GIZMODO: blu-ray Has Won

[Marcusarilius]

There are some very entertaining DUD comments below the article.

http://gizmodo.com/346783/the-truth-...hd-dvds-demise

[kolasi]

part of that makes no sense. like out of nowhere fox was going to leave a side that was easily and cleary winning just to go to a losing dud side??? and was only persuaded to stay over a pay out? lol just seems untrue to me.

[w_tanoto]

been posted

[Xcom_Cheetah]

Yes, why this thing keep getting repeated.

But several weeks ago, before Warner defected, things could have turned out quite different. One reliable source confirmed to us a few days before the Warner/Blu-ray deal went down, a Fox executive called Robbie Bach (Microsoft's head entertainment exec) confirming they were going exclusive to HD DVD, not Blu-ray. And if Fox went, the deal was that Warner would go, according to the same source. At the last minute, Fox decided to stick with Blu, effectively taking Warner with it. Toshiba's total surprise at the Warner shift corroborates that it was an 11th-hour move. Graffeo also confirmed that a bunch of HD DVD execs were on the plane to Vegas when the news dropped, so they had no idea.

I wander if we will ever know about this reliable source... seems like every word in HD DVD dictionary has a different meaning than normal usage... "gaining" "momentum" "consumer support"

[Jeff®]

Originally Posted by kolasi

part of that makes no sense. like out of nowhere fox was going to leave a side that was easily and cleary winning just to go to a losing dud side??? and was only persuaded to stay over a pay out? lol just seems untrue to me.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa149.html#com

"Finally, as to these rumors about Fox... does anyone REALLY believe Fox would have flipped to the HD-DVD camp after all their talk about how important Blu-ray's added BD+ copy protection was? As some of you might recall, Fox actually delayed releasing titles on Blu-ray for a period of many months last year in order to wait for BD+ to be finalized. And all this was happening while AACS decryption keys were being extracted from HD-DVD releases and posted online. Fox has been one of the most vocal supporters of Blu-ray. The idea that they would suddenly flip to HD-DVD exclusivity, when software of their preferred format is not only more protected in their eyes but has also been outselling HD-DVD for over a year now, is completely absurd....

As it happens, I've actually spoken about this today with Fox's senior VP of corporate and marketing communications, Steve Feldstein, who echoed something Warner's Ron Sanders has also said in recent days: "The kind of money they're talking about [in these stories] isn't worth jeopardizing a multi-billion dollar business." In other words, payoffs would not have impacted Fox and Warner's decisions. Feldstein also told me that when The Pittsburgh Post Gazette piece broke, he contacted Lindich immediately to let him know that he was being misled by someone. When Don posted the same piece on his own blog, it was edited to reflect this. Specifically, the references to $120 million and $500 million payoffs were gone - something that's worthy of note."

Edit: Penton-Man's comments regarding this:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=1988

[Grisle]

I don't know why I wasted my time reading the comments on the bottom...it just makes me angry. More comments like "I'll just keep buying DVDs then" or "Digital Downloads will make the win short lived"...some people just fail at life.

[dalejrfanfreak]

Originally Posted by Grisle

I don't know why I wasted my time reading the comments on the bottom...it just makes me angry. More comments like "I'll just keep buying DVDs then" or "Digital Downloads will make the win short lived"...some people just fail at life.

Yeah some people are quite ignorant, but I guess that's why they purchased hd-dvd players in the first place right? I posted a big reply on the gizmodo site with the following....

" Syndicated columnist Don Lindich is reporting that Sony, the leader backer of Blu-ray, recently paid Fox and Warner Bros. to support the high-def format. Lindich says Fox was ready to jump ship and support HD DVD until Sony kicked in with the money. At that point, Warner decided to take a payoff as well.

Lindich quotes "sources" for his report without naming them or even characterizing them from coming from a specific unit.

I will not challenge his report -- it may even be true. But I have to point out that Lindich, a longtime HD DVD booster, also reported less than two weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show that Warner Bros. would attend HD DVD's big media event at the Las Vegas conference.

The columnist said HD DVD's attendance was evidence that Warner would not shed its neutrality in the race and support Blu-ray. (This reporter, and a few others, predicted that Warner would endorse Blu-ray.)

As we now know, Warner not only did not attend the HD DVD event -- but the event was cancelled 48 hours prior because Warner announced it had...decided to endorse Blu-ray.

Lindich was wrong about the HD DVD event. Spectacularly wrong.

So I am surprised that several online publications are now reporting his claim that Sony paid off Fox and Warner. -- without noting that his HD DVD "sources" in the past apparently led him astray."


In conclusion, I don't think we should believe everything we see on the internet, it's best to remain skeptical when these people can't even say who their sources are.

[The Don]

anyone who claims to have inside info and says that Fox was going HD-DVD exclusively needs to have their brain examined...

or maybe they shouldn't write articles on this format war as they clearly don't know Fox's intentions with HDM since day 1...and it hasn't changed...

[Amel]

I really dont understand why people read articles on that website.

[Thegide]

So what happened? Don Lindich at the PIttsburgh Post-Gazette says Fox was handed $120 million by Sony to stay put, and Warner received around $500 million for painting itself Blu. BusinessWeek put the Warner number "closer to $400 million," which trumped the $100 million Toshiba was prepared to offer it. In our phone call with him, Warner's Kevin Tsujihara denied that a bidding war was a factor. While we believe money was on the table, we do believe that what Tsujihara is, strictly speaking, true.

With all the figures thrown around in the article, you'd almost think they had reliable sources divulging this info. Did they just make up this part to keep their fanboy readers happy and delusional that HD DVD only lost because of payoffs, as opposed to blatant inferiority?

[mystiksuicide]

You know it's over when Gizmo say it's over since they have been red forever!

[E-Dogg]

Originally Posted by mystiksuicide

You know it's over when Gizmo say it's over since they have been red forever!

I agree 100%. They even stated in the opening of the article that they admit Blu has won begrudgingly.