Toshiba Still Trying to Undermine Blu-ray

[J_UNTITLED]

From IMDb.com

- "Toshiba, which lost out in the battle between its HD TV and Sony's Blu-ray, is now forecasting that movies on optical discs will soon become a thing of the past. On Wednesday the company said it plans to develop players -- both portable and settop -- employing the tiny Sd cards usually associated with digital cameras. The announcement comes following Toshiba's $24-million investment in Mod Systems, which provides retailers with kiosks that can quickly download movies and music onto Sd cards. (They currently download only music.) In a statement, Toshiba observed that direct downloads in retail environments answers the studios' concerns regarding piracy."

[iNCREDiPiNOY]

sigh... why SD Card?

[allstar780]

When a 50GB SD card drops below the price of a 50GB blu-ray disc, then maybe I'll partake

[arush5268d]

For the love......


They just won't quit, will they???
I've got news for them - my Panasonic TV and Blu-ray player both of SD slots. But I'd never buy a movie on a SD card - no way Jose.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by iNCREDiPiNOY

sigh... why SD Card?

Because...SD cards still play in my 60G PS3

[chnandler_bong]

Originally Posted by iNCREDiPiNOY

sigh... why SD Card?

Prolly because that format of flash card seems to be doubling in capacity every 15 minutes. They are already up to 32 GB...

[arush5268d]

Originally Posted by chnandler_bong

Prolly because that format of flash card seems to be doubling in capacity every 15 minutes. They are already up to 32 GB...

And BDs are up to what? 500GB now?

BD>SD card

[chnandler_bong]

Originally Posted by arush5268d

And BDs are up to what? 500GB now?

BD>SD card

Well, yeah, I know that, but once 32 GB and eventually 64 GB SD cards are common, then it can probably compete with BD because most movies with current transfers would fit on those cards. Then all they would have to worry about is throughput.

Plus, BD movie and TV show releases only use 25 GB and 50 GB disks right now anyway.

[arush5268d]

Toshiba keeps pushing any data medium that doesn't involve a high definition disk. The fact remains though that most consumers wan't something that they can have in their hands / put on a shelf at home.

Plus pressed media has more acceptance amongst consumers now than a media card. My mom, who is not tech savvy, would never buy a movie if it was on a memory card. Getting her to get a DVD player was hard enough, and I know she's not alone in this world.

[chnandler_bong]

Originally Posted by arush5268d

Toshiba keeps pushing any data medium that doesn't involve a high definition disk. The fact remains though that most consumers wan't something that they can have in their hands / put on a shelf at home.

Plus pressed media has more acceptance amongst consumers now than a media card. My mom, who is not tech savvy, would never buy a movie if it was on a memory card. Getting her to get a DVD player was hard enough, and I know she's not alone in this world.

I definitely agree with you on that. Plus it's easier to lose a little flash card than a big disk.

[J_UNTITLED]

Originally Posted by arush5268d

The fact remains though that most consumers wan't something that they can have in their hands / put on a shelf at home.

That's not necessarily true unfortunately, as there are a growing number of consumers who are becoming so used to near-instant gratification via iTunes or other services that it isn't that much of a stretch to believe that, while perhaps not what Toshiba is now making a ploy for since it's still a physical media outlet, many will eventually solely use digital downloading or purchases as their means of getting their entertainment.


I'm all for Blu-ray but one has to be realistic and accept what is slowly happening to the marketplace.

[EricJ]

If I see a HD movie that I'm too lazy to rent on Netflix, but pops up on PSN, I sometimes decide to download it.
At my normal rate of usage of my PS3, downloading 7.5G--the "pretend" level of definition, way below the movie's real level that I would get from the hard disk--takes about THREE DAYS.
With no subtitles, commentary or extra, as I would get overnight from a Netflix rental. And if it's not a long movie.

We said it back then, and we say it today:
If that's "instant" gratification, I'll take hard disks overnight, thanks.

[Blaumann]

They are like a scorned ex-girlfriend out to annoy the HDM market.

