Sick and Tired of "Jumping back on the Fence"

[Nick Graham]

Originally Posted by seto

NOTE: I know that I have not posted much but I felt that I needed to voice my discontent with those of you jumping back on the fence. Before you say that I am voicing my discontent because I am pro-Blu-ray, this is an argument about repercussions you make as a consumer in the free market, not because you choose one format or the other. Of course, this is targeted towards Blu-Ray consumers since this is a Blu-Ray forum.

By jumping back on the fence you lose your voice in the free market, therefore indirectly prolonging the format war that you wanted to escape. Most of you are "jumping the ship" because "1" major studio was paid to go exclusive to HD-DVD (or because of "1" movie that you most probably will forget about in 10-15 years).

You are basically allowing "1" major studio's actions to dictate your choices as an "informed" consumer. You have relinquished your voice to express which format you want as a consumer. In a sense, you have given up your freedom as a consumer in a free market by allowing someone else to tell you what you should consume.

Simply put, its like complaining about a president/prime minister/party that is in office because they are not doing a good job and that other candidate(s) would have been a better choice. The only dilemma is the fact that you did not make your voice heard because you chose not to follow your convictions and cast your vote.

By no means am I trying to convince you to go pro Blu-Ray. If you, as an informed consumer, feel that HD-DVD is a format that you would like to suppor then please do so. Just do not waver in your decision.

By posting your so-called neutrality you are spreading FUD (in this case, a strong emphasis on Fear and Uncertainty) and it is detrimental to the decision-making process so many of the new visitors to this forum are trying to make. It's also an attempt to make yourself feel better when people post consoling messages so that you can convince yourself that you have made the best choice. If you can't stand the heat, you shouldn't have stepped into the kitchen in the first place. Quietly slip back into the shadows and let the consumer pioneers make their voices heard.

Consumer pioneers?! This is the sort of elitism and piousness that sometimes gives this site a bad name. The fact that the folks on this forum whose incomes are actually affected by the success of one format over another have about 2000 times the courtesy, professionalism, and humility (well, except for Penton - I kid, I kid) of the OP speaks for itself.

For the record, I started red and then went blu (thanks to some stellar titles from Sony and Disney). Did I lose my "consumer pioneer" status by choosing not to stay red only? I'm sure Fox, Disney, Sony, and Anchor Bay would have all preferred I stuck to senseless brand loyalty, eh? I think the only person sticking with one side would have hurt was....me. Some of us are huge fans of movies and not format wars.

It's pretty hairy when a format fandom starts getting almost religious.