If you have an older TV or HDTV or monitor you are screwed!

[Dimwhit]

Oh crud. I hope they release movies both in the new HD discs, and regular DVDs, at least until the format war is settled. I'd hate to have some favorite movies released in the losing format, and never being able to watch them.

They will, likely for quite some time. Just like they've been releasing on DVD and VHS at the same time.

The big loser here will likely be VHS. They're already being fazed out, but they should be gone for good very soon. Good riddance.

 

[Sir Brennen]

They will, likely for quite some time. Just like they've been releasing on DVD and VHS at the same time.

The big loser here will likely be VHS. They're already being fazed out, but they should be gone for good very soon. Good riddance.

Yep... With DVD players being sold for 20 to 40 dollars, just about everyone has them. Of course, I bought one for my parents a couple of years ago, but then they had to upgrade their television, because it was so old, it didn't have proper inputs (not even standard RCA )

 

[ThirdWizard]

The real loser is Beta.

 

[Orius]

DIVX was a big example of the failure of having to purchase the rights to unlimited view a media you'd already bought at retail.
[snip]
It bombed, horribly. People weren't willing to buy such a heavily restricted media, and the more open and less secure DVD format took off by comparison. The format was terminated, and the servers kept open for a year or so for the use of current DIVX owners, before they were shut down and the discs obsolete.

DIVX was such a retarded idea. If someone wanted to pay only $4 to watch a movie once or twice, well we already had it. It's called Blockbuster. The whole reason people bought copies of videos in the heyday of VHS was so that they could watch the programs whenever they wanted. I think the mental defectives that came up with the idea of DIVX failed to recognize that simple fact. Either that, or the industry just wanted a way to make lots of money, but since they can't force consumers to buy anything, it failed.

 

[Orius]

They are losing control, that's their problem, because their whole business model is based on control. There are a million studies about whether or not the industry is losing money, but money has _never_ been the problem, that's just a curtain to avoid the actual problem.

I agree completely. The entertainment industry is afraid of evolving technology because it's making them obsolete. They don't want to change anything, so they're trying to block the changes. It's easier for them to keep shoveling the same crap over and over than take a risk to support something fresh and new. To some degree, piracy does cut into sales, but they're in denail about the fact that many consumers think the music and movies they're pushing is total crap.

There are problems with piracy, but it's somewhat overblown by the industry, and some of the countries where piracy is rampant don't give a damn about copyright laws in the first place, so legislation generally makes things more difficult for consumers rather than stopping piracy anyway.

 

[Orius]

Oh crud. I hope they release movies both in the new HD discs, and regular DVDs, at least until the format war is settled. I'd hate to have some favorite movies released in the losing format, and never being able to watch them.

I'm sure they'll eventually be released on the winnign format, I'm sure the same thing happened when Betamax tanked.

 

[Orius]

The big loser here will likely be VHS. They're already being fazed out, but they should be gone for good very soon. Good riddance.

Good riddance? Granted VHS is limited when compared to DVD, but I suppose I'll miss it to some degree when it goes.

 

[MaxKaladin]

You know, I don't want "on demand". I want portable. I don't want to be dependant on being connected to someone's network or server or anything like that. I don't want to have to worry about registering computers. I don't want to have to own special technology like this "blue ray" needs. I don't want to have to jump through any hoops to be able to use what I've paid for. I want to be able to move it around without hassle. I want to watch movies on portable devices. I want to take my mp3s to work and have them in an mp3 player and I don't want to have to go though a bunch of extra steps to do it.

I know "the industry" doesn't want this. They want to restrict as much as possible and to suck the maximum money out of everyone. They want to control everything. I think they fantasize about a day when they can charge for every viewing by the viewer with extra charges for pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding. I'm sure they'll keep pushing at it until the day (hopefully soon) that people have had enough and won't take any more. Frankly, I think they can go jump in a lake. I want convenience and I'm not going to sign on until I have no other legal way of obtaining media. I'm annoyed enough about not being able to fast forward past previews on DVDs now and I'm certainly not going to buy anything that further restricts my ability to use what I've paid for until I have no other choice.

 

[Wolf72]

The real loser is Beta.

what about laser disc

 

[ThirdWizard]

what about laser disc

That had Dragon's Lair, which makes it a winner in my book.