Most People Just Not That Into Blu-Ray
December 2nd, 2008 by K. T. Bradford
Looks like even though consumers can get a Blu-ray player for less than $200 this holiday season, most of them probably won’t upgrade from their DVD players. Reasons include the high cost of Blu-ray discs and upgrading to an HD television, which is the only thing that makes getting a Blu-ray player worth it. Still, as John at BoingBoing Gadgets points out, even those with HD sets aren’t necessarily going to jump on Blu-ray. Physical media is “positively antediluvian”, in his view, and streaming television (and, I assume, movies) are what will win out in the end.
That may miff Blu-ray supporters a bit, especially considering that the format was backed in part because of its DRM capabilities. But visual media companies are learning what music companies are really close to understanding: consumers don’t care about what is best for content providers, they care about what is best for them. Selfish, perhaps, but a lot of people have made a lot of money over the years giving consumers what they want. The rise of HD downloads heralds the future John predicts; one without physical media, no matter how much data it holds.
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December 3rd, 2008 at 2:11 am
So when can I (and everyone else for that matter) download a 1080p movie instantaneously? I want to watch The Dark Knight in HD at my girlfriend’s house. How can I download the movie and then bring it over to her house? Sure *true* HD movie download will become reality and practical one day, but don’t hold your breath.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
I don’t know when that will be a reality, but I wouldn’t discount it as a possibility. True, a lot of things needs to be in place for that to happen, but with Netflix and now Amazon offering high definition right to your TV, I’m not so sure that 1080p is so far in the future as you think.
Another factor to this is: how many people actually care about 1080p? One reason why people aren’t spending money on Blu-ray is that they don’t see a need. DVDs look nice. If you have a good TV, everything looks pretty nice. If you have a crappy TV, then Blu-ray is useless. Don’t have enough to buy a better TV? then you sure don’t have enough to buy Blu-ray.
By the time the majority of consumers get to the point where HD is affordable, steaming/downloading HD will be very easy. Convergence is our friend in this case.