[jadedeath]

I do have a couple questions to the chiefs at Toshiba about this:

1} Would that be their tone if HD-DVD had been Warner's choice and we were all typing messages on HD-DVD.com right now?

No... of course it wouldn't. The anatomy of sore losers.

It surprises me that these people get as much money as they do. Please sir, can I have a job where I make dumbass decisions with investors money, and then act like a spoiled child when things don't go my way?

2} How long until someone makes a virus for your little kiosk?

Logan

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by J_UNTITLED

That's not necessarily true unfortunately, as there are a growing number of consumers who are becoming so used to near-instant gratification via iTunes or other services that it isn't that much of a stretch to believe that, while perhaps not what Toshiba is now making a ploy for since it's still a physical media outlet, many will eventually solely use digital downloading or purchases as their means of getting their entertainment.


I'm all for Blu-ray but one has to be realistic and accept what is slowly happening to the marketplace.

If that's not true, that people DON'T want a disk.

Then why would they want a flash card?

Logan

[stockstar1138]

I guess i was format nuetrual, as i owned both HDTV and Blu-ray

This is the future, its just not the future for a long time. Blu-ray still has a solid 6-7 years before this becomes a reality for most studios, CE manufacturers and reatail stores.

and im sure blu will stay around a little long after that.

size of flash cards needs to improve greatly first too and come down in price.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by J_UNTITLED

That's not necessarily true unfortunately, as there are a growing number of consumers who are becoming so used to near-instant gratification via iTunes or other services that it isn't that much of a stretch to believe that, while perhaps not what Toshiba is now making a ploy for since it's still a physical media outlet, many will eventually solely use digital downloading or purchases as their means of getting their entertainment.

When will 50GB be downloaded with "near-instant" results?

You're saying the iTunes consumer, who accepts sub-CD quality music, will accept what? DVD quality video? That's a more general problem for HDM than how it is delivered.

HD downloads are long way away because of the download times, and storage costs.

As for flash cards:

For this concept to work, the cost for the card must be a few dollars at most. That will occur in a few years for SD (assuming 4GB and AVC/VC-1 codec), but it will take at least five years for HD.

Now, it's possible that laptop solid-state HDD adoption could rocket, and cause the needed price point to be realized more quickly.

Gary

[Anthony P]

Well, yeah, I know that, but once 32 GB and eventually 64 GB SD cards are common, then it can probably compete with BD because most movies with current transfers would fit on those cards. Then all they would have to worry about is throughput.

still stupid, the issue is simple. For music, where you go to the store and record 5-6 songs to the SD card at a time (and while searching for the next song the first one is being written), it is no big deal and a 32 or 64GB card (or even an 8GB card) it is not that bad (especially if each song costs around 1$ and you can fit 200+ songs) and if your MP3 player uses SD cards you are ready to go. But let's say there are 64GB cards (which there are not yet) and even that they are relatively cheap (let's say 20$) you can only put one BD/HD quality movie on that card, so what happens, you go to the kiosk, put in the card, wait for a few hours standing there, then pay 20$ for the movie (let's face it, the retailer will need his$ the studio needs his $ it would be naive to think a movie will be 1$ or 5$) so you also end up paying much more then if you bought the disk. So what advantage did you get?

as for their quote of "In a statement, Toshiba observed that direct downloads in retail environments answers the studios' concerns regarding piracy." what happens if someone steals that HDD with all those hundreds of movies?

Plus, BD movie and TV show releases only use 25 GB and 50 GB disks right now anyway.

isn't that the joke? for this DL to SD you need an SD card that is not even out yet, that needs to reach a price that is almost laughable (anything more then 5$ won't work) in order for it to be close to matching what BD offers today and preferably much much faster then today because you will need to be in the store while the data is being transferred. Obviously BD is not >50GB now, but SD is no where near what Toshiba needs it to be in order for this to work (except if we are talking sub par WRT DVD)

[STARSCREAM]

My goodness! Why won't they quit.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

My goodness! Why won't they quit.

Like a brat kid... stomping their feet and sniveling!