The new Betamax!

Consumer gets screwed again?

Woo hoo!

Be Well.

Relax guys. Blue Ray has a superior technology.

Consumer gets screwed again?

Not really... hasn't been out long enough for anyone to really get screwed.

I own both HD and Blu-Ray... they both make original format DVDs look better, so you don't really lose out if you went one way or the other (or both).

Relax guys. Blue Ray has a superior technology.


For now.

In a few years the next best thing will come along and the struggle will begin again.

Hopefully, that next best thing will be the ability to download film off the internet and select whatever quality you desire.

Since I don't own a television, I watch movies on my computer.

Good now I can buy something... I was waiting to see which technology would win out before I spent the $$. Now I can let the prices come down a bit and get one for the fall.

Sony was able to convince Hollywood to only produce movies in the Blu-Ray format. Sony was loosing the format war in the private sector because HD DVD are cheapter and the players are too.

Both Blu-Ray and HD DVD use the same laser to read data. However, their apertures are different. Blu-Ray uses a thinner surface unlike HD DVD which can use a regular DVD surface, thus Blu-Ray is more expensive as factories cranking discs out must be modified. A special coating of durabis is applied to the disc which is another factor in driving up the cost. The added surface allows more layers than HD DVD which means more memory.

That's mainly the only difference in Blu-Ray and HD DVD. The picture quality is the same, one is more expensive, and holds more memory than the other.

Toshiba made easy product to switch over too and lower cost. But Hollywood which is anti-capitalist anyway outside there own world has cost the consumer some money.

what happened to the electric car?

The electric car is not competitive. Too expensive and too limited. Even the hybrid costs more to operate and maintain. The better mileage is offset by the cost of batteries.

MikeWarrior - you are completely and utterly full of shit. Do you work for Toshiba? Blu-Ray can hold about double the data of HD-DVD - and Sony IS a fucking studio. Jeebus, what idiots!

Electric car????? Killed by Bush and the Oil Cartel! We have had the technology for years for an ALL electric car! Where are they? Who knows?

if you actually read what Mike Warrior said than you wouldn't look so completely retarded as you do in that post.

HD-DVD was the superior product because it was cheap to make and provided the same high resolution. Now we're stuck with the much more expensive blu-ray format. How is that a win for us consumers? We pay more for the same resolution. ... dumb asses - all of you! btw blu-ray disks scratches easy and becomes unusable quickly. good job. fucktards...

"MikeWarrior - you are completely and utterly full of shit. Do you work for Toshiba? Blu-Ray can hold about double the data of HD-DVD - and Sony IS a fucking studio. Jeebus, what idiots!"

GM had their EV-1 in California but the vehicles were leased. There's a movie. Gem ended the leases even when people wanted to keep it. Apparently GM just crushed the cars.

Of course at the same time the Governator started giving speeches on hydrogen fuels and they were the future.

More and more I'm seeing reports of entrepreneurs who are building hybrids and all electric. Personally I don't drive enough one way or they other, but for someone who commutes 20+ miles a day it might be economical even considering the conversion costs. We're finally seeing some battery technology that works to expand range, lower costs, and without blowing up.

MikeWarrior - you are completely and utterly full of shit. Do you work for Toshiba? Blu-Ray can hold about double the data of HD-DVD - and Sony IS a fucking studio. Jeebus, what idiots!


Striving to be a better idiot. JoMama.

How's it feel to not be able to comprehend simple sentences?

Posted by MikeWarrior

The added surface allows more layers than HD DVD which means more memory.


Sure, memory should be changed to storage. In computer lingo, memory is volatile, temporary storage...but the point is made.

Now if only Hillary will surrender to the inevitable as well.

"In computer lingo, memory is volatile, temporary storage."

ROM

"In computer lingo, memory is volatile, temporary storage."

"ROM"

Posted by Zatoichi

RAM

"In a few years the next best thing will come along and the struggle will begin again.

Hopefully, that next best thing will be the ability to download film off the internet and select whatever quality you desire."

The future is already here. Comcast calls it On-Demand. No PC required. New movies are in full HD.

Once the TV standard officially changes in 2009, I imagine download/pay-per-view will really take off. Already, NetFlix is entering this arena, as is BlockBuster.

For those who want to create a library of movies, this will help sustain the tangible disc movement. For consumers such as myself who occasionally rent a movie, or do a pay-per-view, the DVD battle has little to no consequence. Movies look just fine from my DVD player or from the cable company on my 1080i set. I can't see the justification for the high costs for a bit better picture. Nor do I have the great desire to view all the extras that come with on-disc movies these days, in which Blu-Ray excels over HD-DVD.

Yeah but which way is porn going?

God damn that Jomama guy is stupid. What retard camp did he come from and when does he go back?

God damn that Jomama guy is stupid. What retard camp did he come from and when does he go back?

Posted by JOE

I wonder if he's Redneckcocosamville creating another new handle.

Physical media is so yesteryear. Real men store media on their hard drives.

Wait the consumer has been taken advantage of by "Big DVD." We need to bail out the consumer and delay the implimtation of Blu-Ray. What about the people still making payments on the HD-DVD player that is becoming worthless? The gov. needs to step in and protect the consumer. What is Hillderbeast plan to protect us form evil Sony. This would never happen in France! You know DVDs have oil in them...coincedence?

I jest, I jest. No wonder the NBC TV shopping show was including a HD-DVD player "free" with HD telvision purchases on Saturday.

It's done. One ring to rule them all. The studios chose BluRay and you cheap HD Luddites can either pony up or stick with your snowy 13" black & whites with the tin foil on the rabbit ears.

