The Digital Bits - "Officially Blu-ray" Soapbox - Page 4

Douglas Monce · 06-02-2007, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott

Doug, I was 12 years old when RCA started test marketing the original Disc-O-Vision players in Atlanta. I would go to the Perimter Mall on the weekends and stay planted in this one appliance store for hours watching the loop demos. Owning a LD player was planted in my concsiousness back then, and it was always something I had wanted to own. I still well remember the spinner racks that held the Universal disc-o-vision titles in their big boxes needed to accomodate mulitple platters.

in 1990 when I finally bought in, my Pioneer player (that still runs) cost $300. I was just amazed at how 'low' that was...even in 1990 dollars. To me, that puts into perspective just how spoiled most of us are now.

I saw my first Pioneer laserdisc player side by side with an RCA discovision at Montgomery Wards. Discovision was playing Jaws. (that was the first movie released on any laser format BTW) I was 13 when I saved up $850 to buy a used Pioneer laserdisc player with a pop up top where you put the disc in.

By the way sorry if I got the thread off topic, I wasn't trying too.

doug

Douglas Monce · 06-02-2007, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet

No one is debating the benefits from the past. But there are also plenty of negatives from the format war:

* Slower industry-adoption and confidence in HD-disc survival
* Slower consumer adoption for fear of picking the "wrong" format ala Beta.
* Increased replication costs for dual-inventory and retail resistence to providing shelf space.
* Basic consumer confusion for non-technophiles.
* Risk of stale-mate as non-enthusiasts wait for the war to "be over" before they decide to invest.

I think most of these points are highly debatable. Do we really know that the industry is adopting slower because of the war than if there were no war? I don't see any evidence for or against this.

I don't think there is consumer confusion because of the war because most consumers don't even know that there is a war. Most consumers haven never heard of HD DVD or Blu-ray except for maybe in an add for a day and date release with some new movie. And then it passes right over their heads.

Doug

Paul_Scott · 06-02-2007, 09:40 PM

Oh I believe that most of the industry (which as some people like to point out is aligned exclusively with Blu-ray) wants to see this format war come to an end.
It's hurting both sides, but I can't help but to think that it is hurting the side with the higher new infrastructure and R&D costs, more.

But I'm not in the industry. I'm a consumer. Way I see it, there is already an adversarial relationship here. They're out to get the maximum amount of my money with the minimum amount of effort, and I'm here to get as much out them as I can while trying to keep as much money as I can.
I guess that's "value"...and right now, I just don't see it in regards to Blu-ray.
Maybe one day that will be different, but I sure don't see it now.

Brian Little · 06-02-2007, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben_Williams

I have to agree with David as well... Why bash someone into the ground for having an opinion? His is just as valid as yours and he has a site all to his own to express that opinion.

Its his tact about it that has angered a lot of people including myself. Now had Bill of said something to the effect of:

I am Bill Hunt and while I prefer Bluray over HD-DVD personally my site will continue to report the news and we will continue to review new releases for both formats.

Then I would of fully back and supported him on that 110% of the way. Instead what he wrote comes across as brass, arrogant, and quite frankly is 180 degrees different from the Bill Hunt I used to respect.

Paul_Scott · 06-02-2007, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I saw my first Pioneer laserdisc player side by side with an RCA discovision at Montgomery Wards. Discovision was playing Jaws. (that was the first movie released on any laser format BTW) I was 13 when I saved up $850 to buy a used Pioneer laserdisc player with a pop up top where you put the disc in.

I remember vividly watching demos of Jaws playing because the film had just been re-released ("For two weeks only!") to theaters in that area just around the same time...and I was going both days, both weekends and staying for multiple showings. And then here was a machine that would let me OWN the film and play it anytime I wanted-NOW. I had been into super8 a little, but having the whole film in color and full sound would have been a huge deal.
There is just no way that people who were born in the late 70s and grew up with the VCR as a defacto appliance and a video rental store on every corner could understand how powerful and mind blowing seeing something like that was.

sorry to keep pulling you off topic

TravisR · 06-02-2007, 10:17 PM

I saw the article at The Digital Bits yesterday and was happily surprised that there was no thread for it here because I knew it would just be pages and pages of the same unending and no win debate that had almost died off here.

Douglas Monce · 06-02-2007, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott

I remember vividly watching demos of Jaws playing because the film had just been re-released ("For two weeks only!") to theaters in that area just around the same time...and I was going both days, both weekends and staying for multiple showings. And then here was a machine that would let me OWN the film and play it anytime I wanted-NOW. I had been into super8 a little, but having the whole film in color and full sound would have been a huge deal.
There is just no way that people who were born in the late 70s and grew up with the VCR as a defacto appliance and a video rental store on every corner could understand how powerful and mind blowing seeing something like that was.

sorry to keep pulling you off topic

I don't mind being pulled off topic as long as the moderators don't.

