They have a lot more to lose - in fact they lost betamax, minidisc, hdd based mp3 players, well mp3 players (their draconian stupid atrac shit), evilla and all they retained was their pigheadedness ...
This time, it is not just the format, they will lose the PS3 as well into the dead sony standards/gadgets abyss - but this time, it will take the company with it as well.
For two years they have been screwing around with bluray - why not make the damned chips or blocks or whatever them thingamajigs that spew out the blue laser - rivals have taken over and are nowhere to be seen to catch up. Much like their great prognosis about how hdd based players would ever take off a few years back and happily settling down to sell 64mb players for f*ing 200 bucks.
Baseless arrogance must end and sense must prevail, I guess.
PS3 has a lot of promise and potential - Bluray has arguably better technology - my experience with toshiba has not been really stellar either - my first laptop died, my dvd/vcr combo packed up for no reason exactly after 13 months of operation playing 5 dvds wholly at the most, the toshiba tablet wireless malfunctioning after only 2 years of operation - all put together, I am seething with the agony of not knowing which side of the wall the cat is going to jump - and wherever it does - will i like it.
Ah well, ranting relieves the systole/diastole imbalance
Quote:
Originally Posted by icfireball
Blu-ray really is the better technology and the better option. But price is always the bottom line. Sony needs to get the goddamn price of blu-ray players down or their ship will sink and they will loose a HELL of a lot of money just like they did with Betamax.
Well, I could wait no longer and took advantage of your tip. Depending on how you went into the site, you got either the $449 preorder price or $499, and either two free movies or your choice of one plus an aquarium DVD. We'll see what happens with my order!
Blu-ray really is the better technology and the better option. But price is always the bottom line. Sony needs to get the goddamn price of blu-ray players down or their ship will sink and they will loose a HELL of a lot of money just like they did with Betamax.
If we were still using MPEG2 Blu-ray would be the better option. As of today Blu-ray is 5GB shy vs HD DVD on the avg disc, doesn't offer combo media support and still has fledgling interactivity.
Not too impressive. The extra storage of BD50 is pretty useless unless you like extras more than the movie itself. With AVC and VC-1 we simply do not need much extra space beyond 30GB.
Well, I could wait no longer and took advantage of your tip. Depending on how you went into the site, you got either the $449 preorder price or $499, and either two free movies or your choice of one plus an aquarium DVD. We'll see what happens with my order!
Preliminary reports are great on the HD-A2. No hiccups with notoriously tough discs. No lockups...good quality and faster performance.
If we were still using MPEG2 Blu-ray would be the better option. As of today Blu-ray is 5GB shy vs HD DVD on the avg disc, doesn't offer combo media support and still has fledgling interactivity.
Not too impressive. The extra storage of BD50 is pretty useless unless you like extras more than the movie itself. With AVC and VC-1 we simply do not need much extra space beyond 30GB.
One word: Software.
With Blu-Ray, final cut studio can fit on ONE disc. You need two with HD-DVD.
You might say that software is not big enough to matter, but more and more it will. OS systems will get larger, games will get larger, everything gets larger, and you don't want a technology that will only last for a few years only to have another format battle in a few years.
Not to mention that for personal uses, you most likely won't be recording in HD (at least now but we will be more in the future), but you will still want to record the most hours of your home videos on that DVD. The interactivity of blu-ray is said to be much better in terms of capability, response speed, and the extra capacity.
Studios like the option of one disc when it suits their needs but they also realize that consumers are conditioned to think that 2-disc movies are "Premium" Thus even though content fits on one disc that doesn't mean we're not going to see the 2-disc movies.
You are incorrect about things getting larger. The first HD DVD titles hit at 18-20Mbps avg bitrate with VC-1. The newer titles like Batman Begins and other steller titles are now avg about 14Mbps yet the quality has actually "improved". New encoding tools allow the bitrate to shrink while keeping quality.
Toshiba has already announced a slimline HD DVD-R recorder. We expect that CES 2007 will bring half height recorders for PC applications.
