I don't feel Blu-ray is "unethical" but the studios are arguably manipulating the marketplace to entice people to switch to Blu-ray by taking away features from the DVD that were normally included. At least when they took away the DVD features, they did reduce the price of DVDs as well.

Again, most people who had VHS collections were given a far superior disc format, it was compatible with their current TV and it gave people extra stuff the VHS tapes never had on them.

The studios did not have to start taking away features on pre-recorded VHS movies or record them in crappy-looking SLP mode in order to make DVD look superior in comparison. The advantages of DVD were evident and when the price was within reason, it took off.

That's just one studio; and it's a format that nobody outside of Universal seems to want, nevermind that it's probably going to be problematic because those types of flippers have a high fail rate.

I find it ironic that Universal now wants only SKU per title, when they were one of the worst offenders at repackaging and flooding the shelves with multiple versions of their movies. How many different versions of American Pie did they put out?

People around here throw around the word "force" when it doesn't apply. You aren't "forced" to buy Blu-ray because of additional features any more than you're "forced" to buy a more expensive model of car to get certain features. You have free will. Decide what is and isn't important to you. Weigh your options, then make a decision. If you don't want to spend $100 on a Blu-ray player, then don't.
Enticing people to buy the latest and greatest is hardly new, or unique to DVD/Blu-ray. Marketing has been around for a long, long time.

You also picked titles that were heavily discounted by the studios for the Christmas push. For every BD that is cheaper than the DVD, I can point to 5 which are not.

And in some cases the Studios are giving the retailers a 'rebate' in order to move unsold BD product and/or old catalog titles (Warner is a great example). Studios have no qualms essentially giving away BD titles right now for free/next to nothing if it gets people in the mindset to rebuild their DVD collection with Blu-ray. With all the BD players sold over the Holidays, this is the best way to do it.

Sadly, incorrect. Other studios will watch how well these Flippers sell and if there are any issues with them. If not, expect to see some from other studios in Q3/Q4 (Warner would eat this up). Anything to still package a DVD copy of the film in for 'free' and not allow that consumer to sell/give it away (a lost sale for the studio) is a good thing in their eyes.

I certainly don't have a problem with "enticing" consumers, I think it has more to do with compromising the existing format in order to make the new technology appear more appealing. Examples are less extras and lower-than-usual bit-rates on DVD.

When CDs came out they gave you a few extra tracks that weren't on the record or cassette which is fair enticement of a new technology but they didn't remove anything from the record or cassette that was normally there in order to make the CD more appealing in comparison.

I actually picked them by random off the top of my head, and FYI, these prices are now and Christmas was a month ago. Please do so. And don't forget, I wasn't trying to point out the b-ds were cheaper, just within the same price range. So please show me where a 2-disc special edition dvd is way cheaper than it's blu-ray counterpart with the same features.

Because rebates are still being offered on those titles. They were, and likely will be for a while, loss leaders. Take a look at titles that came out after 12/25:

Extract DVD $19.99 BD 24.99
Jennifers Body DVD 15.99 BD 22.99
Paranormal Activity DVD 15.99 BD 23.99
9 DVD 16.99 BD 22.49
Coming Soon:
Whip It DVD 18.99 BD 27.99
Zombieland DVD 17.99 BD 24.99

Galaxy Quest DVD 12.49 BD 16.99
Number 23 DVD 12.49 BD 17.99
Land of the Dead DVD 8.49 BD 13.49
Chasing Amy DVD 10.49 BD 24.49
Logans Run DVD 5.79 BD 17.99

Did you want more?

Thanks, you just made my point for me as, outside of just a couple titles, the price discrepancy isn't nearly as huge as it used to be.

$6-$10? That's how much it's always been - even back in the HD DVD/BD days.
I'm obviously not going to go through and list the prices for 2,000 BDs.

So let me get this straight.. You are all USED TO the fact that companies do whatever it takes to maximize profits, so you don't feel that anything they do is unethical? WOW!

As for technology advancing, (VHS to DVD, DVD to blu ray, etc.) Don't we live in a free country? Why are we forced to embrace a new technology, whether we want it or not?

As was pointed out by others, you are not "forced" to embrace a new technology. Your DVDs will continue to work in your DVD player and, if it breaks, will also work in a BD player, which can be had for $90. Eventually new DVD releases will start to disappear because more and more people will make the switch to Blu-ray Disc (or VOD) and the market for DVDs will diminish. Just as it did for VHS (and I do recall some gnashing of teeth of VHS fans over that newfangled DVD format). You can wring your hands over the transition to new technology, just as many have done over the switch to digital TV, but that won't make it go away.

To me, it makes sense for the studios to add more features to the better format and put out bare bones releases on the dying format. Why? Fans of extra features tend to be those who adopt new technologies earlier to take advantage of the latest and greatest. You may be an exception to that rule but that doesn't change the general trend. Nor does it have anything to do with "ethics".

