Blu-Ray Article on ZD-Net (1 Viewer)

[Qui-Gon John]

Don't know if others here have seen this, but I'm a little confused. What does it all mean? What did Sony do that the author seems to be referring to?


Blu-ray is dead - heckuva job, Sony! | Storage Bits | ZDNet.com

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, it looks like the author is using Sony and the BDA interchangeably, which isn't exactly true, but also doesn't much matter for the purposes of the article: That BD isn't doing very well is the point, not who is responsible.

Basically, it seems to amount to not predicting the future very well - that the economy would sputter, that HD DVD would hang around for almost two years, that upconverting technology would get good enough to be a real threat (and probably underestimating how low that bar would be set) - and then not moving very fast when things didn't work out as planned.

I think it's an interesting article, although it reads more like advocacy than reporting - he not only believes BD will fail, but is emotionally invested in it.

 

[troy evans]

Well, after reading the artical and seeing the reporter use terms like "stop smoking dope" and "put down the crackpipe", I seriously doubt his credibility. Not something you would read from a Peter Jennings or Katie Couric. The thing I take from this is Blu-ray is dead to (him). However, that's not what I'm seeing everywhere I go.

 

[Michael Reuben]

It means that Robin Harris has an opinion and a column to file.

 

[Chris S]

I wouldn't worry about Robin Harris too much. He's been pretty anti HD-on-disc for a while. For example take this post from January of this year.


O'no! Not film grain! :rolleyes

 

[Michael Reuben]

Film grain = "source defect"?! I guess that leads to another equation:

Robin Harris = zero credibility + ignore in future

 

[Edwin-S]

BD's biggest problems are that the discs are still too expensive and continuing problems with playback on many standalone players that end up requiring constant firmware updates. The BDA needs to address these problems. I for one don't see Blu-ray as being dead but it is damn close to becoming comatose.

 

[MarkHastings]

BD may not be penetrating the marketplace like we had all hoped, but to say it's 'dead' is like seeing a bleeding guy on the side of the road and putting a white sheet over his head.

I'm glad this guy isn't a doctor.

 

[Scooter]

I said months ago it's the new LaserDisc...a niche format. It looks like a million damn dollars...but it's for the ones looking for the format at high end of the food chain.

 

[troy evans]

You can look at this many different ways. However, one must remember that Blu-ray is a global market and while it's just finding it's footing here in the States and Canada, it's kickin ass overseas. Just read: Blu-ray Disc sales up 396% year to date in UK - Engadget HD. That same market, if it stays strong in the UK and around the world, will secure it's place here. Even if it takes awhile to catch up to global adoption.

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't think it's anything like LaserDisc. I didn't know too many 'average consumers' who owned laser disc players, but I know of several people (i.e. non-enthusiasts) who owned Blu-ray players before I even did.

When Laserdisc was popular, people were still watching old/tiny TV's and hardly anyone listened to TV through a stereo system, but now, everyone seems to have giant HD TV's and large sound systems. People have HD cable and have had a taste of HighDef programming, so these factors are what's getting more average consumers into BD than you had with LD.

I definitely think the economy and price of players are what's holding people back. But once both of those change, BD will take off like DVD did.


and p.s. Remember LD's being $100+??? I mean, were they really expecting to saturate the maretplace that was happy with the winning cheap-ass VHS??

 

[Michael Reuben]

Agreed. The context -- financially (Blu-ray is much cheaper than LD), technologically (digital vs. analog), in public awareness (how often did major media companies promo something as "available on VHS and Laserdisc"?) -- is so different that comparing the two is a pointless exercise.

Let's take another approach: Can anyone imagine a plausible scenario under which all of the major studios would open their doors (and wallets) to a group of 50+ enthusiasts for the express purpose of showing them their latest and greatest plans for . . . laserdisc? (Take all the time you need.

)

 

[Chris S]

Perfect!

 

[Dave H]

Couldn't be better stated.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I just picked up the When We Left Earth BD (for $20) from the street vendor nearby (in downtown Manhattan), and I can tell you there are more hardworking, average folks checking out BDs (at $15 and $20 each) than guys in suits and such. And did we ever have street vendors selling LDs back in the day???

Just give it some time. BD may never completely replace DVD in the mainstream -- VOD/downloads will probably do that at the lower end -- but it's far from "dead". LD-like niche is only the (rather pessimistic) potential downside result of BD at this point -- and BD would actually have to go backwards for that.

_Man_

 

[frankie108]

I remember reading this article. It made a big issue of Blu sales being up nearly 400% with sales of 1.5 millions discs. DVD sales during the same period were 168.9 million units with only an increase of 6%. Make what you will of these numbers.

 

[frankie108]

Yeah, but isn't this just smart internet PR on the studio's part??? Lets face it, at this point they can use ALL the good PR they can possibly generate.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Of course it is. Who said otherwise? I was simply illustrating how the comparison between Blu-ray and LD isn't meaningful.

 

[SteveA]

Now someone has declared Blu-ray one of the top tech flops:

9 top tech flops - T-Mobile G1 (1) - FORTUNE

 

[Michael Reuben]

The headline is misleading -- probably by design. Come January/February, if there are a bunch of new high-profile titles and player prices drop, things could look different.