Netflix goes Blu

[stratman]

Ironically, Betamax was Sony.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Ironically, Betamax was Sony.

Yeah and SACD and MiniDisc too. Looks like they finally got a winner.

 

[gus6464]

In Asia minidisc was huge before the ipod. Also got a lot of following in Europe as well. MD had trouble penetrating America but did good everywhere else.

I personally think SACD will never go away as a lot of artists release albums on SACD nowadays.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I bought HD DVD recently after having my PS3 for over a year. I bought it for one reason, and only one reason... because I love movies and I want to rent all those titles that Universal and Paramount didn't have for me on Blu.

Since I'm a BlockBuster Online user, this simply hasn't affected me at all, but it is extremely troubing that such a thing could happen. Really, if BB Online leaves HD DVD behind as well then that basically means I MUST purchase movies to enjor them... Not something I'm willing to do.

I wonder how many others fall into this category or suddenly find themselves with a HD DVD player and Netflix and are now just shaking their heads in disbelief.

As much as I would love for the world to go exclusively Blu-ray, I would still be bummed if the hundreds of movies out on HD DVD were to suddenly become unavailabe to me.

 

[frostbyte]

In support of Net Flix decision, I'll just have to go sign up for an account. Might be long wait times, but I like to support those that support blu-ray. I always told my wife that I thought the winner would be whoever could get exclusive rights to netflix, blockbuster and hollywood. Once people can rent any movie they want, the winner is chosen IMO. The masses will have a cheap way to use their HDTV they have had for years. It's one thing to get a $300+ player, but to then have to buy the movies for $30 on top of the player....most people just can't afford that, but $3 or $4 to watch it on high def as a rental is well worth it and what I've been planning all along. I usually only watch a movie once unless it's for the kids or really good like LOTR trilogy.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Did you guys read that Best Buy now focuses mainly on blu-ray?

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080211/20080211006384.html?.v=1

 

[stratman]

Did you guys read that Best Buy now focuses mainly on blu-ray?

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080211/20080211006384.html?.v=1

There's a thread on that.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Okay, so HD DVD just needs to go away and accept defeat before the embarrassment gets out of hand.

I guess they would make a great $100 upscaling DVD player. And you should still be able to find plenty of HD DVD movies around.

 

[stratman]

That seems to be the point of contention, cheap software. But I look at it differently, why keep feeding the dead, when you can take your money and start a BD collection. Prices will start dropping, watch.

 

[ParkerAudio]

Well if I was Toshiba, Microsoft, or whomever wanted to keep HD DVD alive, I would run down to Netflix with a briefcase full of money.

 

[GlocksRock]

I love news like this... hopefully Blockbuster online will keep HD DVD rentals around for a while longer, at least until all the good upcoming movies on HD DVD are released. Although I don't feel too bad since I got in on the walmart $99 HD-A2 and sold all the HD DVDs I got for free, so I came out pretty good.

 

[Alamar]

That seems to be the point of contention, cheap software. But I look at it differently, why keep feeding the dead, when you can take your money and start a BD collection. Prices will start dropping, watch.

I agree that you [at least I] don't want to keep feeding the dead.

However just how soon and by how much do you expect player && movie prices to drop?? Right now I see both HD & BD trying to gouge the exact people that they need to buy their movies so the format can be successful.

 

[dobyblue]

I have 125 Blu-ray Discs and I've paid between $9.99 and $23.99 for each of them, most of them coming in the $9.99 - $13.99 price.

I don't feel gouged at all.

 

[frostbyte]

I would feel gouged if I bought discs from a format that didn't make it, but that's why I waited so long to buy into blu ray even though I was hoping it would win 10 years ago or so when I heard about it. Now I just have to hope I waited long enough and something else doesn't take over before it even really starts.

 

[stratman]

I agree that you [at least I] don't want to keep feeding the dead.

However just how soon and by how much do you expect player && movie prices to drop?? Right now I see both HD & BD trying to gouge the exact people that they need to buy their movies so the format can be successful.

