I'm going to go backward on my reply--LOLregman wrote:Sounds like the last gasp to me! I have to admit though I don't remember Sony practically giving away their Betamax players in the end. They practically pay YOU to buy standard DVD players these days. I'm one of the lucky ones - I have 5 HDMI ports - 3 on the receiver and 2 on the monitor so if HD DVD does survive I'll probably get one.
Am I the only one out there who thinks that there are probably only a couple dozen movies that are worth purchasing anyway? I used to collect VHS tapes and amassed a huge library (which I hardly ever watch) - like who has time.? I barely have time to watch the shows I record on my DVR(s).
I heard that Apple is going to put Blu-ray in their Macbooks. Here we go...
As far as Apple shipping Blu-Ray with their Macbooks: Heck, watching DVDs on a laptop saps the battery. I can only imagine how many minutes of a Blu-Ray title I could watch. And at home? How many people will watch high-def titles with a $2000+ 15" player in their lap? I don't see Apple as a major factor, and judging by his recent actions, neither does Steve, who's looking to the future. Then again, I'm betting that the Pixar-Disney connection comes into play, plus increased removable storage capacity, hence Blu.
I have to say that the offerings so far in both BD and HD are pretty poor, imho. I have Casablanca on VHS, and although I know the movie's been cleaned up, I guess I don't care. And newer moves? Forget about it. Well, I do have Serenity...there's one. 300 shipped with my player, as did Bourne Supremacy, I guess they're all right. My current set isn't big enough or nice enough to worry overly much about the quality of HD discs over SD DVD.
So despite "being in one camp" (HD DVD) I'm not contributing a darn bit to the furtherment of that format.As far as it being a last-ditch effort: Okay, fine; but look at what's happening in both camps. HD DVD players being in good-upconverter pricerange? Desperation (and the main reason I have one, that and my conviction that the worse format always wins
) Five free discs with a player? Desperation. For the other camp: Giving players away with TVs? Desperation. BOGO? Desperation. Recommending that people buy a PS3 to get a fully-functional player? Desperation.Forcing one format or the other to win won't end the desperation, either, imho, especially since Blu is the format being forced at this time. The time for major consumer uptake hasn't happened yet; that'll be in the fall. My guess is that those Q4 sales scared the BD partners into action, somehow put the high-pressure sale on Fox and Warner, and now the future's Blu. There are worse fates, of course; we could have had studios get together and force a dorky DVD9 h.264 highly-DRM-encumbered format on us all without regard to either HD DVD or Blu-Ray owners. Or worse fates, like sticking with DVD for another 15 years. Hey, it could happen; I first saw an HDTV when I was still in grade school, I swear, and I'm almost 33 now, just now have a semi-affordable HDTV, and at least THREE local stations broadcast in HD PART OF THE TIME! And I'm in a minority of TV owners! And the first HDTVs were invented in the '60s! Let's hope we don't have to wait another 40 years for a standard HD movie format
