THE FUNNY thing about the Blu-ray vs HD DVD war is that, 1. most people would still rather buy a DVD because many of us are perfectly happy with its quality, and that’s probably gonna be true for a few more years, and 2. pretty soon, it will make more sense for a growing number of people to just download high-definition content to their hard drives or stream it rather than buy a disc.
OK, personally I was rooting for HD DVD but it looks like I might have picked the wrong format after Warner Bros. drove a stake into Toshiba’s heart and decided to go exclusively Blu-ray. Toshiba has responded (well, after first canceling their Consumer Electronics Show press conference) by slashing the prices of its HD DVD players. By the way, as my fellow tech journalists and I have discussed time and again, another major factor that would determine the outcome of this latest format war would be: which one will the porn industry support? And according to this article, the adult film industry is still backing HD DVD. (But shouldn’t a blue movie be on Blu-ray? Heh, just kidding.)
Anyway, now that Apple also wants to corner the movie rental business with iTunes, expect movie downloads to become even more mainstream. (Now, if only Apple could make the iTunes store available in the Philippines and the rest of Asia…)
Check out this Reuters video report on Apple’s movie rental service.
I’m a big believer in watching video online (obviously, since I handle our online video service) and an avid fan of services like Joost. Just imagine how far we’ve come — a few years ago, broadcast-quality online video was a pipe dream.
Oh, and speaking of Apple, for the record, I’m drooling over the MacBook Air, the world’s thinnest notebook. Yes, I love Mikaela my (well, until the office changes its mind, heh) MacBook Pro, but damn, just look at the MacBook Air!
January 18th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Not to make a big deal about it, because I only really glanced through your article, but the part about the porn industry is pretty out of date….
Digital Playground is Blu Ray exclusive now….
January 18th, 2008 at 3:00 am
One thing I do agree with… the Macbook Air looks so COOL.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Good grief. Another technology columnist who thinks downloads render the war moot.
It’s simple: If that were the case why hasn’t indemand done away with DVD?
Almost all the reasons you’d come up with for that arguement, work for this too.
- Not everyone is set up for it
- Not everyone is willing to pay for something they can’t keep
- Not everyone thinks the quality is good enough
Maybe I wouldn’t be so cynical if bloggers weren’t so sensationalistic.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Online streaming is nice, but I believe that the most people would rather have a set top box i.e. dvd player than a home media server. Mostly because I believe that if there is still a belief that anything more complicated than email or anything that include ’server’ in its name is tinged with the dark magic. Also I read recently that overseas the ‘Blu-Ray’ only agreement is a bit … fuzzy… as in you can get HD-DVD titles that are listed as blu-ray only in the states. I still expect HD-DVD to win out, but thanks all the same to WB for getting me my player for $130…
January 18th, 2008 at 1:06 am
If you have an HDTV larger than 30″, there is no way you can say that standard DVD quality is just fine compared to Blu-Ray. Now, since a lot of people don’t have 1080p-capable HDTVs, it may not matter to them.
But for people who have them, it matters. There just is no comparison in the picture and audio quality when you watch a standard DVD (even upscaled) compared to a Blu-Ray on an HDTV.