetic. There are more stupid people in this world than I thought.

I suppose the following notice that is on EVERY HD product page - went un-noticed..

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This disc is a high-definition DVD and is compatible only with HD DVD players such as the Toshiba HD-A2. It will not play on a standard DVD player. For more information, see our HD DVD buying guide.

I blame nobody except the consumer for not reading and not being smarter than a damn animal cookie.

[Merrick]

Originally Posted by DrinkMore

Pathetic. There are more stupid people in this world than I thought.

I suppose the following notice that is on EVERY HD product page - went un-noticed..

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This disc is a high-definition DVD and is compatible only with HD DVD players such as the Toshiba HD-A2. It will not play on a standard DVD player. For more information, see our HD DVD buying guide.

I blame nobody except the consumer for not reading and not being smarter than a damn animal cookie.

DrinkMore - not so much. I was pretty sure you were right, but I wanted to see for myself if it was prominently displayed (as your bolded 60 point script might suggest) or hidden in the fine print somewhere. So I went looking. What I am adding below is every peice of ascii text that appears in the product description window on Amazon down to but not including customer comments and reviews (with only my personal information removed) and after that the same thing for the final checkout page. Never saw the text you've posted anywhere.

There was an important note that this version is narrated by Richard Attenborough - presumbly so that people can't compain if they don't hear Sigourney Weaver's voice as in many of the broadcasts.

I'm less critical of these folks now that I took a closer look. Where did you find that text posted?

Prime
Member: Merrick
Merrick: This item is eligible for Amazon Prime. Click here to turn on 1-Click and make Prime even better for you.(With 1-Click enabled, you can always use the regular shopping cart as well)

Quantity: 1

or

Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.


More Buying Choices

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

35 used & new from $58.81

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have one to sell?

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]

Starring: David Attenborough Rating

(117 customer reviews)
117 Reviews
5 star: (93)
4 star: (11)
3 star: (4)
2 star: (1)
1 star: (8)

See all 117 customer reviews...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
List Price: $99.98
Price: $66.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $33.03 (33%)


Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.


Want it delivered Friday, June 15? Order it in the next 8 hours and 14 minutes, and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. See details


35 used & new available from $58.81


Format: HD DVD
• Other formats available: DVD, Blu-ray


• Note: this edition features the original narration by David Attenborough


• Get up to seven free HD DVDs when you buy a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player and either The Ultimate Matrix Collection or The Complete Matrix Trilogy on HD DVD. See offer details

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Versions and Languages

Other Versions (DVD) List Price Price Other Offers:
DVD Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series $79.98 $53.99 56 used & new from $49.99

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Better Together
Buy this DVD with Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series DVD ~ David Attenborough today!
Total List Price: $179.96
Buy Together Today: $120.94

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?
64% buy the item featured on this page:Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD] DVD ~ David Attenborough $66.95

28% buy Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series DVD ~ David Attenborough $53.99

4% buy Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray] DVD ~ David Attenborough $66.95

3% buy The Blue Planet - Seas of Life Collector's Set (Parts 1-4) DVD ~ Alastair Fothergill $31.99

2% buy Happy Feet (Full Screen Edition) DVD ~ Voice of Robin Williams $19.99


Explore similar items

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plot Summary

Genres: Documentary

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Details

Actors: David Attenborough
Format: Color, Widescreen
Language: English
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 4
Rating
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007
Run Time: 550 minutes
Average Customer Review: based on 117 reviews. (Write a review.)
ASIN: B000MRAAJW
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

(Studios: Improve Your Sales)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? (We'll ask you to sign in so we can get back to you)

For more information about "Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theatrical Release Information


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fun Facts from IMDb.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editorial Reviews


************************************************** ************************************************** **********************************

Choose your shipping options
Your order contains items from multiple sellers. Please review all options below.

Shipping Details (Learn more)

Choose a shipping speed:

Standard Shipping
Two-Day Shipping --get it Monday, June 18!
One-Day Shipping --get it tomorrow Friday, June 15!

Items: Need to ?
Shipping to: MerricK
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD] - David Attenborough
$66.95 - Quantity: 1 - In Stock
Condition: new
Sold by: Amazon.com

Shipping to: Merrick
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD] - David Attenborough
$66.95 - Quantity: 1 - In Stock
Condition: new
Sold by: Amazon.com Choose a shipping speed:

Standard Shipping (3-5 business days)
Two-Day Shipping --get it Monday, June 18!
One-Day Shipping --get it tomorrow Friday, June 15!

Shipping Details: Beach Audio (Learn more)


Choose a shipping speed:

Standard
Expedited

[Blu-Light]

Originally Posted by DrinkMore

Pathetic. There are more stupid people in this world than I thought.

I suppose the following notice that is on EVERY HD product page - went un-noticed..

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This disc is a high-definition DVD and is compatible only with HD DVD players such as the Toshiba HD-A2 (IF YOU BOIL THE DISCS FIRST, STAND ON YOUR HEAD AND CHANT...MICROSOFT IS GOOD, MICROSOFT IS GREAT, I LOVE MICROSOFT!). It will not play on a standard DVD player. For more information, see our HD DVD buying guide.

