HD-DVD’s Death Is Imminent and No One wins!
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Ntas in Home Entertainment, Media |
Reports suggests that Toshiba is about to wave the white flag in the coming weeks. Thus the high definition video format wars are almost over. Yes, I said almost over. Why? Because when the plug is pulled on the HD-DVD format Blue-Ray DVD’s victory parade is going to be short-lived. The inevitable real threat is downloadable online high definition media. Period.
Just to rewind a little, this has been branded as a “death watch” of Toshiba’s HD-DVD format since the high definition format wars began. Another Betamax in disguise it has been said. The battle between the Sony backed format, Blue-Ray DVD and the Toshiba backed format, HD-DVD had the industry on hold. Consumers and media companies just stood by and watch as they decide who to invest in. HD-DVD lost alot of love; Woolworth’s (Uk), NetFlix, Best Buy,Walmart (US), Warner Bros and others drop HD-DVD and opt for Blue-Ray which then the sales numbers have backed that.
As Bill Gates noted, these formats are the last of their kind as the dominant video distribution media will be online. Service providers such as ComCast have been working on the technology that enables fast online downloads of Hi Def video. Once that technology is readily available (it will be very soon), studios, video rental companies (Blockbusters, LoveFilm, NetFlix) and consumers will stop investing money in Blue-Ray DVDs. With computers storage getting cheaper and being measured in Terabytes, advances in flash drive technology and PVR’s (TiVo, Sky+) and improved hi speed broadband Internet, the days of DVD formats are leaving us fast.
Why do you think Blockbusters, and all are investing heavily online and closed most of their retail space? You can now watch a hi definition movie on AppleTV on the cheap and you ask yourself why would I invest in an expensive Blue-Ray player and its DVD’s. Why have PC manufacturers been reluctant to get Blue-Ray onboard like Hollywood? Blue-Ray might have won but its victory is not really a success.
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