The interactivity of Blu-ray is behind the HDi features of HD DVD. HDi had PiP interactivity before BD-J...which promptly caused the BDA to bolt that feature on. There are more titles on HD DVD utilizing HDi (IME, Ucontrol etc).
Again I don't fault you. Most people supporting Blu-ray seem to do so because of common misconceptions. It does look superior on paper but for movie distribution HD DVD is a pretty solid format.
Studios like the option of one disc when it suits their needs but they also realize that consumers are conditioned to think that 2-disc movies are "Premium" Thus even though content fits on one disc that doesn't mean we're not going to see the 2-disc movies.
You are incorrect about things getting larger. The first HD DVD titles hit at 18-20Mbps avg bitrate with VC-1. The newer titles like Batman Begins and other steller titles are now avg about 14Mbps yet the quality has actually "improved". New encoding tools allow the bitrate to shrink while keeping quality.
Toshiba has already announced a slimline HD DVD-R recorder. We expect that CES 2007 will bring half height recorders for PC applications.
The interactivity of Blu-ray is behind the HDi features of HD DVD. HDi had PiP interactivity before BD-J...which promptly caused the BDA to bolt that feature on. There are more titles on HD DVD utilizing HDi (IME, Ucontrol etc).
Again I don't fault you. Most people supporting Blu-ray seem to do so because of common misconceptions. It does look superior on paper but for movie distribution HD DVD is a pretty solid format.
I did not say that movies were getting larger. I said software was getting larger. And sooner or later, movies will get larger when 1080p is not the highest resolution anymore.
Bullshit. If you're playing a game and you have to get up and swap discs every 5 seconds you get fucked off. Period. If you are watching a movie and have to swap discs you get fucked off too. What the fuck are you talking about?
I'm not so sure. We went from 56k modems to cable fairly fast, and I think the cable industry must be thinking that movie downloads can bring in a lot of cash and bury the slower ADSL services at the same time.
Besides, outside of the videophile market, wouldn't everyone just be satisfied with DVD-quality downloads?
Is there a real clamour for HD downloads from the masses?
With the players in this game: Netflix, Tivo, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Big Cable etc., I wouldn't write anything off too quickly.
I dunno. There may not be clamor for HD downloads now, but once you start watching much HD content SD looks pretty mediocre. It's hard to go back.
And what's really interesting is that once you see real HD, Blueray or HDDVD, on a 1080 capable display, you realize that the HD you're getting from cable or satellite is comparatively mediocre.
That is to say, cable or satellite HD is enough to make you never want to watch SD TV again, but a good transfer on HDDVD or Blueray is enough to make you never want to watch a standard DVD again, particularly on a large display.
As it stands, I don't think there is enough difference between an upscaled DVD and cable or satellite HD to make people start demanding HD downloads, but if an HD disc format starts to get some traction I think it will start to change expectations of what a movie is "supposed" to look like, in the same way HD cable and satellite have changed expectations of what TV is "supposed" to look like.
OTOH, I've had clients that were sure they were seeing HD because they were paying Comcast for HD service, even though they had no HD display, or in one case payed for the service, had an HD display, and had it hooked up with a fucking RF cable, so who knows. Maybe everybody is blind.
I'm not so sure. We went from 56k modems to cable fairly fast, and I think the cable industry must be thinking that movie downloads can bring in a lot of cash and bury the slower ADSL services at the same time.
Besides, outside of the videophile market, wouldn't everyone just be satisfied with DVD-quality downloads?
Is there a real clamour for HD downloads from the masses?
With the players in this game: Netflix, Tivo, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Big Cable etc., I wouldn't write anything off too quickly.
The phone companies made a deal with the government that they would build a high-speed multiple-fiber optic cable network in exchange for tax-cuts and exemptions. They got these tax cuts and exemptions but never built the network, and now they are trying to make another deal with the government, to get rid of net neutrality, in order to make customers pay for the network. Europe and Asia already have internet 100 times faster for the same monthly price we pay for 3-5mbs. I don't see the phone companies laying down a good internet infrastructure any time soon. Also, most people would prefer to rent High Definition movies (I'm talking about in the future with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) than buy them at DVD quality through the internet for a few reasons: 1) Cheaper to rent and many people don't actually want to buy the movie, 2) With DVD's the movies are on a Universal medium (once one of the two new formats wins), 3) Internet, speeds take forever to download a movie at near DVD quality, it is faster to drive to the store and rent one. Once integration with computers and the living room is more complete (the next 1-3 years), we have a fast infrastructure for internet and downloading large things can be done at very high speeds (next 2-6 years), and their are online rental options (1-2 years), can we have online movie downloads be successful. So at minimum we are looking at around 2 years and maximum of about 6 years according to my estimations.
