mattressman

i keep hearing all this talk of the blu-ray and HD-DVD formats taking over the market, and this double dip nightmare being among us after just recently adjusting to the much loved DVD format. I'd hate to sound like I'm some stubborn fool afraid to change, but well, that sucks! Buying new types of players and new DVD versions already seems so insane. And what is to happen of the existing DVD format? I would much appreciate any information or opinions on this hostile takeover. Now, all of this news is pretty fresh to me, so i may just be misunderstanding what the actual news is (regarding the new format), so if someone could set me straight, that would be great, too. Thanks!

kvrdave

I have actually considered selling off my dvds so that I can get a decent price, knowing that I will buy most of them again in HD format.

However, I don't worry about buying more players etc. That will be awhile. Despite the awesome force that was the DVD, it still took awhile before they became the unstoppable force they are today. I would guess 3 years before HD is even a consideration. Also, I watch dvds through my computer on a projector, so the upgrade should be relatively cheap for me. Just upgrade to a HD drive. It may be spendy at first, but will probably still be much less than a stand alone player.

And I expect Sony to lose this battle. No idea why....just a hunch.

mattressman

yeah, they lost betamax! haha.

Brian Shannon

Only in the consumer world.

The average person will always buy the most hyped product regardless of quality.

JM

Well, Sony got its revenge with the PS2, an overhyped and disappointing system that still manages to dominate the market.

ITALIAN926

Well, i have almost 900 movies on DVD. Im SURE the new blue laser players MUST be able to play todays standard DVD's. Its one thing they MUST incorporate if they want to actually make the new DVD's a success.

I will ONLY replace super special effects movies like the Matrix's, Spiderman, Star Wars.. theres no need in the world to change out comedy's , drama's, etc. Im actually looking forward to it.

JCFantasy23

Same here. I'm not going to keep throwing out dvds and money whenever a new format comes around. I will embrace the format, but not get rid of the others.

kvrdave

And the minidisc. TAKE THAT, APPLE!!!!!

You just never know, though. Sony has a lot of strength behind it. Actually it looks like their technology is a bit superior, but technically, so was the Betamax.

Spiky

Minidisc only made it in Japan. Sony's tried about 4 times in the USA and pretty much failed to make any headway against CDR and now MP3 players.

I think it will be awhile before HD-DVD (either/both format) will take over. This will not be like VHS to DVD. People are very happy with DVD, even on HDTVs. I wouldn't worry about double-dipping just yet. If at the end of 2005 you see that a big movie you are about to buy will be on HD-DVD soon, wait. Otherwise, business as usual.

DVD Josh

I love how everyone keeps saying that they will have to "replace all their DVDs". Why? They'll make DVD players for the next decade at least. Just upgrade what you think is worth it and keep the others.

rdclark

Let's compare vinyl records and laserdiscs.

Laserdisc was only a marginally successful format, from a marketing standpoint. Popular enough to be profitable, but still a niche product for people who had a lot of disposable income. When its replacement (the DVD) came along, it lost momentum very rapidly; within three or four years releases had completely stopped, and today, 8 years later, new players are difficult to come by. Ten years from now, laserdiscs will be a largely forgotten curiosity.

Now look at the LP record. It's been 20 years since its successor, the CD, debuted. Yet vinyl records are still being made, and you can still buy new turntables and phono cartridges, and phono preamps are still included in higher-end AV receivers.

DVD is more like the LP than the Laserdisc, in terms of market success. There are millions of DVD players in the field, and hundreds of millions of discs. People are archiving their family photo albums and home movies to DVD, and the vast numbers of standard-definition DV camcorders out there argues that they will continue to do so for years to come.

DVD is not going to go away. Even though it's less than 10 years old, its massive worldwide market conquest will make it difficult to displace. Eventually, sure, attrition will do its part and DVD will become a niche format again, as the LP has.

But before that happens, think about trends in mass storage. Price per megabyte drops almost by the minute. In five years, you'll probably be able to buy a mass storage device for a couple hundred bucks capable of archiving your entire DVD collection. It'll have an HDMI jack and a name like DVPod.

RichC