The Economist Article: Sharper image - Who needs Blu-ray or HD DVD anyway? DOA

Doug Jacobs wrote:
In alt.games.video.xbox Paul Murray wrote:


Which was the whole point of the original article, that the majority of
people are using just such TV sets, and so won't see any big improvement
overupscaled DVD. It never said that there was no significant difference,
it said that the majority of people wouldn't be able to see one.


It always amuses me that when someone points out this fact, all the early
adopters feel as if their manhood is being challenged, so they retort with
things like "well, they must be stupid and blind then!"

*sigh*

I wish they'd realize that not everyone is going to buy a wall-sized
HDTV. On a smaller screen from 6-8' away (which is what most people are
going to have) you're going to be REALLY hard pressed to distinguish
between 720p and 1080p, to say nothing of upscaled DVD and Blu-Ray.

Most likely, Blu-Ray will be more like LaserDisk as opposed to becoming
the true next-generation video standard. By the time the vast majority of
the market has switched over to HDTV, making it remotely feasible to drop
DVD altogether, chances are we'll be hearing about some newer format (no,
not downloads!) which will cause the mass market to leap-frog Blu-Ray.

Like LD, the mainstream's decision to ignore the format doesn't mean
they're stupid or blind, nor does it make any of the high-end early
adopters any less of a man.

No, but it does make the "You can't make me, you can't make me!"
arguments ("People can't tell the difference, upconverted DVD still
looks good, all movies are crap anyway, and they're all going to be
downloads in two years until a new format tries to fool us again!") any
less of a psychological tantrum:

Okay, so you "weren't on the front lines" back when DVD took over nine
years ago while your back was turned, and now you want to Fight The
Invader twice as harder this time, to make up for your previous sin of
omission--
Fine, whatever, if that helps the retroactive self-esteem. Just don't
ask the real people to be impressed.

Derek Janssen

ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:

On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:58:15 GMT, Derek Janssen
wrote:


"You can't make me, you can't make me!"

Gilligan's Island... putting on a dress.

(Actually, I was going for first-season Tom Servo, but we take our
cultural-IQ where we can get it...)

Derek Janssen

ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:

On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:58:15 GMT, Derek Janssen
wrote:


Just don't
ask the real people to be impressed.



The Laser Disc crowd, and us early adopters ARE the "real people".

Umm, yes. Thanks for clarifying. 0_o?

(Anyone suspect there may be *more* than one particular language-barrier
that causes DM to only skim over a few choice words in the sentence and
miss the larger context of the entire sentence by a barn fence?...)

Derek Janssen (I'm tellin' ya--The poor English comprehension, the
obsession with one or two learned insults, the French movies on his
list--Adds up, people) 9_9

"ChairmanOfTheBored" wrote in message
...
putting on a dress.

no doubt you are.

In alt.games.video.xbox Derek Janssen wrote:

No, but it does make the "You can't make me, you can't make me!"
arguments ("People can't tell the difference, upconverted DVD still
looks good, all movies are crap anyway, and they're all going to be
downloads in two years until a new format tries to fool us again!") any
less of a psychological tantrum:

That isn't the argument I'm making.

I'm saying that the average consumer isn't going to get excited about
Blu-Ray/HD-DVD because to them, regular DVDs with an upscaler will be
"good enough".

Okay, so you "weren't on the front lines" back when DVD took over nine
years ago while your back was turned, and now you want to Fight The
Invader twice as harder this time, to make up for your previous sin of
omission--

Nine years ago, DVD had hardly taken over. Players were still in the
$400-500 range, and movies like Twister and Fern Gully, with their
horrible, fuzzy transfers were all the rage. It wasn't until one friend
showed me Fifth Element on his computer monitor, and later, another friend
lent me Macross Plus for my new laptop's DVD drive that I was sold on the
technology. I don't think there was any doubt IF I would move over to DVD.
It was just a matter of WHEN.

I would have made the jump to HD once the format war was settled -
something I've always said. However my brother-in-law had other plans and
bought us a PS3 for Christmas. While his assertion that Blu-Ray has won
will probably bear out, we're not buying any Blu-Ray discs until we're
100% sure.

However, I don't expect everyone else to make the jump - even after the
format war has faded into history. The improvement - while visible for us
- just isn't as night and day as others make it seem.