The phone companies made a deal with the government that they would build a high-speed multiple-fiber optic cable network in exchange for tax-cuts and exemptions. They got these tax cuts and exemptions but never built the network, and now they are trying to make another deal with the government, to get rid of net neutrality, in order to make customers pay for the network. Europe and Asia already have internet 100 times faster for the same monthly price we pay for 3-5mbs. I don't see the phone companies laying down a good internet infrastructure any time soon. Also, most people would prefer to rent High Definition movies (I'm talking about in the future with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) than buy them at DVD quality through the internet for a few reasons: 1) Cheaper to rent and many people don't actually want to buy the movie, 2) With DVD's the movies are on a Universal medium (once one of the two new formats wins), 3) Internet, speeds take forever to download a movie at near DVD quality, it is faster to drive to the store and rent one. Once integration with computers and the living room is more complete (the next 1-3 years), we have a fast infrastructure for internet and downloading large things can be done at very high speeds (next 2-6 years), and their are online rental options (1-2 years), can we have online movie downloads be successful. So at minimum we are looking at around 2 years and maximum of about 6 years according to my estimations.
and that is absolute goddamn BS! any time i get to call up the internet company or phone company i give them hell.
it's absolute horse crap the kind of monopoly these stupid companies have, its an absolute joke. we have the worst internet and we're in the damn U.S OF A
seriously wtf?? it drives me up the wall when i think about it.
Based on reports of what's circulating through the blogosphere, video consumers are mighty dissatisfied with Blu-ray and gamers are unhappy that PS3 has upped the price of the console by including Blu-ray. Then of course, there's all of those stories about how Sony couldn't meet its production targets. In 2007, when PS3 stocks are plentiful, they'll eat their words.
The few hundred thousand of console units Sony has brought to market in the US and Japan so far have sold out within minutes. The Japanese games market leader believes it will starting biting huge chunks out of the new generation consoles market once it is able to get sufficient supplies into stores.
Meanwhile, an under reported fact is that the biggest selling console on the market last month was not the Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 but the PS2.
According to research group Cymfony, consumers are turning away from Blu-ray, based on research of the sentiments of chatter in thousands of blogs. However, Sony appears unfazed by the Cymfony findings.
There is currently a huge campaign underway from HD DVD advocates to push the standard ahead of Blu-ray. One group, calling itself HD Now Online has created a website calling for petitions to pressure movie studios to get behind HD DVD and move away from Blu-ray.
While hard core gamers may not be pleased that Sony has added to the cost of PS3 consoles by including Blu-ray players, HD DVD advocates are no doubt even more displeased. Sony has created a strategy for getting more Blu-ray players into the hands of consumers within weeks than standalone HD DVD purveyors could do in months to date.
What's more, by leveraging Blu-ray off the games console market, Sony has been able to reduce the cost of Blu-ray players to equivalent prices to that of HD DVD. It's almost a given that PS3 will be the biggest selling Blu-ray player in 2007 and will quite likely outsell all the standalone HD DVD players combined.
Whether Sony succeeds in meeting its target of 6 million PS3 units shipped by March 2007 is really missing the point. As the continued sales of PS2 attests, the consoles race is a long haul business and Sony appears determined to stick it out to the end.
Ya know I hate to say, it but the title does seem very plausible come 2007.
Market analysis firm Cymfony has released a brief research report, "A Blue Christmas for Blu-ray" (available for download with registration) which reports results from combing through more than 17,000 postings in blogs and online discussion boards during October and November 2006. The results? Sony's next-generation Blu-ray technology is awash in negative buzz, as online consumers express skepticism over Sony's ability to deliver a market-defining technology, and express resentment that the PlayStation 3 video game console has been rendered expensive—and hard-to-get—because of the company's decision to include a Blu-ray drive.
