The Perks of changing one’s mind…
Originally, I was putting together a quick entry. I was going to just go all over the place, talking about different things that are going on, just for fun.
A little scan this afternoon to one of my favourite guilty pleasures, the High Def Digest forum as well as the Blu-Ray.com forums reminded me that even 4 years after the introduction of Blu Ray as a suitor to become the next generation optical disc format the people who have already bought into it still find themselves arguing over the same points again and again, most of the time to redundant, but oddly entertaining effect.
Considering I’ve spent the past few years amassing my own modest high definition film collection I also have some definite opinions on these issues.
So inspired by the almost inexplicable passion of these folks I decided to run these things down from my obviously humble perspective.
I expect a few of these might go on for a bit, so I’ll probably break them up into their own postings for length considerations.
Argument #1
Is Blu Ray mainstream?
This topic actually still comes up on a regular basis. So pervasive is this debate that it tends to creep into… well, virtually every conversation discussing the success or failure of the format, no matter the angle the original threads started on.
The biggest reason as far as I can tell for the lack of a consensus is simply the fact that nobody can agree on what exactly constitutes “mainstream.”
For my money mainstream is simply defined as the point in which their is some level of recognition by the “average” consumer. Average in this case meaning those pretty far removed from the “early adopter” phase that just had to have the latest and greatest digital picture, but who still went out and took the opportunity to buy an HDTV at some point in the last few years.
Even those that have refrained from making this purchase however will have a tough time suggesting that they have completely managed to avoid seeing those little blue boxes in electronic stores, places like Walmart and especially ones like Best Buy where the growing Blu Ray section is actually something you have to by-pass in order to reach the DVDs.
Those who counter this view are those that keep themselves occupied with the percentages, specifically the percentage of people who own players versus where DVD was at this stage in its growth.
My counter is that simply you are discussing two different animals. First, for some DVD is more than adequate.
It isn’t even necessarily a cost issue, although the difference in the cost of the media remains a factor (albeit a shrinking one), the simple requirement on the consumer to purchase BOTH a player AND a new television in order to gain the benefits of the high-definition image is something that remains a realistic hurdle to getting the near complete domination that DVD achieved.
On this issue I’m actually going to add on some more as I address the second argument next time: “Why hasn’t Blu Ray replaced the decline in DVD?”
