I own an HD DVD player as well and I when it comes to the overall consumer base, I agree that it is a more affordable and overall a more consumer-friendly format. I don't see a BD adoption doing anything other than delaying HDM to the consumer until such time as BD player prices are more at the levels of HD DVD. People will instead settle for upscaling DVD players.
That said, this on-line petition is ridiculous. Even petitions that are done with truly serious intent are given no credibility because of the ridiculous and frivolous petitions out there.
Warner got *something* out of this deal. It might not have been straight dollars or something that can immediately show up on their books, but I'm convinced that they most definitely got paid off in some fashion while hiding under the guise of "customer preference". This is no better or worse that the Paramount or Disney bribes, of course; but when you have back-room deals like that going on, things like on-line petitions are given as much consideration as an ant walking up the side of the Empire State building at the 40th floor.
It's all about money, not merit. And when it comes to money, BD sells more. That's all there is to it. I would love to see BD and HD DVD equally as they both have their pluses and minuses. I've heard that BD players *can* read HD DVDs with some firmware changes. I think that dual-players would not be as difficult as it seems. But on-line petitions don't make money for the studios, so they're going to give it the same amount of credibility -- zero.
Yeah, Warner got something, like more guaranteed revenue sooner by picking the format that was already making them more money.
Also (unrelated), I like how the petition says that it's trying to show that the "consumer hasn't 'clearly' chosen Blu-Ray" or some such (emphasis mine). I find that funny, since media sales have consistently been in favor of Blu-Ray in basically every market where this war existed for all of last year. I guess they forgot that in business, consumers' money talks, not digital "signatures" on a web page. (which I guess you said near the end of your comment)
Why? He's RIGHT! The consumer DIDN'T choose! Exclusive deals in offices and promises of financial bribes are what made the choice. Once exclusivity was locked in, the customer DIDN'T have a choice of choosing the preferred format.
We'll never know now, but only if all studios were format-neutral would we truly know which format was "customer choice".
“Getting too close completely blurred what we saw to the point of incomprehension, but again, this shows a whole heap of potential that's fascinating to us.”
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As an HD-DVD owner it can't hurt to take a shot with this. It's a great format and worth saving.
Kevin,
I own an HD DVD player as well and I when it comes to the overall consumer base, I agree that it is a more affordable and overall a more consumer-friendly format. I don't see a BD adoption doing anything other than delaying HDM to the consumer until such time as BD player prices are more at the levels of HD DVD. People will instead settle for upscaling DVD players.
That said, this on-line petition is ridiculous. Even petitions that are done with truly serious intent are given no credibility because of the ridiculous and frivolous petitions out there.
Warner got *something* out of this deal. It might not have been straight dollars or something that can immediately show up on their books, but I'm convinced that they most definitely got paid off in some fashion while hiding under the guise of "customer preference". This is no better or worse that the Paramount or Disney bribes, of course; but when you have back-room deals like that going on, things like on-line petitions are given as much consideration as an ant walking up the side of the Empire State building at the 40th floor.
It's all about money, not merit. And when it comes to money, BD sells more. That's all there is to it. I would love to see BD and HD DVD equally as they both have their pluses and minuses. I've heard that BD players *can* read HD DVDs with some firmware changes. I think that dual-players would not be as difficult as it seems. But on-line petitions don't make money for the studios, so they're going to give it the same amount of credibility -- zero.
@John B:
Yeah, Warner got something, like more guaranteed revenue sooner by picking the format that was already making them more money.
Also (unrelated), I like how the petition says that it's trying to show that the "consumer hasn't 'clearly' chosen Blu-Ray" or some such (emphasis mine). I find that funny, since media sales have consistently been in favor of Blu-Ray in basically every market where this war existed for all of last year. I guess they forgot that in business, consumers' money talks, not digital "signatures" on a web page. (which I guess you said near the end of your comment)
Why? He's RIGHT! The consumer DIDN'T choose! Exclusive deals in offices and promises of financial bribes are what made the choice. Once exclusivity was locked in, the customer DIDN'T have a choice of choosing the preferred format.
We'll never know now, but only if all studios were format-neutral would we truly know which format was "customer choice".