According to Cymfony, the reasons online consumers cite for disliking Blu-ray don't match the main points hit in the technology press (those being the cost of Blu-ray players and the "format war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Instead, 26 percent of online posters express a general dislike for the format, citing Sony's history of proprietary formats which fail to capture a marketplace (like BetaMax and MiniDisc, and, it's looking like, Sony's UMD movie discs). Many posters also felt Sony was an "arrogant" company. Another 21 percent of online consumers based their dislike for Blu-ray on Sony's decision to include Blu-ray in the PlayStation 3 gaming console.
Cymfony's analysis found the competing HD DVD format garnered 46 percent more "positive discussions" than Blu-ray. Cympfony also found comparatively few people are talking about Blu-ray's larger storage capacity or wider-ranging interactive features. But Cymfony's data also shows that many online posters haven't made up their mind on either Blu-ray or HD DVD, with over half expressing neutral opinions about the formats (53.1 percent neutral for Blu-ray, 52.8 percent for HD DVD).
Cymfony followed posts on 323 discussion boards and blogs, but found that almost 60 percent of the posts were on only 44 sites. Loosely categorized, Cymfony felt posters were roughly 40 percent videophiles, 19 percent were gamers, and 41 percent expressed themselves on "low volume sites.
Not to say it's right or wrong, but if this is what consumers are saying...
It's obvious to me why Blu Ray, and PS3 is getting bashed initially. It's second out of the gate, and the availability of the PS3 is hard to come by. Frustration with the availability, and price of the format has driven many to jump the gun and buy the other format. Thus when the BR, and PS3 devices become more readily available and more people get them, HD-DVD buyers are looking at possible loosing battle in the future, and a dead end on their initial investment in HD-DVD. Badmouthing it as much as possible (the proof is in this thread) is the best way to turn users, which in turn gains them more advocates to help them back up their investment. I'm not that foolish or impatient, and I still see the greater benefits of the BR format. I can wait til mid 2007.
Comments
This time, it is not just the format, they will lose the PS3 as well into the dead sony standards/gadgets abyss - but this time, it will take the company with it as well.
For two years they have been screwing around with bluray - why not make the damned chips or blocks or whatever them thingamajigs that spew out the blue laser - rivals have taken over and are nowhere to be seen to catch up. Much like their great prognosis about how hdd based players would ever take off a few years back and happily settling down to sell 64mb players for f*ing 200 bucks.
Baseless arrogance must end and sense must prevail, I guess.
PS3 has a lot of promise and potential - Bluray has arguably better technology - my experience with toshiba has not been really stellar either - my first laptop died, my dvd/vcr combo packed up for no reason exactly after 13 months of operation playing 5 dvds wholly at the most, the toshiba tablet wireless malfunctioning after only 2 years of operation - all put together, I am seething with the agony of not knowing which side of the wall the cat is going to jump - and wherever it does - will i like it.
Ah well, ranting relieves the systole/diastole imbalance
Blu-ray really is the better technology and the better option. But price is always the bottom line. Sony needs to get the goddamn price of blu-ray players down or their ship will sink and they will loose a HELL of a lot of money just like they did with Betamax.
The cure....
Well, I could wait no longer and took advantage of your tip. Depending on how you went into the site, you got either the $449 preorder price or $499, and either two free movies or your choice of one plus an aquarium DVD. We'll see what happens with my order!
so at first they hoped on 10million, people were claiming no way
now from the looks of it they might end up shipping over that estimate
Blu-ray really is the better technology and the better option. But price is always the bottom line. Sony needs to get the goddamn price of blu-ray players down or their ship will sink and they will loose a HELL of a lot of money just like they did with Betamax.
If we were still using MPEG2 Blu-ray would be the better option. As of today Blu-ray is 5GB shy vs HD DVD on the avg disc, doesn't offer combo media support and still has fledgling interactivity.