I blame nobody except the consumer for not reading and not being smarter than a damn animal cookie.

Let me help you with this statement.

[aaronwt]

People need to learn how to read. It says the disc will only work in HD DVD players. Although the sales people will still call an upconverting player an HD DVD player like my friend found out when they sold hime the BOSE system with his new HD set. what a joke! And he was wondering why everything looked so much better on my set than his. Thsi is only the beginning. As more people get HD sets it will only get worse. Most people have no clue, but even worse most sales people have no clue either.

[WickyWoo]

First off, people are stupid and don't read. I've worked enough tech support to know that the manual goes in the trash, and then they post on forums or call tech support for stuff in the FAQ.

But a possible reason why this is the first one to pop up, and it's all in the software

Amazon is always dynamically redoing their listings (which is why their top 100 changes hourly). Considering how many enthusiasts, and therefore likely early adopters and HD DVD buyers shop at Amazon, and since the price is signifigantly higher than the regular DVD version, the software tosses it to the top. The same applies to the google referral links.

[Merrick]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

First off, people are stupid and don't read. I've worked enough tech support to know that the manual goes in the trash, and then they post on forums or call tech support for stuff in the FAQ.

Which is apparently true of people around here, too! (Not attacking you WickyWoo, your quote was just convenient for my point.)

Amazon DOES NOT tell all of its customers that HD DVD discs will only play in HD DVD players. It's funny to blast them for not reading - but if the text isn't there they can't read it.

Everyone - take a look back at the results from Amazon that I pasted into my last message. I don't own an HD DVD player, and no better than to try to stick one in a standard DVD player, so I wouldn't have bought this in any event. But IF I HAD BOUGHT IT I would have done so without Amazon ever having given me a single warning. And I still don't know how prominently that warning was posted on the pages that people copied it from. The page I pasted my Amazon text from had to be PgDn'ed about eight times to get to the bottom. If I'd have gotten the text, where in all that mess might it have been? Now, it probably was at the top with the sales information, but THAT TEXT DID NOT APPEAR on my Amazon listing when I went to check it out.

[Dave]

Its not only with this titles, you cant count how many other people have been missleaded by the stupid HD DVD name!

More than 30% of the HD DVD sales are just plain false sales!

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Dave

Its not only with this titles, you cant count how many other people have been missleaded by the stupid HD DVD name!

More than 30% of the HD DVD sales are just plain false sales!

That's where the debate happens.

Claim 1: People understand what HD means

Given the prominant mention on TV, I'd say this is safe. But, only that it is a high quality picture on TV. Studies have shown people think they are getting HD on HDTV despite having no HD source.

Claim 2: People understand what HD DVD means.

False.

People may underestand what HD means and they definitely understand what DVD is. That doesn't mean they understand that the two together are a distinct THIRD thing.

TV -> HDTV is TV with high quality PQ
DVD -> HD DVD is not DVD with a high quality PQ

Gary

[aaronwt]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

That's where the debate happens.

Claim 1: People understand what HD means

Given the prominant mention on TV, I'd say this is safe. But, only that it is a high quality picture on TV. Studies have shown people think they are getting HD on HDTV despite having no HD source.

Claim 2: People understand what HD DVD means.

False.

People may underestand what HD means and they definitely understand what DVD is. That doesn't mean they understand that the two together are a distinct THIRD thing.

TV -> HDTV is TV with high quality PQ
DVD -> HD DVD is not DVD with a high quality PQ

Gary

Many people think they are getting HD even with an HD set. When a program shows "In HD where avaialble" many people actually think they are watching it in HD even though they are using an SD set.

[jermwhl]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

That's where the debate happens.

Claim 1: People understand what HD means

Given the prominant mention on TV, I'd say this is safe. But, only that it is a high quality picture on TV. Studies have shown people think they are getting HD on HDTV despite having no HD source.

Claim 2: People understand what HD DVD means.

False.

People may underestand what HD means and they definitely understand what DVD is. That doesn't mean they understand that the two together are a distinct THIRD thing.

TV -> HDTV is TV with high quality PQ
DVD -> HD DVD is not DVD with a high quality PQ

Gary

And you could almost go a step further to say that HDTV and TV are two different things also!
Tv=NTSC (in america)
HDTV=ATSC
Just as HD-DVD and DVD are two seperate things.

[Merrick]

Notice the text exactly surrounding the place where the video clip is placed in my original post:

Format: HD DVD
• Other formats available: DVD, Blu-ray


• Note: this edition features the original narration by David Attenborough


• Get up to seven free HD DVDs when you buy a Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player and either The Ultimate Matrix Collection or The Complete Matrix Trilogy on HD DVD. See offer details

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Versions and Languages

Other Versions (DVD) List Price Price Other Offers:
DVD Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series $79.98 $53.99 56 used & new from $49.99

The text for the HD DVD promo is EXACTLY where the SOMETIMES available HD DVD warning is reported to exist. It is quite clear that Amazon is randomly placing EITHER the HD DVD warning OR an HD DVD promotion in that place, as others have been reporting.