[Brandon Conway]

If it comes down to that HDM will simply be priced accordingly, just like CDs are currently.

In the meantime production costs will go down as they try to push HDM.

I honestly don't see HDM MSRP getting higher than it is currently.

[Ray Chuang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatthewA

The battle of HDM is won, but BD vs. DVD remains to be fought.

But I personally think we will not have this battle for one reason: Blu-ray discs will be primarily intended for widescreen movies and TV shows that were recorded in HDTV format in the first place, while DVD's will be intended for older movies and older TV shows that were recorded in the "Academy ratio" of circa 1.37:1.

[Douglas Monce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway

If it comes down to that HDM will simply be priced accordingly, just like CDs are currently.

In the meantime production costs will go down as they try to push HDM.

I honestly don't see HDM MSRP getting higher than it is currently.

Wow! I think CDs are priced way too high and its one of the reasons the music industry is struggling. I don't think a music CD should cost more than $10, but they are still trying to charge $20.

Doug

[Ray Chuang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

Frankly the reason DVD player prices dropped dramatically was because of a little player called Apex. This little company forced all the others it drop prices toward the $100 range for an entry level model.

Even if Apex didn't show up on the scene the price of DVD players by late 2001 from the major manufacturers had already started to rapidly fall, thanks to the arrival of more integrated DVD player chipsets and moving a lot of DVD player production to China. In fact, by 2003 all the major manufacturers could offer very nice players in the US$100 price range (I bought the Panasonic DVD-S35 for US$99 in March 2003 and it's still a very nice player even by 2008 standards, despite the lack of HDMI upconversion.)

But getting back on-topic, with HD-DVD now out of the way how will the Blu-ray Disc Association get more customers to buy Blu-ray players besides the obvious case of lowering the cost of players? I think we may see BDA help a number of movie studios to produce a number of "showcase" Blu-ray titles that will truly demonstrate the superiority of Blu-ray, starting with these obvious titles:

1. The Star Wars films (all six movies).
2. The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
3. The Indiana Jones movies, including the upcoming fourth movie.

[bigluigi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

.
The idea that two competing media formats offering exactly the same thing can coexist is this day and age - and be widely adopted by a majority of consumers, not a niche market - is misguided.

I disagree. Recently I had to choose between "two competing media formats" both highly successful and "widely adopted by a majority of consumers." I finally chose DishNetwork over DirectTV because their HD-DVR was free. Last year, despite objections from my wife, I bought a new PC over an Apple....it was cheaper. You get the picture. I think competing formats can thrive/coexist and it's the consumer that reaps the benefit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Hunt

People want the clarity of a single format. You can have two different game platforms, different media devices, but when it comes to something as basic as a media format, the only way you're going to get the mass market to adopt is a single unified standard. People just don't want to have to worry about which disc goes in which player.

Hogwash. People want the most bang for their buck before they want "clarity." Please give consumers credit. If people don't want to have to worry about which disc goes in which player, perhaps they should buy only SD DVD players.

[Bill Hunt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigluigi

I disagree. Recently I had to choose between "two competing media formats" both highly successful and "widely adopted by a majority of consumers." I finally chose DishNetwork over DirectTV because their HD-DVR was free. Last year, despite objections from my wife, I bought a new PC over an Apple....it was cheaper. You get the picture. I think competing formats can thrive/coexist and it's the consumer that reaps the benefit.

Not a good analogy. Neither of those are as basic as simple physical media formats. Not everyone has satellite TV - that's a niche market. Same with video gaming, portable media devices, etc. All niche markets. Think VHS, Compact Disc, DVD. Those were massively successful with a huge portion of the consumer market because there was a single standard.

Quote:

Hogwash. People want the most bang for their buck before they want "clarity." Please give consumers credit. If people don't want to have to worry about which disc goes in which player, perhaps they should buy only SD DVD players.

People want both. But they're not going to risk jumping in at all until there's a measure of clarity. That's just basic common sense.

[DaViD Boulet]

Quote:

Hogwash. People want the most bang for their buck before they want "clarity." Please give consumers credit. If people don't want to have to worry about which disc goes in which player, perhaps they should buy only SD DVD players.

Hogwash. Just because you are not able to perceive the confirmed attitude of the general consumer regarding the format-war and fear of investing in beta obsolescence is no reason to argue with those who do. You may not feel personally that a dual-format scenario is a problem for you, and that's fine. But every survey by every group for the past two years has pointed to one and only one conclusion: the typical "hi-def" target-consumer does not want a war and has been waiting out this game until a single solution emerged.

[Cees Alons]

Quote:

If people don't want to have to worry about which disc goes in which player

Which they wouldn't have to in a combo-player.
A decently priced combo-player in an earlier stage would have made this whole "war" moot.
As far as the consumer is involved, of course!

But of course the "war" was never about the consumer, but about the studios. Manufacturers needed to win studios over, not consumers.
(Consumers did have a role, though: serving as Nielsen/VS numbers.)


Cees

[Brandon Conway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

Wow! I think CDs are priced way too high and its one of the reasons the music industry is struggling. I don't think a music CD should cost more than $10, but they are still trying to charge $20.

Doug

I can't remember the last time I paid more than $13 for a CD. If your paying $20 you aren't finding the right sales, IMO.

Then again, cost is relative. I see co-workers spending between $5-7 a day on coffee. I'm about to go meet up with some friends for dinner and parking is gonna cost me $10.