Not too impressive. The extra storage of BD50 is pretty useless unless you like extras more than the movie itself. With AVC and VC-1 we simply do not need much extra space beyond 30GB.
Well, I could wait no longer and took advantage of your tip. Depending on how you went into the site, you got either the $449 preorder price or $499, and either two free movies or your choice of one plus an aquarium DVD. We'll see what happens with my order!
Preliminary reports are great on the HD-A2. No hiccups with notoriously tough discs. No lockups...good quality and faster performance.
If we were still using MPEG2 Blu-ray would be the better option. As of today Blu-ray is 5GB shy vs HD DVD on the avg disc, doesn't offer combo media support and still has fledgling interactivity.
Not too impressive. The extra storage of BD50 is pretty useless unless you like extras more than the movie itself. With AVC and VC-1 we simply do not need much extra space beyond 30GB.
One word: Software.
With Blu-Ray, final cut studio can fit on ONE disc. You need two with HD-DVD.
You might say that software is not big enough to matter, but more and more it will. OS systems will get larger, games will get larger, everything gets larger, and you don't want a technology that will only last for a few years only to have another format battle in a few years.
Not to mention that for personal uses, you most likely won't be recording in HD (at least now but we will be more in the future), but you will still want to record the most hours of your home videos on that DVD. The interactivity of blu-ray is said to be much better in terms of capability, response speed, and the extra capacity.
Reds
Mission Impossible III
World Trade Center
Studios like the option of one disc when it suits their needs but they also realize that consumers are conditioned to think that 2-disc movies are "Premium" Thus even though content fits on one disc that doesn't mean we're not going to see the 2-disc movies.
You are incorrect about things getting larger. The first HD DVD titles hit at 18-20Mbps avg bitrate with VC-1. The newer titles like Batman Begins and other steller titles are now avg about 14Mbps yet the quality has actually "improved". New encoding tools allow the bitrate to shrink while keeping quality.
Toshiba has already announced a slimline HD DVD-R recorder. We expect that CES 2007 will bring half height recorders for PC applications.
The interactivity of Blu-ray is behind the HDi features of HD DVD. HDi had PiP interactivity before BD-J...which promptly caused the BDA to bolt that feature on. There are more titles on HD DVD utilizing HDi (IME, Ucontrol etc).
Again I don't fault you. Most people supporting Blu-ray seem to do so because of common misconceptions. It does look superior on paper but for movie distribution HD DVD is a pretty solid format.
Paramount has three 2-disc titles
Reds
Mission Impossible III
World Trade Center
Studios like the option of one disc when it suits their needs but they also realize that consumers are conditioned to think that 2-disc movies are "Premium" Thus even though content fits on one disc that doesn't mean we're not going to see the 2-disc movies.
You are incorrect about things getting larger. The first HD DVD titles hit at 18-20Mbps avg bitrate with VC-1. The newer titles like Batman Begins and other steller titles are now avg about 14Mbps yet the quality has actually "improved". New encoding tools allow the bitrate to shrink while keeping quality.
Toshiba has already announced a slimline HD DVD-R recorder. We expect that CES 2007 will bring half height recorders for PC applications.
The interactivity of Blu-ray is behind the HDi features of HD DVD. HDi had PiP interactivity before BD-J...which promptly caused the BDA to bolt that feature on. There are more titles on HD DVD utilizing HDi (IME, Ucontrol etc).
Again I don't fault you. Most people supporting Blu-ray seem to do so because of common misconceptions. It does look superior on paper but for movie distribution HD DVD is a pretty solid format.
I did not say that movies were getting larger. I said software was getting larger. And sooner or later, movies will get larger when 1080p is not the highest resolution anymore.
I think Sony should give up on the 100-200GB fantasy. Consumers don't care if there are a couple of discs in the package.
Should be an interesting 2007. Can Sony mount a fierce comeback? Stay tuned at 11
We'll be downloading those movies. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray max out at 1080.
I think Sony should give up on the 100-200GB fantasy. Consumers don't care if there are a couple of discs in the package.
