Sony Wins the Battle But Loses the War

I hope not cause I'm getting a PS3 tonight

Obviously the Blu-ray camp is confused about what people want to do when they watch movies at home. It's not an interactive experience: You grab a big bowl of popcorn, hunker down on the couch, wrap a warm blanket around you, and watch your movie. And maybe you pause for the occasional bathroom break. So ends the interaction.

It's time for Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic to get with the program: Their players are not worth $400. There are no defining features that justify that price.

Theres a lot more at the link...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2307354,00.asp

Interesting read. He comes across as somewhat cocky I feel but his comments are right on point in my humble opinion. And I definitely feel as if Sony has a limited window to push blu-ray. Unfortunately for them I don't think they can lower prices right now to what is needed for mass market adoption because the war costs them so much already. Supposedly they still are losing up to $200 for every ps3 sold. And with the costs of basic necessities of life going up people will begin to scale back on things that are considered as luxuries (like buying movies). I already heard so coworkers complaining today that gas was supposed to go up $4.20 a gallon for this coming memorial day weekend. I wonder if some of the movie companies that dropped hddvd are secretly regretting their decision now? And yes I keep hearing about how the cheaper players are coming out and eventually this will happen and that will happen but remember that no one knows the future. If you have a product and strategy that works now that is what you should push.
Actually right now I'm pretty pissed at Sony. Tuns out the Sony xbr hdtv that my wife purchased a few years ago is defective. This tv costs over $4000. It worked fine for about 1 year and then this green-yellowish tint began to slowly creep over the screen. Now the entire screen looks like every image is viewed through urine-filled or puke-filled glasses. Fortunately, I convinced my wife to get an extended warranty from the store where it was purchased and the tv is covered. However I have been doing some research over this tv and found out this is an ongoing problem and Sony was recently sued and forced to extend their warranty services for this tv because the problem was so widespread. I found out on the avs forums that its a problem with the optical block . I guess my main gripe is that Sony did not notify me in writing or email of this problem, the lawsuit, or consequent settlement. I registered the tv with sony.com the same week it was purchased with all of my contact info so to not notify me tells me that they were hoping I wouldn't find out about the settlement until the deadline for extended service(october 2008) passed. Why is it that Sony has to be sued before they fix a problem? First the disc-read error with the ps2, then the rootkit fiasco, then the exploding laptop batteries, and now this. It just amazes me how reluctant they are to fix their products. The electronics store told me that they were told by Sony to first try to repair the tv and then if it cannot be fixed I can switch it out for a suitable replacement. So now I have to sit through a 3 hour repair job that may or may not fix my tv. I'm just upset that Sony made no attempt whatsoever to contact me. It seems really dishonest.

The PCMag article's author is skimming over some details. He says -

Quote:
"If Blu-ray's quality is so much better and the movies add tons more features (even the ability to access more features on the Internet), how could standard DVDs possibly be more popular?"

Well, what about the fact that few DVD users are yet to own an HDTV (have only been somewhat affordable to most people since 2006). Also, DVD has been around 11 years now, whereas Blu-ray hasn't yet reached it's second anniversary (this July).

Then he does one of the usual arguments again hi-def -

Quote:
"Anyone who owns an HD set knows that standard DVD content can be upscaled to 1080i by component and even HDMI cable. Blu-ray goes to 1080p, but the average consumer can't perceive the difference."

Yeah OK, the average consumer - who's not even into HD at this point! As the 'average' consumer has yet to buy an HDTV - duh! And the author wants to argue that upconverted DVD to 1080i is not much different (or perceived) from that of full Hi-Def 1080p Blu-ray - all of us know this is lame, as anyone who owns an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player and a quality HDTV can easily 'perceive the difference' between 480-upconverted-to-1080i DVD vs 1080p Blu-ray HD.

Then the author says -

Quote:
"Meanwhile, downloadable HD content is finally starting to take off."

Take off - ? No, it's not. Downloadable HD viewing is probably even less popular currently than Blu-ray viewing. Most download/streaming video is still SD (not HD), and the little HD that's out there right now (Apple TV, XBox 360) has not exactly "taken off". Who's is this guy trying to brainwash?

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Bingo! This has been said on numerous occasions. Now the reality might be setting in.

Quote:
Obviously the Blu-ray camp is confused about what people want to do when they watch movies at home. It's not an interactive experience: You grab a big bowl of popcorn, hunker down on the couch, wrap a warm blanket around you, and watch your movie. And maybe you pause for the occasional bathroom break. So ends the interaction.

Love, I think VOD was also being mentioned in that statement as well. The company I work for, VOD accounts 30% of the profit margin involved in the overall sales this last quarter. VOD is bigger than you guys think. Especially the HD ones. Tony uses HD VOD? So I can kinda see where he is coming from. I'm almost wondering if he was trying to compare HD DVD/DVD vs Blu-Ray's new victory in the HT industry.

It could help if they start coming out with a combo format.

Quote:
He comes across as somewhat cocky

He shouldn't be. He's the same guy who wrote the article "Blu-ray is Doomed" way over a year ago, and why HD DVD would undoubtedly win the format war.

He seems to have no knowledge of what a "monopoly" is in economic terms, nor of technological adoption curves, nor the target market and pricing sensitivity at various points on that curve. He forgets about standard CD and DVD, and the classic curves of their introductions during their first few years. I guess he's too young to remember basic single disk 8X oversampling CD players going for $799.

Or maybe he's just another fanatical fanboy still in mourning over the loss of his format of choice. He should just get over it, including his embarrassment over his past failed prredictions, rather than dig his hole deeper by repeating a bunch of B.S. fanboy crap that's spewed on the smackdown forum of Highdefdigest by 15 year old kids every hour.

Skyhawk do you have a link to that article? I want to read it for the comedy.

Yeah...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1959610,00.asp