Elephant in the Blu-ray room: The Economy

[Septimus Prime]

Elphant: the silent elephant.

[zweet77]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

You're confusing a recession for a depression.

There is no media conspiracy to lie-together a recession. The economy truly is in trouble after a full decade of the general public being price gouged in so many areas while their pay went nowhere. Our economic growth this decade has all been on credit, which amounts to the economy being based on bulls***. That credit bill finally came due. So here we are in the current situation. I'm amazed the good times lasted as long as they did, but lots of Americans love living way beyond their means.

People are going to still spend money on little things like going to the movies, renting movies at home or maybe adding a few to their collection. What they're not going to be doing for some time is buying major big ticket items like houses, cars, etc.

Very good post clear descripion of whats going on now.

[Anthony P]

It's funny no matter how tight money becomes people will still see that movie, buy that game, get a coffee, etc

not really, the thing is that in life we have big pleasures (buy a new car, buy a bigger home, add on to the home, major renovation) and small pleasures (buy a coffee, buy a game, buy a movie, paint the walls in the room, get a drink). In bad times people cut back on big pleasures because they either don't have the $ or are worried that they can't afford it (i.e. empty the savings for it and then lose the job and have nothing to fall back on). But in life we need pleasures and what happens is that some of the savings from big pleasures goes to little pleasures

[Anthony P]

I think this time around things may be different. Things are a lot worse in this day and age than they were back then IMO.

come on, people used the 30's depression to show that entertainment did well. We are luckily no where near that bad and hopefully won't be.

[bluskiff]

I hate it when I go into futureshop and the new blu of the week is front racked
with a 34.99 price tag on it. The sale price is really 29.99 but the store was to lazy to put the right price on. All this does is scare away buyers I never pay over 29.99 for a blu. I was at futureshop last week poltergeist was 34.99 I went to walmart it was 22.99 I think futuershop are doing this on purpose.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by raskal66

The fraud continues on November 4 when the same studios and directors that brought you "Credit Crisis: How 300 Million People Were Duped Into Paying Higher Prices Than Anything Is Worth" bring you the chilling Sequel: "Election: How 300 Million People Were Duped Into Thinking That Either Choice of Candidate is Going to Change Anything." It has the same cast as the first movie.

$1.50 gas + $17.99 New Realease Blu -Rays = The Way it Ought to Be

(Those Blu-Rays had better have great PQ and stellar lossless audio.)

THAT is TOO funny! After all, elections are just another form of entertainment that implies public interactivity but actually has nothing to do with it.

[jd213]

To further drive the point home:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0081024a1.html

Sony said in a statement that it expects lower profits in its electronics business because of falling sales of liquid crystal display TVs, digital cameras and video camcorders. Price drops from intense competition also hurt the numbers, Sony said.

The plunge on the Japanese stock market has also eroded the gains Sony is getting from equity and bond investments, the company said. But Sony said results are in line with previous expectations in its gaming and movies division.

The economy will be affecting Sony's bottom line overall as a company, but it's gaming and movies are still on track.

[Heart_Collector]

Originally Posted by raskal66

The fraud continues on November 4 when the same studios and directors that brought you "Credit Crisis: How 300 Million People Were Duped Into Paying Higher Prices Than Anything Is Worth" bring you the chilling Sequel: "Election: How 300 Million People Were Duped Into Thinking That Either Choice of Candidate is Going to Change Anything." It has the same cast as the first movie.

$1.50 gas + $17.99 New Realease Blu -Rays = The Way it Ought to Be

(Those Blu-Rays had better have great PQ and stellar lossless audio.)

+1. Bada-bing!

The saddest aspect of this sad society is the commonly held belief that one concentrated body of career politicians will "save" them from another.

[Bobby Henderson]

The economy will be affecting Sony's bottom line overall as a company, but it's gaming and movies are still on track.

A major part of Sony's problem is the Japanese Yen has become too strong against the American dollar. Right now $1 buys only ¥93. Normally the dollar trades in the ¥110 - ¥125 range. I lived in Japan when I was just a kid (my father was a Marine stationed there). Back then $1 would get over ¥200.

The Euro has plummeted in value big time. We were touching the $1.60 = €1 level just a couple months ago. Now the exchange rate is down to $1.27 = €1. Maybe that means my favorite import beer, Chimay, will come down in price.

[jd213]

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

A major part of Sony's problem is the Japanese Yen has become too strong against the American dollar. Right now $1 buys only ¥93.

Looks like it's actually at 95, but yeah, a strong yen is almost always proportional to a weak economy in Japan.

At least it will be cheaper for Japanese corporations to invest in US business, if they can afford it...

[sparksj]

I have never had a problem spending even $39.99 for a BR disk. Granted, I would not spend this much for ever. But I understand that new technology costs money. Hell I remember when Blank DVDs cost $20 each. Now I can get a box of 30 for $9.99.

Anyway, it's all how you look at it. I have three kids. When I take them to the local thearter (which only charges $4 per ticket) I spend $16 dollars just to get them in. Then they all "HAVE" to have popcorn and candy. They sell a kids package for $4.95 each. So that's $15 more. Then I might want a coke and Candy ($5 more). So now I'm up to $36.00.

So you see, in my mind, I can just go buy the movie for $25,00 - $29.00 and save about $10. And I still get to watch the movie multiple times.

I guess you could argue that I had to buy a PS3 and a nice TV too, but those are not just used for movies. So in a sense, I would have gotten those anyway.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by dadkins

$35?
I buy my BDs at Best Buy, and rarely meet or exceed $29.95.
You may be surprised at the dollars to be spent this Holiday Season - just because of the fact of the possibly impending recession.

same I always shop at bestbuy .... AS for the OP would be more then happy to scan you a book that I found in one of my dvd cases from 2000, where all the movies inside are 19.95(only like 3 are this cheap)-29.95 and this is 4 years after dvd came out it will take awhile just as it has done with other formats for the prices to realllllllllly come down