Originally posted by: ferris209
A lot of people keep saying that this format war is irrelevant because downloadable content will reign. I'm just not so sure, there are some things that people like to own, I mean physically, see it on your shelf, own. I, for one, am that way. I remember 15 or more years ago when people told me that paper would be a thing of the past by the year 2000, well here it is 2007 and I know my office kills more trees than a wooded backroad full of drunks. I also remember hearing that CD's would be obsolete too because of downloading music, while it has taken a blow, CD's are still going strong despite the downloadable music rage. IMHO downloadable HD movies will never be supreme for several reasons, first a lot of people like to actually own what they buy, not just the rights to use it. Second, DRM, nuff said. I could come up with more but I'm tired.
A lot of people keep saying that this format war is irrelevant because downloadable content will reign. I'm just not so sure, there are some things that people like to own, I mean physically, see it on your shelf, own. I, for one, am that way. I remember 15 or more years ago when people told me that paper would be a thing of the past by the year 2000, well here it is 2007 and I know my office kills more trees than a wooded backroad full of drunks. I also remember hearing that CD's would be obsolete too because of downloading music, while it has taken a blow, CD's are still going strong despite the downloadable music rage. IMHO downloadable HD movies will never be supreme for several reasons, first a lot of people like to actually own what they buy, not just the rights to use it. Second, DRM, nuff said. I could come up with more but I'm tired.
You can blame the mess of paper on government regulation. Just about anything dealing with accounting has to be printed and stored for years, it can't just be stored digitally. Hell, even giving over emails for a lawsuit have to be printed.
And actually, regarding CDs, while millions are still sold, digital music downloads are showing massive increases in percentage while CD sales are showing declines.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-01-04-music-sales-main_x.htm
You'll find the same DRM in Blu-ray and HD-DVD that any downloadable hi-def movie has. If a player gets hacked, they revoke the key and then unless you update your player, anything you buy after that is useless. The advantage downloadable hi-def movies would have over that is that the player would get automatically updated. Besides, I have no doubt that some hacker will find a way to crack the DRM scheme, whether it's downloaded or not.
As Internet connection speeds to homes get faster, downloading hi-def movies will become more and more viable.
And you can make me number three for people who were thinking of buying Blu-ray (as much as I don't like Sony) but are now waiting for a reasonably priced dual format player.