BR Early Adopters Rejoice! NOT!

[mas]

While I can't really debate the fundamental point made, i wonder how many of the faithful will agree?

And if the tradeoffs were made to keep costs down (DOWN????), what do the version 2 additions portend for future prices? And even if BR is the dominant platform, why should one think that higher prices and a lack of significant competition are going to help drive the adoption of the platform?

Less competition and higher prices!

Are we in heaven yet?????

[*-)][:|]

With Version 2 of the platform not anticipated until October, 2008, why should anyone buy a player before then?

http://www.betanews.com/article/Bluray_Early_adopters_knew_what_they_were_getting_into/1199841379

Blu-ray: Early adopters knew what they were getting
into

January
8, 2008,

Blu-ray may have taken a commanding
lead in the next-generation format war, but the group has a big problem
looming: early supporters of the format will be left out in the cold when the
Blu-ray Disc Association introduces BD Profile 2.0

Unlike HD DVD, which mandated
features such as local storage, a second video and audio decoder for
picture-in-picture, and a network connection from the very beginning, the
companies behind Blu-ray took a different approach. Initial hardware players
lacked these capabilities in order to keep costs down.

None of the Profile 1.0 players can
be upgraded to Profile 1.1, which was finalized recently, with the exception of
the PlayStation 3 -- whose update arrived in mid-December. Likewise, Profile
2.0 is expected to arrive in October bringing Internet connectivity that
Profile 1.1 players lack.

Representatives at the Blu-ray booth
at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they
would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung,
Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to
customers.

In order to allay confusion, the BDA
has adopted special labels that will be placed on Blu-ray movies. Those with a
"Bonus View" sticker will require Profile 1.1 players, while those
with "BD Live" will require Profile 2.0.

In addition, the BD-J interactivity
layer, based on Java, has continued to evolve since the introduction of Blu-ray
Profile 1.0. This means that early players may have a buggy implementation and
perhaps more importantly, they are not powerful enough to play the latest films
properly.

When BetaNews asked developers of BD Live whether they were
concerned about a backlash from early adopters who supported the format from
the beginning, we were told: "They knew what they were getting into."

BDA President Andy Parsons echoed
that sentiment at the Blu-ray press conference Monday, telling BetaNews that
it's normal for new technology to change and older hardware to become obsolete.
He added that early Blu-ray owners can continue to do everything they could in
the beginning: watch movies in high-definition.

Still, the confusion will only
likely further alienate existing and potential customers of the nascent format.
One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for
studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for
personal use.

When BetaNews asked why these
manufacturers rushed out players that were not fully capable and potentially
buggy due to their BD-J implementation, the Blu-ray partner pointed blame
across the room to HD DVD. "We should have waited another year to
introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the
situation," he said. HD DVD was already coming and the BDA had no choice
but to launch Blu-ray.

With logic and leadership like that, do you wonder why the HD-DVD Consortium was formed?

Blue ray may win, but i only wish that we could say that we have won.

But then "its all HD-DVD's fault."

But hey, the movies will have labels on them.... []

Amazing! Pardon me as I cry while ROFLMAO

[dougdrake]

I AM rejoicing - I have a PS3!

[Mallette]

I guess I don' have much of a horse in this race as the best video I've ever seen still doesn't fool my cat, who is the ultimate test. I love good movies, but I only find one or two per year that fall into that category and I only find a couple per decade I care to see more than once.

BlueRay and HDDVD are just storage media and not "formats." When DVD appeared there was little doubt it would become the dominant method of distribution movies as there was no competition that could deliver content equal to the quality of the playback device in a durable form.

That is not true now. A wide variety of high quality, low cost means of delivery are either available or on the horizon. I don't care about having a hard copy since I am unlikely to want to see something more than once, so convenience and on demand are my main issues. These are in the progress of being addressed.

I believe the very exisitence of this debate to be a sign that it is moot.

Dave

[gibbie]

I couldn't agree with you more. Even though I have a media PC with over 3TB's of storage for my CD's and DVD's, I would prefer to have content available to me as an on-demand type delivery. I'm not sure what I would be willing to pay for the service but the ability to watch or listen on-demand is certainly appealing. As long as the service is robust and provides a wide variety of content, I can't see why I would need to own the media (CD or DVD).

[billybob]

Enter Netflix,Blockbuster! Can see having a personal archive on CD but yes, owning anything but the most interesting for reviewing may be oldhat. Most certainly for some this is true. People do what they like, but after collecting VHS tapes to the ceiling, some(?) are turning to the fast disposable market, i. e.... rent, download, (with the option to save/delete)IPPV. Tools like the DVR for viewing convenience. Instant grat. (or close) is where the consumer is(general).

So some indespensible hardware(DVR,DVD) with a flexi-format input/ output capability would be my personal simplistic choice. Too bad it's a bit too naive as well. Twould seem that the innovations may be just starting, with the consumer playing the catch-up game. I'm just now really getting hip to the CD, and it may be(soon)becoming obsolete before I finally arrive.

"Faster Than The Speed Of Life."

[el jopez]

With Sony at the helm it completely understandable. Ken Kutaragi anyone?