Hey Alamar,

I'd say look for sub $300 players this summer. Once the dust clears you can bet that Walmart will jump fully onboard and drop prices accross the board. As to when, stay tuned for rumblings from the industry in the next couple of months, there's blood in the water. Nobody wants to be on the losing side. The economy is still limping along, if the limp gets worse BD will have to make drastic price cuts to entice new clients to purchase software and hardware.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I find it interesting that people are complaining about paying $300 for a player. For those of us who've been around the block, we've bought VCRs and DVD players at a time when they were MORE expensive than blu-ray players are today at a point that's still much closer to it's initial launch...LOL

From what I see, the evolution process for BD today is much more efficient and FASTER than it ever was with both both VCR and DVD. For those who want sub $100 BD players, you'll just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy watching low-definition movies on your HDTV for a little longer

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I have 125 Blu-ray Discs and I've paid between $9.99 and $23.99 for each of them, most of them coming in the $9.99 - $13.99 price.

I don't feel gouged at all.

Ditto that....

The most expensive BD disc in my collection was $27.99, but the average is closer to $15. (for mine)

 

[aberkowitz]

I find it interesting that people are complaining about paying $300 for a player. For those of us who've been around the block, we've bought VCRs and DVD players at a time when they were MORE expensive than blu-ray players are today at a point that's still much closer to it's initial launch...LOL

That's a great point. I don't remember how much my parents paid for their first VCR, but I know it was quite a bit of money. I looked up how much our first computer was (Apple IIc)- $1300 in 1984, which is approximately $2700 in today's dollars. And because I was super curious, I looked up the cost of a movie rental in the 80s- in 1985 the average rental cost $2.38 (almost $6.00 today), compared with 2004 when the average rental cost $3.43.

 

[ParkerAudio]

I find it interesting that people are complaining about paying $300 for a player. For those of us who've been around the block, we've bought VCRs and DVD players at a time when they were MORE expensive than blu-ray players are today at a point that's still much closer to it's initial launch...LOL

From what I see, the evolution process for BD today is much more efficient and FASTER than it ever was with both both VCR and DVD. For those who want sub $100 BD players, you'll just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy watching low-definition movies on your HDTV for a little longer

Good point. I think a lot of us are anxious for one format to win out, and for the technology to gain more universal acceptance so that we can push the format further. What I mean by that is have a bluray drive on our computer, or in a portable bluray player.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

That's a great point. I don't remember how much my parents paid for their first VCR, but I know it was quite a bit of money. I looked up how much our first computer was (Apple IIc)- $1300 in 1984, which is approximately $2700 in today's dollars. And because I was super curious, I looked up the cost of a movie rental in the 80s- in 1985 the average rental cost $2.38 (almost $6.00 today), compared with 2004 when the average rental cost $3.43.

I still remember the first VCR my dad bought because he bought it as a gift for my grandmother............and we didn't even have one yet!! This was well before the days of movie rentals and it was purchased specifically so my grandmother could record her favorite show. I don't remember what year it was, but she died in 1983. (I'm guessing it was between '80-'82) I remember the price because it was an INSANE amount of $$ for the era.....it was a $850 Mitsubishi that was absolutely gigantic. In those days, that was A LOT of money!! If you convert that into 2008 dollars........you won't find a player that is anywhere near that price range. I bought my first VCR in the late '80s and paid in the $400 neighborhood!!!! That's nearly 1 decade later, and players still cost MUCH, MUCH more than BD players cost today in todays $'s!!

The story about buying my first DVD player is sort of funny. IMO....
I was visiting my little brother out of state to help him move. It was 1998 or 1999....not exactly sure. He only lived 3 hours away, but saying it was out of state (which is true) sounds better...LOL

After a long day of moving furniture, he showed me a neat new toy that he purchased and we watched Terminator 2 together that night .... I was completely floored!!!
I thought it was soooo cool, that I absolutely had to have one of my own. The next morning at 10am sharp, we ventured out together to a store hear his home so I could buy one for myself!! I could now kiss my tape-rewinder goodbye
When I got home....I told my wife... " Hi honey, look what I got".......Hahahaha
Once again, I paid between $400-$500 in 1998-9 dollars and it was only capable of 2-channel stereo Not to mention progressive scanning was still not heard of..........

I bought my first real computer in 1995, and it was the ABSOLUTE BOMB!! I didn't see the need for a frivolous luxury like a home computer, but my wife insisted on having one. This computer had all the bells and whistles.... a 1 gig hard drive, windows 95, a 133MHz Pentium processor....it had everything!!! After mail in rebates, it set me back $2500......LOL


PS...I bought my first Blu-ray player in 2007, and it only cost me $300 in todays dollars
(a far cry from what I spent on previous players)