Should be an interesting 2007. Can Sony mount a fierce comeback? Stay tuned at 11
Ha! We won't be downloading ANYTHING HD soon. That will take a few years with the shitty internet infrastructure and bandwidth in the US.
What the fuck are you talking about?
You first.
Ha! We won't be downloading ANYTHING HD soon.
I'm not so sure. We went from 56k modems to cable fairly fast, and I think the cable industry must be thinking that movie downloads can bring in a lot of cash and bury the slower ADSL services at the same time.
Besides, outside of the videophile market, wouldn't everyone just be satisfied with DVD-quality downloads?
Is there a real clamour for HD downloads from the masses?
With the players in this game: Netflix, Tivo, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Big Cable etc., I wouldn't write anything off too quickly.
And what's really interesting is that once you see real HD, Blueray or HDDVD, on a 1080 capable display, you realize that the HD you're getting from cable or satellite is comparatively mediocre.
That is to say, cable or satellite HD is enough to make you never want to watch SD TV again, but a good transfer on HDDVD or Blueray is enough to make you never want to watch a standard DVD again, particularly on a large display.
As it stands, I don't think there is enough difference between an upscaled DVD and cable or satellite HD to make people start demanding HD downloads, but if an HD disc format starts to get some traction I think it will start to change expectations of what a movie is "supposed" to look like, in the same way HD cable and satellite have changed expectations of what TV is "supposed" to look like.
OTOH, I've had clients that were sure they were seeing HD because they were paying Comcast for HD service, even though they had no HD display, or in one case payed for the service, had an HD display, and had it hooked up with a fucking RF cable, so who knows. Maybe everybody is blind.
I'm not so sure. We went from 56k modems to cable fairly fast, and I think the cable industry must be thinking that movie downloads can bring in a lot of cash and bury the slower ADSL services at the same time.
Besides, outside of the videophile market, wouldn't everyone just be satisfied with DVD-quality downloads?
Is there a real clamour for HD downloads from the masses?
With the players in this game: Netflix, Tivo, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Big Cable etc., I wouldn't write anything off too quickly.
The phone companies made a deal with the government that they would build a high-speed multiple-fiber optic cable network in exchange for tax-cuts and exemptions. They got these tax cuts and exemptions but never built the network, and now they are trying to make another deal with the government, to get rid of net neutrality, in order to make customers pay for the network. Europe and Asia already have internet 100 times faster for the same monthly price we pay for 3-5mbs. I don't see the phone companies laying down a good internet infrastructure any time soon. Also, most people would prefer to rent High Definition movies (I'm talking about in the future with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) than buy them at DVD quality through the internet for a few reasons: 1) Cheaper to rent and many people don't actually want to buy the movie, 2) With DVD's the movies are on a Universal medium (once one of the two new formats wins), 3) Internet, speeds take forever to download a movie at near DVD quality, it is faster to drive to the store and rent one. Once integration with computers and the living room is more complete (the next 1-3 years), we have a fast infrastructure for internet and downloading large things can be done at very high speeds (next 2-6 years), and their are online rental options (1-2 years), can we have online movie downloads be successful. So at minimum we are looking at around 2 years and maximum of about 6 years according to my estimations.
The phone companies made a deal with the government that they would build a high-speed multiple-fiber optic cable network in exchange for tax-cuts and exemptions. They got these tax cuts and exemptions but never built the network, and now they are trying to make another deal with the government, to get rid of net neutrality, in order to make customers pay for the network. Europe and Asia already have internet 100 times faster for the same monthly price we pay for 3-5mbs. I don't see the phone companies laying down a good internet infrastructure any time soon. Also, most people would prefer to rent High Definition movies (I'm talking about in the future with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) than buy them at DVD quality through the internet for a few reasons: 1) Cheaper to rent and many people don't actually want to buy the movie, 2) With DVD's the movies are on a Universal medium (once one of the two new formats wins), 3) Internet, speeds take forever to download a movie at near DVD quality, it is faster to drive to the store and rent one. Once integration with computers and the living room is more complete (the next 1-3 years), we have a fast infrastructure for internet and downloading large things can be done at very high speeds (next 2-6 years), and their are online rental options (1-2 years), can we have online movie downloads be successful. So at minimum we are looking at around 2 years and maximum of about 6 years according to my estimations.
and that is absolute goddamn BS! any time i get to call up the internet company or phone company i give them hell.
it's absolute horse crap the kind of monopoly these stupid companies have, its an absolute joke. we have the worst internet and we're in the damn U.S OF A
seriously wtf?? it drives me up the wall when i think about it.
