I don't think digital downloads are gonna take over any time soon. Maybe for rental purposes, but not for ownership purposes. Most people that I know want a hard copy of a movie that they buy.

SLightly off topic: Now, what I think would be great, is selling movies not on optical discs, but on flash media of some sort. Eliminates the scratch factor, and is more compact, eliminating the storage space factor (although they'd probably shove it in a box 10x the size of the media anyway. lol)

Wile EI don't think digital downloads are gonna take over any time soon. Maybe for rental purposes, but not for ownership purposes. Most people that I know want a hard copy of a movie that they buy.

SLightly off topic: Now, what I think would be great, is selling movies not on optical discs, but on flash media of some sort. Eliminates the scratch factor, and is more compact, eliminating the storage space factor (although they'd probably shove it in a box 10x the size of the media anyway. lol)

lol, i still think reinventing the VHS would be great, did you ever scratch your VHS tapes? I still have a large VHS collection and some of them are 15 years old and play great still, get that from a DVD that you leave lying around lol

candle_86lol, i still think reinventing the VHS would be great, did you ever scratch your VHS tapes? I still have a large VHS collection and some of them are 15 years old and play great still, get that from a DVD that you leave lying around lol

Yeah, but the more you played a VHS, the more the quality degraded. It's a trade off either way. One format is excessively easy to scratch, while the other actually makes contact and is subject to wearing.

yea but i still prefer VHS any day of the week.

i want HVD to come out soon :) (google it, wikipedia has a good artical on it)

then we can see how quick hd-dbd and bd go away

ChillyMysti want HVD to come out soon :) (google it, wikipedia has a good artical on it)

then we can see how quick hd-dbd and bd go away

in an article written in 2005 the author said optware would be ready for the consumer market by 2007 with a $3000 player. so it is 2008 and no player at all. i have a feeling we will be waiting a few more years for this. and it wont have any impact on bluray because movie studios wont even think about adopting a new format for another 8-9 years. holodiscs may be used for storage however.

Wile ESLightly off topic: Now, what I think would be great, is selling movies not on optical discs, but on flash media of some sort. Eliminates the scratch factor, and is more compact, eliminating the storage space factor (although they'd probably shove it in a box 10x the size of the media anyway. lol)

LOL kinda like the Nintendo DS packaging lol. They make such a big box for such a tiny cartridge.

I think that we will soon be hearing a BIG announcement whether it be good news for HD DVD or it be good news for Blu Ray who knows. But I think that announcements are going to start happening more often for both sides now.

effmasterLOL kinda like the Nintendo DS packaging lol. They make such a big box for such a tiny cartridge.

I think that we will soon be hearing a BIG announcement whether it be good news for HD DVD or it be good news for Blu Ray who knows. But I think that announcements are going to start happening more often for both sides now.

Lol Wal-Mart going Blu-Ray exclusive isn't a big announcement to you? Netflix isn't a big announcement to you? Best buy? Warner? Woolsworth?...

Announcement from BDA:

BDA Praises Wal-Mart On Blu-ray Exclusivity
Posted February 15, 2008 04:25 PM by Josh

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) US Promotions Committee chairman Andy Parsons has released a statement regarding Wal-Mart's announcement that beginning this June they will be exclusively supporting Blu-ray: "Retailers have a tremendous impact on consumer preferences, and as the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart's reach and leadership are unparalleled. Their decision to support only Blu-ray, particularly in light of the string of similar announcements from the content and retail communities over the last six weeks, seems to us to be a very clear statement that Blu-ray Disc has emerged as the format of choice for high definition home entertainment."

The following is a time line released by the BDA to show the impact of Warner Brothers' decision to exclusively support Blu-ray. While it highlights the major moves in the home video industry, it should not be considered complete. Many smaller, but no less important, moves were made during the past six weeks, which readers of this site are familiar with.

1/5: Warner Bros. announces exclusive Blu-ray support

1/28: Gartner announces “HD DVD's price cuts only prolong agony”

1/29: Woolworths, a leading U.K. retailer, announced it would offer exclusive in-store support for Blu-ray beginning in March

1/30: Sonic announced that it will focus its R&D resources on Blu-ray and will conclude sales of its HD DVD authoring product line

1/30: National Geographic announced it will no longer release titles in the HD DVD format

2/11: Netflix announces that, citing a clear signal from the industry, it will only carry Blu-ray Discs and will phase out HD-DVD

2/11: Best Buy announces it will recommend Blu-Ray as the Customer's Digital Format Choice

2/15: Wal-Mart announces that by June 2008, Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores will carry Blu-ray only

www.blu-ray.com

RavenasAnnouncement from BDA:

BDA Praises Wal-Mart On Blu-ray Exclusivity
Posted February 15, 2008 04:25 PM by Josh

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) US Promotions Committee chairman Andy Parsons has released a statement regarding Wal-Mart's announcement that beginning this June they will be exclusively supporting Blu-ray: "Retailers have a tremendous impact on consumer preferences, and as the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart's reach and leadership are unparalleled. Their decision to support only Blu-ray, particularly in light of the string of similar announcements from the content and retail communities over the last six weeks, seems to us to be a very clear statement that Blu-ray Disc has emerged as the format of choice for high definition home entertainment."

