HD War: The consumers lose again

Written by Dany Guérin on January 9th, 2008

With the announcement of Warner going to Blu-Ray and the rumor that Paramount might do the same, what is going to happen to HD DVD is more uncertain then ever. Some speculate that we will see a divide appear, that HD DVD is going to be the format of choice for computers and Blu-Ray for entertainment, but in the end, the consumer is again paying the price.People were drawn in by the lower price of HD DVD players, the good choice of movies and big promises. But now, that 300$ machine might end up the way of the Beta Recorder. All of that because the governments can’t regulate a market the way it should be. Studios shouldn’t be allowed to adhere to a format unless they plan to support it for 5 years. And they should also be prevented from choosing a specific format. The government should impose duality in those cases or force a standard.Consumers should not be played with like puppets, no wonder piracy is increasing when studios behave like this. They really now deserve there failing profit margin.

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Pat Said in January 10th, 2008 @11:14 am

Easy there, champion. This is the impact of a self regulated market. Blu-Ray wins because blu-ray is the best format… not because it’s the cheapest.

The fact that Sony has so many supporter for it’s format speaks by itself, I think that Sony has proven a long time ago that when they do something and believe in it they stick to their idea without trying to bribe others into it.

SELF REGULATED MARKET is the key. And for those few customers that haven’t learned from passed experience and coughed up money on an emerging technologies to fast… well sorry.

Protect yourself at all times and may the best man win… in this situation, Sony clearly has the best product offering.

The price will come down it alwasy does, simply because of the market rules and simply because of all the who*es with no respect for their brands on the market that will accept to make pennies just to sell there stuff.

Oh one last thing you forgot to mention that even microsoft is considering ti jump to Blu-Ray for the 360…

Dany Guérin Said in January 10th, 2008 @11:32 am

I wasn’t making the point of which format is better, but the fact that 2 formats were left to run wild and in the end the consummers that went with HD DVD will be left with a 300$ paper weight in less then a year.

The “rumor” that Microsoft might consider BR for the 360 is only found on the fact that they said the HD DVD isn’t their main concern for the 360 and that they could consider BR in the future. This is just the typical Bill Gates respond when he made the wrong choice and now he is trying to cover his tracks.

In the end it doesn’t matter which support is better, the content is the key. BR might have a larger capacity then HD. But HD had a better compression and better software. But that won’t matter in a couple of months.

Pat Said in January 10th, 2008 @11:52 am

The only reason I refered to the best format was simply to illustrate the fact that this is a case of self regulated market. Blu-Ray and HD DVD both wanted the market share and the market decided who they wanted.

I probably sounded more like a fan of Sony in the previous note however the most important point I wanted to make was the importance of a self regulated market not who’s best over who.

THe DVD FORUM (first supporter og HD DVD) may disaprove and their alowed again, this is just an opinion.

Do you realy want to justify more lobbying jobs…Please try to keep the goverment out of this. We do not need their input to screw things up again we can do it pretty well on our own.

Dany Guérin Said in January 10th, 2008 @12:37 pm

As much as I hate government interference in some areas, I believe that protection of consumers rights is an area where they should be involved.

But I think that this would be easily regulated by imposing a 3 to 5 years obligation of supporting a format by the studio or publisher that decided to support a format. Noting is preventing them too support both if one of the format fells to pick up.

This way, the poeple who bought the player and movies will at least be able to enjoy their purchase for a reasonable amount of time.