I'd suggest buying a BD player and getting over it, but you are "free" to do as you wish; your DVDs will continue to work and new releases on DVD will likely be available for some years to come.

Isn't it interesting that bonus material seems to be a more polarizing point than higher a/v quality in this debate? When we left VHS behind, there were few, if any, bonus features. Typically, they were a music video or a brief featurette that followed the feature. Over the last decade-plus, though, we've become so accustomed to two-disc special editions that behind the scenes features, outtakes, deleted scenes, etc. have become a de facto expectation for the titles in our libraries.

For the most part, I agree with the analogy about not forcing consumers to buy a tricked out model of a car because a less-equipped model is on the market. The problem, though, is that the studios have spent the last thirteen years or so conditioning us to look for, and even expect, all the bells and whistles with DVD's. I'm fine with feature-only rental discs, and I'm okay with Blu-ray exclusive bonus content. But the absence of material on some of the DVD releases we've seen in the last year or so is simply indefensible.

I agree with much of what you wrote but it goes too far. Blu-Ray is already a near-death format, you just haven't realized it. DVD will still be here after Blu-Ray has gone bye-bye. As it is they are already promoting Blu-Ray 3D with reports that some of the discs will not be backward compatible with Blu-Ray players and if they adopt the full format, possibly none will be.

That doesn't make Blu-Ray bad, but comparing Blu-Ray with DVD or VHS is comparing ants with elephants. And when the history books are written on them they won't even get as many pages as the laserdisc format.

Dvds will be around untill the cost of a blu-ray is the same as a dvd. I will buy only blu-ray when that happens, I still buy some dvds.

I'm sorry, but this has to be the funniest thing I have seen posted here lately....if you are really choosing to ignore facts and instead just wish to stick your head in the sand and pretend the numbers lie, then go right ahead....

Well, I'm glad to amuse, but I think you're confusing 'sales' with 'format' ... they aren't the same thing. And the Blu-Ray format is on life-support.

I'm not confusing anything...your "opinion" is simply a misbelief and completely flies in the face of simple facts...you can argue until you are blue in the face that grass is red, but that doesn't change the fact that it is green....

All trend lines with BD point upward (software sales, hardware sales, relative market share)...please explain how this means it is on "life-support" as you claim...

Also, you originally claimed that "when the history books are written BD won't even get as many pages as the laserdisc format"....again, please explain why you honestly believe this when BD is already MUCH bigger, more widely adopted, and way more mainstream than laserdisc ever was even at its height...

Simple, laserdisc was a trailblazing digital format that helped the adoption of the widescreen format while bringing the innovation of special features such as filmmaker commentaries. Blu-Ray has delivered no innovation other than higher resolution. So, when higher resolution is further realized, Blu-Ray will be merely a footnote in home video history.

You CLAIM to understand the difference between "format" and "sales" yet STILL bring forward ONLY SALES RELATED info "software sales, hardware sales, relative market share" so CLEARLY you don't understand the difference or have no idea how to express yourself clearly. Either way, not worth any more of my time.

LD was an analog format.

It started as an analog format and moved to encorporate digital audio. Pioneer brought digital audio to the laserdisc format in 1985.

More here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc

Your argument--and that of everyone else who supports it--ignores one important fact. You cannot un-ring the hi-def bell. People are already acclimating to HD broadcasts, HD sports on TV, HD video games, etc. The format of the future may not wind up being Blu-ray, but I guarantee you it will be HD, whatever it is.

I own a Blu-Ray player and several discs. But this thread is about DVD versus Blu-Ray NOT DVD versus hi-def options and formats (plural) or the future of hi-def. So your argument belongs elsewhere.

But the Blu-Ray group dicked around getting their product released and once released was a cluster-fuck of a poor release. Then there was the format war and now ... tough economic times for gee-wiz stuff to prosper. All of these factors killing Blu-Ray as a format. So, in a nutshell, those of you that think that Blu-Ray is just going to pick up momentum and become some greatly adopted format with a tremendous market share ... are just dreaming. The future is not about products that need to be inventoried and the importance of home theatre as a factor for the 20-somethings is less than it was a decade ago. Sorry if I'm just cutting through the crap ... but why mince words?

Oh, okay. You can champion a standard-def format in the face of the obviously evolving hi-def world because "this thread" isn't about what's going on in the world. Got it.

You're one of those people who pride yourself on "telling it like it is," aren't you? I'll let you in on a little secret: What you think of as "how things are" is nothing more than how you see them to be. Get over yourself.

I hate to share what should be obvious but this is a forum for sharing opinions. If my opinion bothers you or you don't like the way I share it ... welcome to the Internet. However, if you have a different opinion, we're all waiting for you to share its brilliance with us. As for personal advice, I don't remember asking for any ... so maybe you should take your own advice and get over yourself.