THX blu-ray opinion...

Regarding the info about THX's opinion about blu-ray http://www.dvdtown.com/news/thx-chief-scientist-its-too-late-for-blu-ray/5379, for some reason I can't post on it. Anyways...

Why did it take for them SO LONG to figure that one about memory cards/flash cards/USB drives??? Right now you can buy 4 GB USB drives for less than $20, and 2 GB memory cards, for cameras, for less than $15??? Imagine, no scratches...no smudges...little plastic packages with the memory cards...or a USB drive shaped as the Millennium Falcon!

But really, why not??? HD DVD and blu-ray are just a higher capacity CD, why not memory cards or USB drives?

EDIT: Sorry, double thread, but I couldn't post...

[Post edited by mvckalel on Mar 25, 2008]

You can now buy a 32GB USB Flash Drive for $299.99 which will hold an average sized Blu-ray movie with features. No doubt within 5 years, you'll be able to buy double or triple this capacity for $100 or less. Just reload it with a new rental at any Blockbuster kiosk located at gas stations, 7-11's, and shopping centers across the country. Although I see VOD taking a bigger bite out of the Blu-ray and Standard DVD rental market within 5 years, I expect this flash drive system would work well in more rural areas where cable/Internet bandwidth is more limited still.

Even so, Blu-ray and SD optical disks will still reign 5 years from now for the ownership model, simply because of price. But I expect we'll see a number of competing rental models along side of optical disks by then for sure.

At least for the next five years, I see the USB drives as another alternative to renting rather than buying. I wouldn't trust my favorite films to be stored on USB drives, as they don't seem to be as reliable. Plus, ultra-small portability isn't as critical to me as it is for listening to music. The author of this article might be an extreme example, but I would trust my library to discs more right now:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/why_im_done_with_portable_hard_drives

I agree with sbmess....USB drives are not replacing disks anytime soon. We are talking about hi definition viewing....most would agree that you want to watch your hi def material on as big a screen as possible....so who cares about portability when you're dealing with a living room full of audio/video gear. If you want to watch movies on your 8" screen in the minivan than DVD is more than adequate.

listen, literally

a MP3 is quite acceptable to most people and can be played on a small, portable device, like the iPod or any of the countless MP3 players available...

however, the scope of the equipment required to adequately reproduce a high definition movie is quite different...you have not only your playback device, but your visual and your audio to contend with.

given that, yes, a small USB device or portable ram drive can give you a pleasant experience on your choice of MP3 playback device...however, given that most of us do not travel around with a full-fledged home theater in our back pack, I think we will all be well served by the current disc format that we currently enjoy... )

so Dr. THX, please go file your opine with the "lost" copies of the script for "THX 1138"

One thing about this USB key...how long will it take to transfer a hidef movie into it? Probably sometime with current USB 2.0 standards. So you stand around waiting for the movie to finish uploading to the USB key I guess?

I think downloads at home are a better option unless they setup booths to download movies in coffee shops.

What's the difference between a higher capacity CD (blu-ray, or DVD) and a USB drive??? Both store information that the player decodes...?...?...?...and the transfer rates of USB can be upgraded...why don't you think that a 25 GB memory card is going to be affordable very soon?

Quote:
One thing about this USB key...how long will it take to transfer a hidef movie into it? Probably sometime with current USB 2.0 standards.

Remember, I said 5 years from now before the price for that USB "shopping" bag comes down enough and has enough capacity to do this rental kiosk thing. By that time, I'm sure we'll have USB 3.0 standards, that will allow a 30GB movie to be transferred in 5 minutes or less.

Alright... so I'm guessing here

Quote:
Remember, I said 5 years from now before the price for that USB "shopping" bag comes down enough and has enough capacity to do this rental kiosk thing. By that time, I'm sure we'll have USB 3.0 standards, that will allow a 30GB movie to be transferred in 5 minutes or less.

Alright... so I'm guessing here

Watch out sky, some people in this site consider "guessing" or giving your opinion of how things might end-up as "FUD".

Naw wii-lite, FUD is FUD when you present things as fact which are either untrue or just an opinion in order to further the FUD agenda.

And that's a fact!