This week I read an article about the high definition DVD war. Remember when videotapes first became popular and the war was between Beta and VHS formats? Well now the war is between HD DVDs and Blu-ray DVDS, at least at places like Blockbuster.
Blu-ray is backed by groups such as:
Apple Computer, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Hitachi, Ltd.
LG Electronics Inc.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
Royal Philips Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Sharp Corporation
Sony Corporation
TDK Corporation
Thomson Multimedia
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney Pictures ...
While HD DVD is backed by groups such as:
Canon Inc.
Digital Theater Systems
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
Kenwood Corporation
Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd.
NEC Corporation
Onkyo Corporation
Paramount Home Entertainment
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Teac Corporation
Toshiba Corporation
Universal Pictures
Warner Home Video Inc.
My thoughts are that neither side will win. Customers don't want to pay $500 for the DVD players that play these kinds of DVDs. In the not so distant future I believe DVDs will be a thing of the past, just like VHS tapes are today. Audiovisual entertainment will all be downloaded like the music industry is doing with its songs. Yes, CDs still exist but most of the young folks are listening with their I-Tunes and other MP3 players. I wonder how all this will affect the future of library services?
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3 comments:
Do you think that people our age will get used to downloading movies, or will prefer something they can hold in their hand? Seems like the whole world is becoming "virtual".
CJ, I don't think I personally will want to download movies and watch them unless I can put them on my T.V. screen! I don't enjoy watching movies on a computer or on some hand held device but I guess I'm showing my age. Just like I still prefer books in print to any other format.
I am showing my age, but, I still play my albums from the '60s. I still play my cassettes. I do, though, have cds. (over 100). I prefer VHS over DVDs because with a VHS tape, you can go away for any amount of time and go back to exactly where you left off. With DVDs, you can not do that !!! NOTHING will ever replace HOLDING A BOOK !!!! (My brother still has 8-track tapes---even though his player has died !!!!
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