Never Bet on a Format War
In the latest of bad news for the HD-DVD format, Wal-Mart has announced that they are going to stop selling all HD-DVD titles as early as June. Add that to the Blu-Ray support from Netflix, Paramount and Warner Brothers and HD-DVD isn’t just hurting, it’s down for the count. But how did this happen? Wasn’t HD-DVD supposed to win? Wasn’t Blu-Ray supposed to be just another flash in the pan? Wasn’t I making a smart move by betting my friend that if Blu-Ray actually won this war I’d buy him a Blu-Ray player? Apparently, ‘No’.
But wasn’t HD-DVD…
- built on existing DVD technology?
Yes. In fact, the whole concept of HD-DVD came from the DVD Forum, which handled all the “official DVD format specification.” HD-DVD was simply the next progressive step of an already existing technology. It even has DVD in its name! How did this not catch on?
- first to market?
Yep. The first HD-DVD player was released in March 2006, beating Blu-Ray to market by about three months. Those three months should have been a big deal. Early adopters should have eaten HD-DVD up in that amount of time. In fact in the first year and a half of being on the market close to 1 million units have been sold. That’s a pretty large contingent of buyer’s remorse.
- cheaper?
Right again. Not only were the players available at more affordable prices, but the discs themselves were cheaper. In a format war where the technical specifications were so close to being identical (I’m aware there is SOME difference) wouldn’t money be the primary consideration in choosing a format for the average consumer?
- not made by Sony?
Absolutely! Does everyone remember the crap Sony has put consumers through for the past few years? Remember the rootkits? The delayed and botched PS3 development and release? Generations and generations of failed proprietary formats? What made Blu-Ray so different in the minds of consumers that they were willing to overlook years and years of abuse. What makes Blu-Ray any different from Betamax, Minidisc or UMD? Honestly, I have no idea. Perhaps some Blu-Ray supporters can enlighten me.
All I know is that now, I have to pony up a fortune just so my friend can bask in his “lucky guess”. Common Sense, you owe me a Blu-Ray player!
You need to do some more research. The Blu-ray Disc Association was formed by Sony and other members of the DVD forum to make a High Def disc. Blu-ray was created first. Toshiba made HD-DVD to try to own/control the patents again as it did with DVD. Toshiba refused to join the BDA at the start and they paid for it since everyone else did join.
Comment by Dark Shroud — February 16, 2008 @
True, blu-ray was announced first, but most of the DVD Forum was united to create HD DVD as the successive DVD technology.
Comment by Admin — February 20, 2008 @