The following is a time line released by the BDA to show the impact of Warner Brothers' decision to exclusively support Blu-ray. While it highlights the major moves in the home video industry, it should not be considered complete. Many smaller, but no less important, moves were made during the past six weeks, which readers of this site are familiar with.

1/5: Warner Bros. announces exclusive Blu-ray support

1/28: Gartner announces “HD DVD's price cuts only prolong agony”

1/29: Woolworths, a leading U.K. retailer, announced it would offer exclusive in-store support for Blu-ray beginning in March

1/30: Sonic announced that it will focus its R&D resources on Blu-ray and will conclude sales of its HD DVD authoring product line

1/30: National Geographic announced it will no longer release titles in the HD DVD format

2/11: Netflix announces that, citing a clear signal from the industry, it will only carry Blu-ray Discs and will phase out HD-DVD

2/11: Best Buy announces it will recommend Blu-Ray as the Customer's Digital Format Choice

2/15: Wal-Mart announces that by June 2008, Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores will carry Blu-ray only

www.blu-ray.com

like i said to another poster, the beginning of the end for HD-DVD was when Warner went Blu-Ray exclusive.

:banghead: I detest it when companies drive the market. I understand it, but I still detest it.

thoughtdisorder:banghead: I detest it when companies drive the market. I understand it, but I still detest it.

well, as long as you understand it. we the consumers, made the companies that are driving the decision for the next format. billions of dollars ride on what we the consumer spent on technology years and years ago. this is how an open market works.

RavenasLol Wal-Mart going Blu-Ray exclusive isn't a big announcement to you? Netflix isn't a big announcement to you? Best buy? Warner? Woolsworth?...

Like I said they arent as big as say Toshiba calling it quits or some movie company having a major shift in sides for HD DVD or Blu Ray. And look what it is it looks like Toshiba is giving up the HD DVD format but they have not made an official announcement yet. Its more than likely going to happen but its still not yet official just yet.

effmasterLike I said they arent as big as say Toshiba calling it quits or some movie company having a major shift in sides for HD DVD or Blu Ray. And look what it is it looks like Toshiba is giving up the HD DVD format but they have not made an official announcement yet. Its more than likely going to happen but its still not yet official just yet.

Those are the big announcements, hd-dvd quitting is just the expected announcement.

The expected announcement that HD-DVD will end production will be at 5pm Tokyo time.

RavenasThose are the big announcements, hd-dvd quitting is just the expected announcement.

The expected announcement that HD-DVD will end production will be at 5pm Tokyo time.

Not really.
Toshiba being expected to call it quits this soon was rather unexpected by many people including myself. I hadnt even checked TPU since the morning of the ammouncement and the announcement hadnt even been made that day till sometime in the afternoon or something like that. Dangles had to send me a message while I was playing on Xbox Live to tell me about the announcement. It was an extreme shock for me to hear such a thing, so soon.

Dangles can vouch for me on this. That I was rather speechless and pretty shocked.

effmasterNot really.
Toshiba being expected to call it quits this soon was rather unexpected by many people including myself. I hadnt even checked TPU since the morning of the ammouncement and the announcement hadnt even been made that day till sometime in the afternoon or something like that. Dangles had to send me a message while I was playing on Xbox Live to tell me about the announcement. It was an extreme shock for me to hear such a thing, so soon.

I don't see why you would be shocked...When Wal-Mart, Netflix, Woolsworth, BlockBuster, Target, Warner, all the other exclusive announcements, and the majority of the other major studios when exclusive...It was clearly expected. It would be unexpected for them to keep loosing money and stay with it on a product that currently has maybe 18% of the market.

RavenasI don't see why you would be shocked...When Wal-Mart, Netflix, Woolsworth, BlockBuster, Target, Warner, all the other exclusive announcements, and the majority of the other major studios when exclusive...It was clearly expected. It would be unexpected for them to keep loosing money and stay with it on a product that currently has maybe 18% of the market.

Well Woolsworth doesnt really matter for me since I dont live in the UK and target still sells the HD DVD add on for the 360 so yerah they are still selling HD DVD players Ravenas. Wal Mart yeah that was a bit of a shock to me though. But Toshiba calling it quits before Microsoft does (if they ever do) thats a shock to me.

effmasterWell Woolsworth doesnt really matter for me since I dont live in the UK and target still sells the HD DVD add on for the 360 so yerah they are still selling HD DVD players Ravenas. Wal Mart yeah that was a bit of a shock to me though. But Toshiba calling it quits before Microsoft does (if they ever do) thats a shock to me.

Microsoft is a big company, but they aren't the answer to everything, and they certainly don't have everything their way (proven with Yahoo), like say Wal-Mart. To my knowledge though, Woolsworth is one of the biggest media retailers in the UK.

RavenasMicrosoft is a big company, but they aren't the answer to everything, and they certainly don't have everything their way (proven with Yahoo), like say Wal-Mart. To my knowledge though, Woolsworth is one of the biggest media retailers in the UK.

But im saying with Woolsworths it doesnt affect us since we live in the US. But I desist Toshiba has announced that it is calling it quits now:

www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/19/business/dvd.php