Almost every weekend I see people on the sidewalks of Brooklyn attempting to sell their used VHS collections. And I get sad -- not for these people desperately trying to make a little extra with their tag sale, but for the poor videotapes that have absolutely no place in the modern world of DVD. I'm often reminded of The Brave Little Toaster and my eyes well up for the poor obsolete items of yesterday. I too have a box of VHS in my closet, but I know there's no use trying to find people who will buy them. But at least I never got into the habit of collecting DVDs, because the currently popular video format will also one day be replaced.The European chairman for the Blu-ray Disc Association claims that day will come within three years. While addressing the crowd at the CeBIT technology trade show in Germany, he also stated that Blu-ray, not its competitor, HD DVD, will be the format to succeed DVD as the home video standard. Of course, there is no definite front-runner in the hi-density disc format war, and representatives from HD-DVD argued that in terms of sales of movie titles, the two are about even. Blu-ray's reason for declaring a lead is based on sales of Blu-ray players, which include Playstation 3 consoles -- how many PS3 owners do you know who were primarily interested in its ability to play Blu-ray discs?
Blu-ray doesn't even have support from all the movie studios. It does presently have more studios exclusively devoted to its format than does HD DVD, but until it gets Universal and The Weinstein Co. on board, it probably won't be able to top DVD sales. Sure, by 2010 there may be more Blu-ray players sold than DVD players, especially with the popularity of Playstation, yet this would be more likely due to the fact that most homes will already have DVD players. As for actually replacing the current standard, one of the HD brands will have to first win the preliminary format war before moving on to challenging -- and maybe replacing -- the DVD. And the one to move to the final round might not even be Blu-ray or HD-DVD.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-17-2007 @ 2:47AM
bgdc said...
Haven't bought a PS3 yet to keep but when I do it'll be for two things: blu ray movies and GTA4. I had a PS2 for 7 years and only bought madden and gta games for it. Not a gamer. Now movies...hell yeah.
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3-17-2007 @ 5:21AM
Stan-Lee said...
I am glad to see some information about blu-ray but I think it is too early to decide if all movies will be on blu-ray. Yes, blu-ray is better but as quick as technology is progressing in 3 years I don't think it will remain top of the line. It is taking too long to go mainstream and by the time it does it will be a thing of the past.
Stan-Lee
http://www.movieguys.org
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3-17-2007 @ 5:55AM
Bob said...
I think that Blu-Ray, for better or worse, is doomed to suffer the same fate at "Betamax". In the minds of consumers, HD-DVD will remind them of "DVD" and no one will think about "Blu-Ray" ("What's that mean?" they will say). This sounds stupid, but I bet it happens...
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3-17-2007 @ 5:57AM
Bob said...
I think that Blu-Ray, for better or worse, is doomed to suffer the same fate at "Betamax". In the minds of consumers, HD-DVD will remind them of "DVD" and no one will think about "Blu-Ray" ("What's that mean?" they will say). This sounds stupid, but I bet it happens...
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3-18-2007 @ 5:32AM
Gus said...
Your old DVDs will have a one-up on those dusty old VHS tapes, you can still play them in the new gen machines.
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3-18-2007 @ 12:32PM
Gilbert Davis said...
Locked in, crippled DRM laden and marginally better than DVD's format on $500 dollar and up players. You also won't be able to play them on your computer until you get a HDMI (read locked in) monitor, a locked in HDMI able video card and a Blue-Ray or HD player which is also hugely expensive. Replace my DVD collection for that. Yup. I'll be getting right on that. Not. Not falling for the hype.
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3-27-2007 @ 12:35PM
Bobby Keene said...
Can we just cut to the chase. Here's my take on the best idea ever, plus we won't have to waste time and money on old technologies. I have a patent pending on a pill with a microchip inside. You just take the pil and watch the movies in your head ...ooops sorry didn't we do that in the sixties?
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