The MP3 argument versus downloadable movies isn't a good one. I've been buying CDs since the 90's and I can barely tell the difference in sound quality versus and MP3. Movies you can download from the Xbox 360 are almost all available in High Definition many of them probably won't come out on Blu-ray. I don't read the CD inserts, DVDs don't come with inserts anymore. You're paying for a disc and a case. If I can pay the same price for a permanent copy with the option of downloading it again at no cost if the hard drive goes bust. Then yeah it's no brainer to me.

Why not compare it to Best Buy prices which is the #1 HDM retailer? Without looking at their website, its probably $29.99. The DVD most likely $16-$20.
Then, in 2-3 months, that DVD goes on sale nearly every other week for $9.99-$11.99 while the BD typically remains the same price as before.

And today:

DVD $19.99
BD $29.99

Yes, the Blu-ray was on sale and now No Country on both formats is back to its everyday price. $10 difference.

Still $21.95 at Amazon. Sorry, but I don't buy into your "let's just use Best Buy" argument. Best Buy is notorious for having the highest comparative price on their movies of almost any retailer. People who only buy there without checking elsewhere are getting exactly what they deserve.

You don't have to. Best Buy is the #1 HDM Retailer. I don't buy many discs there, but apparently others do. Ya know, J6P who is going to look at the prices between DVD and Blu-ray when he buys his brand new HDTV in the next 6 months after the hostile digital takeover.

While I respect your opinion, to me MP3 audio is clearly inferior to CD and especially LP. It's VERY easy for me to tell the difference, more so then some HD vs Upconverted signals, but that's me. I am an audiophile. The stylus/needle on my turntable costs 1,500 alone! When people in this forum throw their hands up and say "how can you not tell the difference?" when it comes to BD vs DVD, I do the same thing when people say they can't hear a difference in MP3 audio. While my example may not have been the best, the point I'm trying to make is people shouldn't assume their experiences will be/are the same as others. We all see a difference in PQ, but we aren't the norm. We come to DVDTALK to discuss dvd's. Average consumers do not discuss products at length in forums, they go to the store. I don't think we should assume typical consumers will see/hear what we do when it comes to BD.

Same film, same retailer. I think the comparison is a fair one. What is the price difference like between the two at Amazon?

I do agree that we can't say it is an X dollar difference when that X is calculated just by looking at Best Buy.

My casual observance shows the difference is usually around $7-8. I could be wrong, but that is the impression I have.

Great point, an a true pitfall of many that post here. We are enthusiasts who notice the difference. Most do not. Many of us also seek out the best deals we can find, squeezing every penny, but most do not. This is what makes it hare to capture the mainstream. Hell there are plenty of members here on an enthusiast forum for home video that don't give a damn about BD or about finding deals.

We have to remember not to project our habits as being everyone's habits.

I hate anecdotal evidence as much as the next person here, but I can't help pointing out that my mother moved into a new house last year and didn't notice that her DVD player was unhooked until I pointed it out to her months later. She had been watching movies on VOD through FIOS. I don't think she's atypical.

Anyone who doesn't think VOD will be the way to watch movies at home in 5-10 years lacks some serious perspective.

That doesn't mean that DVD will be dead or that Blu-ray sucks. People still buy CDs but today the preferred experience is not through a CD.

I don't think your mom is atypical either. I am friends with a couple who just recently purchased a new TV. It's 56" inch, I think, 1080p. Anyway, I walk into their new house, see the TV and I immediately notice how poor the picture is compared to my 46" 720p set. I look behind the TV and notice that their recently installed HD cable box is hooked up through coaxial only. And they didn't think their picture would get any better than that!

Yes it is.

For you, presumably?

I haven't bought a CD in several years. Somehow I don't feel like I'm in the minority.

No. For the US and A.



http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...ler-in-us.html

You know what happens when you ass-u-me.

Oh yes . . . paid downloads. Well, that settles that.

CDs rule forever!

Boy, those charts must be SUCH a relief to the embattled music industry. No assumptions in those babies whatsoever!

Etc. Etc.

You might be correct on all counts, but I'm one of those people (in their 40's) who totally welcomes VOD if the quality and price are right. There are so few movies I'd ever want to see more than one time and VOD would really be the ticket.

I'm with you on this one, nearly in age but definitely in spirit, plus I'm one of the (no doubt) many here who had amassed a collection increasingly too large to comfortably watch everything within it a second, third, fourth time, etc. (When I look at forum where people post pictures of their collections, I cringe a little even though I've never displayed mine). A lot of those discs have been sold in recent months, nearly all of it stuff I'd have no problem downloading--some of even temporarily--if I was suddenly desperate to see it again many years from now. There will always be a core collection of actual discs to pick from, but DVD enabled me to own, finally, and cheaply, virtually every title I'd ever "wish-listed" in my mind since I was practically a kid, and test out hundreds of others via rentals. I still buy, but not as often as even a year ago. I still rent as well, because big city indy video stores just can't be topped for selection these days (an unfair advantage, I'm sure, but I certainly couldn't ignore it). Even then, there's still so many movies I haven't seen that I know little about. Downloads will be great for stuff like that, no matter from where it's from or when it was made. If something really sparkles, it might even be worth an upgrade to a disc.

And that's fine. You are describing a rental philosophy, and VOD may be a perfect solution for that business model. But you do understand, I hope, that there are also people who want to own movies, and for us, VOD is a risky proposition, at best.

I would have no problem with a scenario where VOD and Blu-ray co-exist, as long as the movies I want to own are available on disc, and not only on VOD.

Depending on what those movies are--and they'll be different for everyone--I have to wonder if some companies will see the value of putting as much of their libraries on Blu-Ray as they did on standard DVD, especially when a great deal of it could be seen by a wider audience--one already attuned to developing technologies almost from birth--via budget-friendly download methods with all the bugs worked out. Blu-Ray will no doubt be the medium of choice for a lot of key titles, but I can't help but suspect there will be plenty that may never make their bow in the format. As a heretofore "owner" of 1600-and-dropping discs, that makes me sad. But as someone approaching middle age who just wants to see as many movies as this lifetime will allow, downloading might, one day, hold an awful lot of appeal.

etc etc indeed:

http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=8690

Ah yes, there it is again.

". . .all music sold in America"

We'll get there yet.

etc. etc.

So, are you implying that the music and film industries should be factoring in the methods used to pirate their products when determining future distribution channels? They should be doing things to improve the ease and convenience of pirates?

Yes. Piracy is cheap but a lot of times it's a lot easier. When the new Coldplay single came out on iTunes, I went, bought it, and tried to download it. The download "stuck" for over an hour. I tried a lot of different troubleshooting and nothing worked. I basically wasted an hour doing this.

I then downloaded the song via another method and had it in less than 2 minutes.

That's sort of where we are on VOD right now. Sometimes, it can be more convenient to get a movie illegally as opposed to getting it legally. Content providers who are smart will look at how the grey/black market works and have those markets give them information on what the audiences want and how they want this.

If you don't think this is already a reality, I have two words for you: Big Champagne.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make. The discussion has been about where the majority of legitimate transactions occur, and where the film and music industry will be focusing their attention for future legitimate distribution channels (i.e., where they will make more money), not whether piracy exists and is often "easier" than making a legitimate purchase. But Brian T brought piracy into the discussion (twice) for an unexplained reason, so I was trying to understand what that reason was.