Fine, whatever, if that helps the retroactive self-esteem. Just don't
ask the real people to be impressed.

Pfft. If the "real" people are the idiots on their high horses
poo-poo'ing everyone who doesn't go all-in whenever a new half-baked
technological gadget shows up, I'll gladly remain unreal.

--
It's not broken. It's...advanced.

Doug Jacobs wrote:
In alt.games.video.xbox Derek Janssen wrote:


No, but it does make the "You can't make me, you can't make me!"
arguments ("People can't tell the difference, upconverted DVD still
looks good, all movies are crap anyway, and they're all going to be
downloads in two years until a new format tries to fool us again!") any
less of a psychological tantrum:


That isn't the argument I'm making.

I'm saying that the average consumer isn't going to get excited about
Blu-Ray/HD-DVD because to them, regular DVDs with an upscaler will be
"good enough".

And then the tantrum pleads for love, acceptance, and justification, and
says, "Oh, but it's not about me!..It's the PEOPLE I'm worried about!!!!"

(And within a paragraph, invariably tries to portray The People as
drooling idiots who won't understand Profiles, formats, or buy players
on price, and doom the format to extinction because He Told Us So--Oh,
that noble-minded populism.)

Derek Janssen

In alt.video.dvd Derek Janssen wrote:

(And within a paragraph, invariably tries to portray The People as
drooling idiots who won't understand Profiles, formats, or buy players
on price, and doom the format to extinction because He Told Us So--Oh,
that noble-minded populism.)

Where did I doom the format to extinction? I said it'll be like LD -
loved by some, ignored by most, and quickly abandoned when the next big
thing comes along 7-10 years down the road.

--
It's not broken. It's...advanced.

Doug Jacobs wrote:

In alt.video.dvd Derek Janssen wrote:


(And within a paragraph, invariably tries to portray The People as
drooling idiots who won't understand Profiles, formats, or buy players
on price, and doom the format to extinction because He Told Us So--Oh,
that noble-minded populism.)


Where did I doom the format to extinction? I said it'll be like LD -
loved by some, ignored by most, and quickly abandoned when the next big
thing comes along 7-10 years down the road.

Okay, someone's going to have to refresh my format-history memory:
DID we ever see "Available on VHS and Laserdisk" announced on national
TV movie-video ads, back in the day?

I remember "Available on DVD and Video" [sic], and we've got "Available
on Blu-ray (and) DVD" [parentheses optional depending on pronounciation]--
But I can't recall LD getting the same mainstream recognition of
existence by studio advertising that Blu seems to be getting within a
year of its life, and that *before* the War was Over.

Derek Janssen (one of us, one of us!) ^_^

FDR wrote:

In the end the market is always right. So far the market has given the
technology a big yawn.

No, it's given it a big cold-eyed glare, crossed its arms and tapped its
foot impatiently while waiting for the technology to make up its mind
and tell them which one to buy--

As to that question now being answered pretty much for good and all,
it's only been answered for a month or so...And on that, think we can
both agree on waiting and seeing.
It's just that some of the more experienced have the popcorn out, and
expect to see MORE.

Derek Janssen (Wizard of Oz not till '09?--Who cares, at least Warner's
finally *making* it)

FDR wrote:

Derek Janssen wrote:

FDR wrote:


In the end the market is always right. So far the market has given
the technology a big yawn.


No, it's given it a big cold-eyed glare, crossed its arms and tapped
its foot impatiently while waiting for the technology to make up its
mind and tell them which one to buy--

As to that question now being answered pretty much for good and all,
it's only been answered for a month or so...And on that, think we can
both agree on waiting and seeing.
It's just that some of the more experienced have the popcorn out, and
expect to see MORE.

I wonder if it's even that, about waiting on the formats. One format
could win out and still not gain any considerable market share.

Could, would, shoulda...Isn't wondering fun?

More researched info would have to take activity on the studios' end
into account--
Universal dropping their plans on re-pressing earlier HD titles would be
one thing, but the question is, just how committed IS Warner to
saturating future mainstream interest in that new format they made so
many headlines to adopt?
Mm, not that much:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwocentsa150.html#whv85
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#whvpart

Derek Janssen (when you've got data, wondering's for wimps)