One Man's Indie Question # 1

Re: One Man's Indie Question # 1

Hi Adrian,

Again, it all boils down to consumer education.

"Power Users" are really nothing more than "Educated Consumers".

I really believe that EDUCATION is the target both EMA and the iDEA group should be pointing their guns at. An ad campaign in the mainstream media, not just the specialty and high end video magazines coupled with "tech" segments in various talk and news will help you accomplish this.

I know this may sound like an oversimplification of the issue, but I really believe it's a good start. A new generation of consumers is rapidly growing up (I have an 11 year old kid.... I know) who is more technologically oriented than previous generations. Educate them on these technologies (Hi Def) and they will actively seek your products. Tie in the visual advantages of a Hi Def system when it comes to gaming as well.

Just my thoughts....

Re: One Man's Indie Question # 1

Adrian,

This format war has created complete chaos for the consumer.

Problem is, it's all about studio greed. You have one studio in
particular that saw how much money Warner made off each DVD
sold and vowed from the beginning that they would put out their
own format and fight for dominance till the better end.

None of the two camps seem to be working for the benefit of
the consumer. Like most everything else, whomever has control
of the technology is going to reap the benefits off every piece of
software sold for it.

Re: One Man's Indie Question # 1

Greed. Follow the money. The two competing HD formats are primarily supported by two competing consumer electronics giants. Toshiba and Sony have been fighting it out for years. There are decades of bad blood between them. Sony especially doesn't belive in forgive and forget when it comes to losing out to Toshiba in the past. It must burn them that each DVD player they sell is based on Toshiba owned patents, with money going to Toshiba. Maybe not a lot, but still enough to constantly remind them who won the original DVD format war. Each figures who ever wins the High Definition format war will be on top of the consumer electronics heap for decades to come. In actuality, this war is as meaningless as the war fought between the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels as to which end of the egg must be opened up first. Unless there's a major collapse of support by either Toshiba or Sony and the other participants, these formats will probably remain just a niche market.

Now, do I personally want a HD format in the marketplace? Yes. Do I think the marketplace really needs a High Definition format? Yes, but only one. Do I know who's going to win? No. Do I care who wins? Not really. I have major home theater product from both Toshiba and Sony in my household. If I were a video store retailer whose customers were asking questions as to which format to buy or if I were an electronics retailer, I would spend considerable time with the customer explaining the pros and cons of each format, including the availability of titles in each format, allowing the customer to make the decision based on their own perceived needs. And I'm glad I don't have to do that.

<b>Note: I wrote this before I read Ron's post just before this one!</b>

Re: One Man's Indie Question # 1

Very VERY few HTF members will tell you they are in favor of a format war. Some may be deluded into thinking that it will result in reduced prices for both, but that is a silly thing to think given the meteoric rise of DVD and the significant price plummet that that tech faced, especially given chinese competetion. In fact, the format war participants are losing, badly, to both standard DVD and downloadable content, and will continue to do so for a long time, perhaps permanently.

I am neutral in the war in that I have both decks, but if I had my druthers I would want the one that had the most space on the disk and the _potential_ for the least restrictive DRM. At this point, I'd say BR has the first and HD the latter.

At this point I dont care who wins but I want one format in the near future, despite the investment I have made in both. I suspect it will be BR in the end and I am fine with that. If its a draw I dont see a good result for consumers no matter how it plays out. I am sick that all involved would put consumers in the middle, and I am disgusted that no parallel to Warren Lieberfarb came around this time to make one format, no matter what the cost to the studios, to put the consumer in the drivers seat.

In the end, early adopters like me are going to find that at least one of the dogs in the fight doesn't last, we can only hope that its not both. For the record, I sat out SACD/DVD-A and continue to buy both of those at firesale prices when possible out of sheer gruesome morbidity than any real interest in the formats.

Sam

Re: One Man's Indie Question # 1

I think Hi-def DVDs are really going to get more consumers confused. Not only do we have HD-DVD and Blu-ray, now we have a new type, the flipper. Once side DVD, the otherside HD-DVD. How many questions are the retailers going to get because one side does not play. Is there only going to be small print around the center of the DVD to know the difference? Remember back to the flippers. This was abandoned for the two disk set or buy a full or widescreen DVD. The mass market consumers can not handle to many choices. People want to look at the DVD, know exactly what it is and which side is up.

While I agree with most of the posts above, I think another player has entered the war, Microsoft. This is more than Toshiba against Sony. The war has added Microsoft Xbox against the Playstation 3.

I don't think consumers know what to do and early adopters (including sales reps) usually help steer them in one direction or another. For example my brother-in-law asked what to buy. I told him a PS3, if you wan a multiple purpose player, or just get an upconverting DVD player and wait.

I agree with a saying I heard in Babylon 5. The truth is like a two edge sword and the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is human nature to use facts in a way that supports your interests. I think both sides are doing this and the consumer is in the middle. I have not seen a good unbias article that shows a side by side comparison. Anyone know where there is one?