Blu-Ray - Has It Really Won?
By: John Vinson
The day that HD-DVD officially “died”, didn’t quite have the “Where were you that day?” feel like other tragedies tend to bring about. It was on that day that Blu-Ray would become the official HD movie format. But just because they are the exclusive format, does that mean it’s going to be successful?
Going by current numbers, the HD movie market isn’t doing all that great. People are still mainly investing in standard definition DVD, and haven’t moved on yet. HDTV sales are slowly chugging along, as most of the general public just haven’t invested.
I believe that one cause for the apprehension among people, is just how fast HD technology is moving along. A reason unseen by people for the lack of interest in HD technology is how long it takes before something newer and better is released. The leaps in technology in the past, have taken alot longer to occur than in recent years. By the end of this year, there will be 3 different versions of Blu-Ray players that can be purchased. One version let’s you view the movie as most people have come to know. Another version let’s you view the movie with picture-in-picture special features. While another version that is slated to release soon will offer online compatibility with their movies. Or you could bypass all these options and buy a PS3 which can do it all.
With all these different versions, most people are just leaving it alone and sticking with standard definition. The #1 thing that you can do to upset and turn away consumers is by confusing them with the technology that you’re selling. The majority of the wealth in the country is owned by the “baby boomer” generation, and I’d almost guarantee that half or more couldn’t tell you that Blu-Ray has different hardware versions. So for everyone’s sake that invested in HD technology, let’s hope that Sony and other manufacturers cant turn it around and make the consumer aware of the greatness that is HD.