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7907/1023/
Based on reports of what's circulating through the blogosphere, video consumers are mighty dissatisfied with Blu-ray and gamers are unhappy that PS3 has upped the price of the console by including Blu-ray. Then of course, there's all of those stories about how Sony couldn't meet its production targets. In 2007, when PS3 stocks are plentiful, they'll eat their words.
The few hundred thousand of console units Sony has brought to market in the US and Japan so far have sold out within minutes. The Japanese games market leader believes it will starting biting huge chunks out of the new generation consoles market once it is able to get sufficient supplies into stores.
Meanwhile, an under reported fact is that the biggest selling console on the market last month was not the Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 but the PS2.
According to research group Cymfony, consumers are turning away from Blu-ray, based on research of the sentiments of chatter in thousands of blogs. However, Sony appears unfazed by the Cymfony findings.
There is currently a huge campaign underway from HD DVD advocates to push the standard ahead of Blu-ray. One group, calling itself HD Now Online has created a website calling for petitions to pressure movie studios to get behind HD DVD and move away from Blu-ray.
While hard core gamers may not be pleased that Sony has added to the cost of PS3 consoles by including Blu-ray players, HD DVD advocates are no doubt even more displeased. Sony has created a strategy for getting more Blu-ray players into the hands of consumers within weeks than standalone HD DVD purveyors could do in months to date.
What's more, by leveraging Blu-ray off the games console market, Sony has been able to reduce the cost of Blu-ray players to equivalent prices to that of HD DVD. It's almost a given that PS3 will be the biggest selling Blu-ray player in 2007 and will quite likely outsell all the standalone HD DVD players combined.
Whether Sony succeeds in meeting its target of 6 million PS3 units shipped by March 2007 is really missing the point. As the continued sales of PS2 attests, the consoles race is a long haul business and Sony appears determined to stick it out to the end.
Ya know I hate to say, it but the title does seem very plausible come 2007.
Market analysis firm Cymfony has released a brief research report, "A Blue Christmas for Blu-ray" (available for download with registration) which reports results from combing through more than 17,000 postings in blogs and online discussion boards during October and November 2006. The results? Sony's next-generation Blu-ray technology is awash in negative buzz, as online consumers express skepticism over Sony's ability to deliver a market-defining technology, and express resentment that the PlayStation 3 video game console has been rendered expensive—and hard-to-get—because of the company's decision to include a Blu-ray drive.
According to Cymfony, the reasons online consumers cite for disliking Blu-ray don't match the main points hit in the technology press (those being the cost of Blu-ray players and the "format war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Instead, 26 percent of online posters express a general dislike for the format, citing Sony's history of proprietary formats which fail to capture a marketplace (like BetaMax and MiniDisc, and, it's looking like, Sony's UMD movie discs). Many posters also felt Sony was an "arrogant" company. Another 21 percent of online consumers based their dislike for Blu-ray on Sony's decision to include Blu-ray in the PlayStation 3 gaming console.
Cymfony's analysis found the competing HD DVD format garnered 46 percent more "positive discussions" than Blu-ray. Cympfony also found comparatively few people are talking about Blu-ray's larger storage capacity or wider-ranging interactive features. But Cymfony's data also shows that many online posters haven't made up their mind on either Blu-ray or HD DVD, with over half expressing neutral opinions about the formats (53.1 percent neutral for Blu-ray, 52.8 percent for HD DVD).
Cymfony followed posts on 323 discussion boards and blogs, but found that almost 60 percent of the posts were on only 44 sites. Loosely categorized, Cymfony felt posters were roughly 40 percent videophiles, 19 percent were gamers, and 41 percent expressed themselves on "low volume sites.
Not to say it's right or wrong, but if this is what consumers are saying...