Toshiba have just given the official world... HD DVD is dead.
Hopefully this will mean that with the end of confusing format wars, that the uptake of Blu-ray over DVD will increase dramatically. I can certainly say, that after watching the fantastic Ratatouille on Blu-ray last weekend, that this is the future of home cinema.
Film watched:
Paprika
A visual feast for the eyes, but an utter mess.
6/10
6 comments:
Finally! Stupid war anyway.
Personally I don't think pre-mastered physical disks of any kind are the ultimate future, but they'll do for a while until digital distribution works better. I won't be happy until I can just pull up my virtual library, pick a film and start watching no silly fumbling about looking for a disc. Oh, if I can do it via gloves with glowing finger tips, that'll be good too ;)
I still don't see digital distribution taking off for films in the near future, maybe in 10-15 years or so, but not for some time. After all, with music sales, still 3/4 of music sold is still on CD as oppose to digital downloads, and movie files are massive by comparison (well HD files anyway).
For now, Blu-ray is just the step up needed for HD film.
BTW where have you seen those glowing finger tip gloves? They sound like fun :)
I think 10-15 is way too long - just think of where the Internet was 10 years ago, it's completely changed. Online music _sales_ are below CDs because of the stifling effect of DRM - much more music is shared online than gets sold as CDs though. People want to do it, it's just the old stalwarts that have stopped it happening legally. If they'd put a service in that people wanted at the start they wouldn't have had the problem.
I already download DVDs now and then (legally of course) and our home internet speeds are absolutely atrocious locally thanks to the local infrastructure monopoly. In terms of storage, 20Gb isn't unthinkably big now, and it'll be nothing in 5 years. On an 8Mb connection, which is very common in the UK already, that's a 5.5 hour download. Once it gets below an hour it'll be attractive, and that's not more than 5 years away. Except in Guernsey of course. Bloody C&W.
I still think that you've got your techno blinkers on.
Your average Joe on the street will still prefer a physical media, and trust me, there are a lot of Joe's out there. I think that because you are so are ease with computers and technology that you fotget sometimes that people want life to be simple, and really there is nothing quite so simple as putting in a disk and turning on the TV.
I still think that 10-15 years is a fair estimate, but then again I could be proven wrong!
BTW, I couldn't agree more with you about home internet speeds and C&W!
And I think you've got your 'film collector' glasses on :) The millions of people who subscribe to satellite and cable TV don't seem to mind not having a disc, except for the few titles they want to collect, and what if they could just watch whatever they wanted whenever? Personally I'd rather pay a small fee for watching most films on demand than paying a currently outrageous price for a HD disc - but that's because I don't tend to re-watch many films.
We should have a bet - although the definition of 'success' is quite difficult. I think there's a high chance that a good portion of the market, particularly the people who bought Tivos and HD sets early, will be downloads in 5 years.
Fair comment about Sky subscribers - but then again they've been around for years and yet still VHS and DVD has sold very well!
As much as I'd like to place a bet, I'm not the betting kind (even though I could probably make some money off the Oscars).
I think, like many things, we'll have to agree to disagree and see how things unfold over the next few years.
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