I was into super 8 as well. Actually my first movie was made on regular 8.

I used to record the sound of movies I liked off of network TV with a radio shack audio cassette recorder. (remember the ABC monday night movie?) I can't tell you how many times I "listened" to Thunderball. I remember a neighbor of mine having a bootleg copy of Star Wars on Betamax in august of 1977. Now that was a trip!!!

Doug

Paul_Scott · 06-02-2007, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I don't mind being pulled off topic as long as the moderators don't.

I was into super 8 as well. Actually my first movie was made on regular 8.

I used to record the sound of movies I liked off of network TV with a radio shack audio cassette recorder. (remember the ABC monday night movie?) I can't tell you how many times I "listened" to Thunderball. I remember a neighbor of mine having a bootleg copy of Star Wars on Betamax in august of 1977. Now that was a trip!!!

I could PM this, but what the hell, I know we aren't alone on this.
I too compiled a bunch of off-air Radio Shack tape player audio recordings (and my parents actually did buy the tape recorder at RS). IIrc, I got the tape recorder for my 8th or 9th birthday , primarily because I wanted to tape record King Kong the next time it should happen to come on. But over the years, I made tapes of a lot of movies, especially once we got HBO (which was also in '79). I'd lock myself in my bedroom, position the mic for the best angle so as not to get too much hiss off the 13" B&W tv speakers, and try not to breathe or move until the movie was over so that I could have a pristine recording. If my mother happend to knock on the door, that was it- game over. I'd have to wait days or weeks for the next showing to get a clean recording. That was my first "movie library".
That was also the time when I was heavily into collecting novelizations and movie scores. Those days, there was just no way to envision actually owning the movie (much less your own private theater to show it in) so you had to make do with a bunch of alternatives and exercise a little imagination.
In some ways, I miss that. Everything is so easy to access now, and easy to take for granted. I don't really want to go back, but I do miss...something.

ReggieW · 06-02-2007, 10:47 PM

Dave Boulet:

What do yourself, Bill Hunt and BD supporters expect us to do?

Are we supposed to simply stop buying new releases on HD-DVD so that you can have your BD victory? Destroy our HD-DVD players on You Tube? I certainly hope this isn't the case, because it would certainly reek of arrogance.

Paul Scott wrote:

"Amazing that price of hardware, basic standardized features, and currently available title selection should no longer be the criteria for a person making a purchase these days."

NOTE: CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TITLE SELECTION. Not this nonsense about Snow White, Star Wars the Alien movies & other BD "exclusives" which commonly get thrown around by many supporters of the format, but in reality, aren't likely to see the light of day for a long time - if at all. Why do yourself, Bill, and the others have a difficult time understanding this concept?

I am seriously curious. I made my decision months ago for the reasons Paul Scott outlined.

It isn't exactly rocket science.

Jason Harbaugh · 06-02-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott

Just look at what multiple formats has done for the lowly video game industry.
Put a stake right thru its heart, didn't it?

Since this has already been pointed out to be an apples/oranges comparison I will point out one simularity that is a big negative. Cross platform games are usually built around the lowest common demoninator. So those with more powerful hardware get a game that doesn't use that extra power to their advantage. You end up with poor quality ports. Exclusive games, however, usually try to take full advantage of the plaform they are on.

This is a lot like how Warner has been treating HD DVD and Blu-ray. They have been using HD DVD to the fullest of its ability, but then Blu-ray gets the shaft. Most of the time with no reason, such as leaving out True-HD audio, or using the same lower bitrate video encode, and trying to cram everything on a BD-25 vs a BD-50.

I think DaViD Boulet gave a great list of the pros and cons of this format war. I don't see many more pros coming down the pipe, but the cons keep piling up.

I never go to the digitalbits but maybe now I will start to.

Douglas Monce · 06-02-2007, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott

I could PM this, but what the hell, I know we aren't alone on this.
I too compiled a bunch of off-air Radio Shack tape player audio recordings (and my parents actually did buy the tape recorder at RS). IIrc, I got the tape recorder for my 8th or 9th birthday , primarily because I wanted to tape record King Kong the next time it should happen to come on. But over the years, I made tapes of a lot of movies, especially once we got HBO (which was also in '79). And that was my first "movie library".
That was also the time when I was heavily into collecting novelizations and movie scores. Those days, there was just no way to envision actually owning the movie (much less your own private theater to show it in) so you had to make do with a bunch of alternatives and exercise a little imagination.
In some ways, I miss that. Everything is so easy to access now, and easy to take for granted. I don't really want to go back, but I do miss...something.

Do you remember the photo novels? I still have one of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Had one of Alien also.