Blockbuster Stores Told to Choose Blu-ray

[davidtwotrees]

I try to know most of the people in the complex I live in. That's the kind of guy I am. Anyhoo, there are a couple of "everyman" types that I talk to and use as sounding boards. Sacd DVDA? Never heard of them. But, the one guy actually sought me out and asked about the "new" kind of dvd's he'd heard about......Blu something. I said, yeah, Blu Ray. He said he'd seen it advertised on TV and wondered what it was...I gave him some of the backstory on the format war etc etc. He was pretty interested. But then I mentioned the new discs won't work on his dvd player.........he IMMEDIATELY LOST INTEREST.

Oh, great analogy, Clint........

 

[davo]

Reminds me... There's these two guys who have been fighting in the streets of South Dakota for over a year now. Bill and Jerry... What? you never heard of them? Hmm... that's odd. It seemed so relevant to me cause I'm interested, but no one I talk to really cares of knows about the fight.

It seems Block Buster know enough people to warrant such a move.

I agree that not many people are as enthused about the high def war as what we would like, but the more people that visit sites such as Audioholics, then the more that learn. They will have to make a choice in the next few years anyway, some because they want to, others because they have to.

 

[ned]

I don’t think HD DVD are a niche market at all, wouldn’t that be like saying HDTV is a niche market? All day long at work I hear people talking about buying flat screens and getting Hi Def TV. If people have a HDTV and are getting HD channels there’s no doubt they’ll like it and are going to want a HD Disc player. I read somewhere on this forum once where some compared HD Discs to SACD’s and said that they just won’t catch on.

I agree. If demand does not push us to the next level the studios and CEs will. I'm just glad to have been enjoying hidef recorded media for a while now.

 

[mtrycrafts]

It seems Block Buster know enough people to warrant such a move.

.

I remember when DVDs came out BlockBuster only carried Pan&scan. Took them a while and now that is hard to find, WS is in.

 

[davo]

It wasn't that long ago that DVD was the new kid on the block. 6 years ago we were struggling to get DVD in video stores. Now you would struggle to find VHS (not that you would want to). It's a normal transition that takes time, but time always comes around.

Some of us are lucky to be there before others.

 

[sholling]

Don't get me wrong I'm hoping one flavor or the other takes off. I just think that some of the analogies have been way off base. Many flat panels are being sold for their aesthetics (a HUGE WAF plus) and size/coolness factor (huge Joe Six-pack plus) alone. Jane is finally letting Joe have his big-screen because Bill and Betty Wine-snob down the street have one. Huge chunks of those Joe Six-pack flat panel buyers are watching them in standard def just because they don't know any better. Of course this will change over time as people become more educated. A second proof is the number of people that choose to forgo an antenna and limit their HD viewing to whatever is available on cable. Something like 90% or more? Yet at least in the Los Angles area broadcast HD quality (especially PBS - wow!) is vastly better than what you can get from cable.

Comparing the switch from VHS to DVD and LP to CD to the switch from DVD to high-def DVD is comparing apples to oranges. People switched from LPs to the mid-fi format known as compact disk because they were radically more convenient (HUGE WAF plus). The move from VHS to DVD was also driven by size and durability of the format, the convenience of the format, and radially improved picture - better than broadcast on any TV with the right inputs. But DVD did not really become ubiquitous until the players dropped to the magic $100 price-point.

My point is that Joe and Jane Six-pack with their 32" 720p TV and (insert brand name here) HTIB aren't likely to start buying large numbers of hi-def DVD players until "hi-def ready" becomes just another cool feature in their $100 DVD player. Until then it's a niche product. Of course once a winner is declared and players drop below $200 enough early adopters may jump in to expand the niche and accelerate acceptance as prices drop. That's how a lucky few products reach mainstream.

 

[jake5717]

I've always thought of flat panel TV as 1. Cool 2. HD compatible 3. WAF. No Doubt when Joe Six-Pack bought his TV the kid at BB recommended he also get an HD tuner, Up converting or HD DVD player and Monster cables. It wasn’t long ago that Joe Six-Pack here at work told me about up converting DVD players I had heard of HD players but not Up converting player. If someone is going to spend $200 for an up converting DVD player to compliment their new TV why not pay $100 more for an HD DVD player that does the same thing AND plays HD DVD’s.