What I'm twinked about is that I'm now faced with having to incrementally swap out my favorite discs one by one in my movie collection. It doesn't seem that long ago that I went through the same process with VHS to DVD. Now the expense of the media itself will force me to make my upgrading and future purchasing selections more judiciously. i.e. Extended versions of the Lord of the Rings..yes. Caddyshack...no.

And for those playing at home, the PS3 is a terrific Blu-Ray player for those who also enjoy video games. It's a two-fer.

"Physical media is so yesteryear. Real men store media on their hard drives"

And people say I'M stupid.

I never understood the video library for the reason of upgrading. How many times can you watch the same movie? I dont know, seems like a waste of money to me. Why not just rent it? I can understand a few favs but some people go a little overboard. I guess whatever floats your boat. More power to you. Heck I have hobbies others dont get.

oh, I put DVDs in the same category as books. Why do people purchase books when you can get them free at the library? I only buy books that I have the potential reference or have a significant affinity.

This is actually good news for consumers - it means the teams of people working to crack DRM of these products can now focus on only 1 standard. If you truly understood the battle, that is what it was truly about - what DRM standard would be implemented to restrict people from copying movies. Blu-Ray's 3 step DRM was found to be superior by the studios - step 1 has already been cracked and I assume it will not be long before they publish tools like DVD Decryptor for Blu-Ray disks (if they haven't already). As for the comment about storing on your harddrive, you are violating the law if you are ripping studio movies to your harddrive - despite the courts saying you have the right to make a back-up copy of all purchased media.

Some people like to show their support for the people who write books for a living by actually buying the book. I do the same thing with CDs if I really like the artist, even though there's literally no reason to buy them and the first thing I do is put it on my computer.

Joe, I agree to some extent, but that only speaks to authors that are alive, what about the dead classics. I think lots of people just like to have the books on the shelf for others to see how smart they are. :) I know people do collect books so whatever.

I dont buy CDs, most are crap. I would rather purchase just the tracks I like on itunes or download free stuff on freeindie.com

I sound like the old dude on 60 minites but I also dont get the downloading (illegally) of movies online. Sure its free but the quality sucks, its a pain in the ass to hook up to the TV and it you have to spend all the time converting and decompressing..blah ablah blah. I know some like to show off how they have movies on thier computer that are still in the theater but come on...really its not that cool.

I didn't mean to imply that I buy very many Cds. There are the rare exceptions that are worth buying. I certainly don't buy any albums created by people who are already millionaires. I need the money more than they do.

Joe, I think we are in complete agreement.

The battle of HD-DVD vs BluRay....

Although the laser, drive, and DRM stack are important, it was not as important to the consumer as the battle of Sun (BD-J) vs Microsoft (HDi).

My collections include:
Kurosawa
Fellini
Cassavettes
Miyazaki
The Cohen Brothers

...the list goes on. If one were prone to not enjoying anything up the film food chain further than typical Adam Sandler or Eddie Murphy fare, then your puzzlement as to why someone would want to watch those tepid selections more than once is valid. Every time I watch Seven Samurai, I discover something new. I've seen it hundreds of times and it never gets old. I've always been into animation and collect anime like some people collect stamps.

Most discs I own will stay as they are, as my LCD 16x9 1080i and upgraded HDMI player do more than a reasonable job of displaying them. But once you see a particular selection played on the same set, but from a Blu-Ray source and player, you will understand what all the hubbub is about.

Dutch - I didnt intend to offend. I can dig your collection. I WAS refering to the mindless collections some people (my sister) have. She has DVDs that arnt even open! Its a collector thing I guess.

I have seen the difference with Blu-Ray and I agree it is absolutly amazing.

I shouldnt be critical for others collecting stuff. Heck I am 30yrs old and still read and "collect" comics. Glass houses eh?

"Every time I watch Seven Samurai, I discover something new. I've seen it hundreds of times and it never gets old."

One of the great films of all time.

Capt...no offense taken. My dilemma at the moment is what to swap out and what new titles would be worth the expense. Most of the moron movies in my collection are 4-For-$20 used copies I get when the local Blockbuster does a monthly collection of overstocked rental titles, i.e. Fantastic 4, X-Men, etc. I save the new purchases for more critical, esoteric fare.

Books versus DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD

You don't need electricity to "play" a book.

You don't need the latest in tech to play a book.

You don't need to upgrade a book.

I can play books that are 100s of years old with no special hardware.

You don't need to replace entire book collections because somebody upgraded the tech - I believe the on-board book reader software that has been integrated as part of the original OS hasn't been upgraded for what, 40,000 years (I'm just guessing here)? Of course, the book viewer hardware is part of the original design that dates back millions of years.

If your electricity goes out, I can use one of the most ancient of technologies to play my book collection - the humble candle. Try that with your DVD collection!

Zot - and you can get any book you want from the local library for free. Beat that netflix!

Zot...I'm currently slogging through Neil Gaiman's American Gods, with King's Dark Tower series in the on-deck circle. I've discovered that I occasionally have oodles of time to read in the car during the day while waiting for my passenger. In the past, I used to go through jags where I'd read 5-6 books one after another, and then not read anything for a couple of months. I also enjoy "film" and upgrading all my gear to the latest obsolete technology provides me with an opportunity to enhance that experience as well.

And yet with all this film watching and reading, I still find the time to rehearse or at least do 30 minutes of scales a day, even if it's at 1:00am after 16 soul-crushing hours of playing Mr. Limo.