To be accurate, DVD sales growth has peaked. Sales are still through the roof. Retailers and studios would like to find another revenue stream, but they are not going to screw with the golden egg to make it happen.

No one "hopes" that Blu-ray is a huge failure. Most of us are just pointing out that it is certainly not the success everyone assumed it would be. Most consumers don't care about it at all. That isn't something to be happy about. DVDs had a lot more interest when first released, mostly because people could see a difference and were already used to the advantages of CDs.

And I'm not going to let you off the hook: how is Toshiba doing "whatever it takes" to make the industry fail? You do realize that all it would have taken to make HD DVD the winner is for Warner to pick that side instead, right? This thing boiled down to a coin flip.

And the coin landed on the wrong side, in my opinion. Toshiba had the player prices down to a level where average people were starting to buy them. The Warner decision effectively killed HD DVD, but we've got probably another year or more before Blu-Ray player prices get that low, postponing the possiblity of mass adoption even further down the road.

Jeff Bewkes didn't have to flip a coin, he got exactly what he wanted.

That comment is just plain ignorant.
At this point, I seriously doubt that many consumers, who want Hi-Definition, want Blu-Ray to fail.
This "us vs. them" mentality has gotten ridiculous!

Thats the thing here...lately Hollywood has been putting out substandard stuff IMHO.

Honestly, 95% of what has been in theaters in the last 2-3 years, I have no interest in owning or ever seeing again. Did I enjoy some things? Sure I did. But I no longer have interest in owning them.

The things I like to own now, I consider "comfort food" movies. Campy films like Flash Gordon, Raw Deal, and some of the sci-fi classics.

So if Blu Ray or HDM is focusing on new releases, honestly I'm not interested in it until players get down in price. The price of media I could care less about because I won't be buying it, just renting it or even gasp! going to the theater which is a nice activity for me and the significant other.

Well, back on topic, I will be cancelling my Netflix account next Monday (just before my next billing date). I had been waiting FOREVER to get Eastern Promises on HD. Switched to Blockbuster on Monday and it'll be in my mailbox (from BB) when I get home today.

So long Netflix and thanks for stringing me along...

Agreed.

In December, prior to the Warner announcement, Blu-ray standalone players outsold HD DVD players.

Yup.

And I'm laughing at you people that say DVD has 5 years of viability left. You folks are so far out of touch with your average person.

I guess my Grandma is going to be watching downconverted Blu-rays in 5 years on her console TV, then? And what about the 90% of people I know without HDTVs even? You folks really think DVD will be becoming extinct in 5 years?

While that may be true, it has nothing to do with what I posted. Warner's position on choosing a side was to kill the opposing format to drive mass adoption of HD discs. I don't see how such a strategy is helped by picking the side with significantly more expensive players.

I have no problem with Blu-Ray. I want to buy a player; they're just too expensive for me to consider at this point. So, with decisions like Netflix's, I am starting to be completely shut-out of enjoying HD media.

Thanks for the tip, sbelli. I will now be marching in that direction.

It had to do with what you posted in that you said that Toshiba's prices were where average people were starting to buy them. Yet more people (average? above average?) in December bought Blu-ray players, not even counting all the PS3s purchased for Blu-ray use. Regardless of the higher price of Blu-ray players, more people were buying them in December and still are.

Well, yes and no. Last year, not only was the growth rate of DVD down quite a bit, but actual revenue (not just revenue growth) from sales and rentals was also down 3%, which is a first since the format's inception. Also, the number of homes with DVD players only increased by about 2 million, which is a lower number than the format has seen in several years.

According to what I've read, this decline is due to a shift in consumer spending, with more people choosing to rent than to buy DVDs, as compared with previous years. And this, I think, is what is of most concern to the studios. When DVD hit it big, the shift from renting to buying was huge, unheard of before in the video industry. Now the studios want to try to keep that sell-through revenue invigorated, and is appears that they don't believe they can do that with DVD any longer.

Here is a good article on the decline:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/...slippage_N.htm

I have no idea why you quoted QuePaso and addressed the consumers when his paragraph was about the industry and Toshiba.

Pro-B

I could be wrong, but I thought he was talking about people in this thread (consumers) as well as Toshiba.

I believe you are because his only comments were in regard to the industry and specs/profiles. Yet, somehow a number of people tagged his post "ridiculous" even though he never said that it was the consumer that wanted BR to fail.

It is pretty obvious.

Pro-B

Sorry, but I must've somehow missed how "So good luck hoping Blu-Ray is a huge failure" was obviously directed at the "the industry."

Well, Blockbuster does have a distribution center in Portland. Just got two HDM movies that were on the Netflix long wait list for over a month. SWEET!

It wasn't. But it wasn't directed at consumers in general, either. It was directed at the more bitter HD DVD advocates (not just here, I'm sure, but on other forums as well), who have expressed a desire to see Blu-ray fail, just to spite Sony for having the audacity to want to succeed. There is a surprising willingness on display (from some HD DVD people, but certainly not all, or even a majority) to cut off their noses to spite their faces.

But for the record, I do think that the statement itself was a bit bitter, which is a shame. Bitterness has a tendency to rub off and spread, and we've seen much too much of it recently (I've been guilty of it myself, which really annoys me).

My feelings exactly!
That's why I said "This "us vs. them" mentality has gotten ridiculous!"

I remember when DVDTalk was about talking about all aspects of film and DVDs, exchanging movies, and sharing great deals with others.
Somehow it's gotten to the point where, for a lot of people here, that's not really the focus anymore, and that's a damn shame!

Thats what my was for. I don't like this whole my team vs. your team, gloating and bitterness.

Perhaps we are a bit too sensitive to critizism here. But at the same time, some of us are a bit too quick to jump to defense. I mean come on Pro-B, "specs/profiles" aren't even mentioned or alluded to in QuePaso's post.

That's the point

I went back to see why he quoted him and addressed "consumers" as I thought that perhaps it was a line of thought QuePaso followed on. To my surprise none of the previous posts he produced on 2/12 were related to the criticism, he talked about profiles and compatibility. His only post on the 2/13 was about Toshiba/industry.

Pro-B

Does anybody have an actual list of Blockbuster centers? Their site states 39 total, but I couldn't find a list.

The last time I was with them, they didn't have one in Wisconsin and discs took upwards of 3 days to get to me.