Audioholics Blu-ray sour grapes

[bluflu]

LOL! Check out mistake #7.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/edit...e=000220090728

7. HD-DVD, the Betamax of Our Generation

What's left to say... except that the MPAA and associated studios are responsible for one of the most money-driven decisions in the consumer electronics industry since VHS beat Betamax. In the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war, there was an early winner - and it wasn't Blu-ray. With a completed spec (including Internet-downloadable content), no region encoding, and the choice to not implement the restrictive BD+ and ROM-Mark copy protection, HD DVD quickly became the apparent "completed" format. Blu-ray, however, offering much more copy protection and region-encoding, better catered to the bloated, old-school, restrictive, tactics that were desired by the studios. Over time, money flowed... then it flowed more... then the Blu-ray marketing machine unleashed a veritable tidal wave of marketing and obliterated the competition.

Now this may sound like sour grapes, but considering the following facts:

* HD DVD was the first player to market by 3 months
* HD DVD was a completed spec and had Internet connectivity out of the gate, almost 2 years before Blu-ray released BD-Live (Profile 2.0) players with Internet features.
* HD DVD came to market at just $499. The Samsung BD-P1000 hit the market at $999.
* HD DVD discs cost less to manufacture and used existing disc presses, slightly adapted; disc manufacturers could switch their plants almost overnight to manufacture HD DVDs.
* HD DVD was region-free

... it's pretty clear that Blu-ray won simply by buying and promising its way to the top. This was done through studio deals, full-out marketing at the retail store level and through claims made with the PS3 which bumped up sales figures even though most PS3 users at the time had no intention of using the gaming box to play Blu-ray movies.

OK, this does sound like sour grapes, but the bottom line is that the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray debacle was an interesting study showing us that the best format (or in this case the better format that got to the finish line first) doesn't necessarily win. Keep this in mind the next time you notice a format war brewing. Those of us that lived through the 80s remember VHS vs. Betamax and are acutely aware that Betamax tapes were smaller, better quality and sported advanced audio capabilities which far exceeded that of VHS (or "Alpha" as it was known to insiders) - which was rushed to market.

I think they're just upset that Blu-ray.com's own Dustin C. beat them in the subwoofer contest. See the list of contestants at the end of the video.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3179