 

[EricM]

It's interesting to see Viacom/Dreamworks/Paramount exerting apparent influence over their daughter company BlockBuster.

Um, Viacom divested its ownership of BBI a couple years ago. So much for that conspiracy theory (and that article on the front page).

I seriously doubt some VP looked at the shelves one day and simply decided to stop offering HD DVDs...

No, as every story and press release about this (but one) pointed out, they looked at their rental figures, saw it was 70-30 in favor of BD, and made a decision.

 

[rgriffin25]

The biggest problem with HD DVD is movie selection. It is getting a bit better than it was a few months ago but it is still behind Blu-ray. I bought the HD DVD drive for my xbox around christmas and got tired of seeing the same discs to buy with very little to choose from. Then I would look at the blu-ray section and drool. So I bought a blu-ray player.

Whats my point? Well, I don't think it will matter much if Walmart sells a $199 HD DVD player if there only a few movies to buy. People will get the itch just like I did and want more content and go out and buy a blu-ray player. Especially if they can run down the street to blockbuster and pick up some movies on Blu-ray.

I will say that netflix is amazing! It has really saved me bookoo bucks, I get to see movies in both BD and HD DVD w/o having to buy them like I did when DVD came out.

 

[mike c]

sony has to win sometime right?

now, everyone at the same time ... jump to blu-ray!

 

[Audioholics]

Um, Viacom divested its ownership of BBI a couple years ago. So much for that conspiracy theory

Thanks for the correction.

 

[davo]

Bring out your dead-HD DVD!!

This seems to be happening quicker than I had hoped. Feels almost surreal.

http://www.psu.com/node/11746

 

[pikers]

My point is that Joe and Jane Six-pack with their 32" 720p TV and (insert brand name here) HTIB aren't likely to start buying large numbers of hi-def DVD players until "hi-def ready" becomes just another cool feature in their $100 DVD player. Until then it's a niche product. Of course once a winner is declared and players drop below $200 enough early adopters may jump in to expand the niche and accelerate acceptance as prices drop. That's how a lucky few products reach mainstream.

Don't think for a second that HD-DVD's price plummeting has anything other to do with the fact that as a failing format, all they're trying to do is drive BR into low/zero profitability along with them. Can't win? Drag down your competition.

Anyone that thinks $100 for J6P is the magic number is fooling themselves. I think right now price is the only thing that keeps the new players unique from the other crap out there--meaning, once those players hit that price point, they'll blend into the background. Sure more players will sell, but one wonders if the buying public will be conscious of the benefits (or care), thus making HD-DVD movies collect more dust.

 

[mtrycrafts]

This seems to be happening quicker than I had hoped. Feels almost surreal.

http://www.psu.com/node/11746

What else would a PS website say? That blu ray is dying?

 

[MACCA350]

sony has to win sometime right?

I hope not, can you imagine how restrictive things would be if they controlled more than they already do, proprietary this proprietary that. I have no problem with Sony owning their own products, but being in control of the only High Definition media on the market just scares me. One word: Rootkit

You know what the BD Player Profile system is for? Price protection. If you have levels of player functionality then you can justify charging premium prices for such products. Could you imagine if you're current DVD player couldn't access the extra features on todays DVD's and if you wanted to play them you'd have to buy a more expensive player. How many people do you think will pay the extra for that? Do you really think content providers would bother with spending money on creating these interactive features if they knew that the majority of people wouldn't even see it since their player doesn't support it

As I've said before BD is not a complete format, the only reason its on the market now is because they didn't want to 'miss the boat'

[cough]Region control

BTW there are some great titles on BD that I'd love to own, but I'll wait till they've actually got a BD player on the market that can do ALL the interactive stuff......if that ever happens.

I think I may order Blood Diamond HD DVD from the US and check out the web-enabled interactive features

cheers

 

[BMW]

I was about to buy the Toshiba, when my Internet went down. Thank God for that. When my Internet came back on line, I did what I thought was the best solution. I ordered the Oppo 981. Until there is a solution for the format war, I'm gonna stand tough and watch my dvds On the oppo.
BMW