Quote Originally Posted by Groundbeef
I think that your definition of 'low quality' and the majority of the public are quite different. You have some high quality gear, great audio equipment, and are only satisfied with full qulity/lossless sound. This does NOT bear out for the rest of the marketplace. Just because YOU don't enjoy it, doesn't mean it won't succeed, or even supplant HD/BR. Look at YouTube. You might think its low quality crap (and most of it is), but its booming.
People who are looking at youtube are not looking for Spiderman, or 2001 in HD. They are looking at video clips. These are too different segments of a market, and are not comparable. I look at youtube, and have found some very rare clips of my favorite Gospel group. However, I do not go there to find my favorite movies in high def, and neither would anyone else or they will be very disappointed. You are attempting to fuse together unrelated things.

On the flip side, w/ITunes, and XBOX Live, you can get DVD quality TV programs for cheap (around $1-2 per episode). With Live, there is no limits on viewing, or time periods. TV shows "bought" are yours. The only differnce is that w/360 the HD cannont be attached or accessed by a computer. So its actually pretty safe from Piracy. The PS3 is a different animal because it uses a standard HardDrive, that can be removed and accessed by a computer. Perhaps thats why industry is slow to embrace the PS3 as a D/L solution for media?
TV programs and HD movies are not the same thing. The PS3 hard drive cannot just be accessed by a computer. The computer has to be connected via a copy protected HDCP protocol just like any other HD media device. So the xbox is no more protected than the PS3. What about reports that there is a huge piracy issue regarding the xbox in china?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=10232

Or about cheating on xbox live?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=16063

Or what about modded boxes that allow pirated games to work on the xbox?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...php?story=6042

http://www.geek.com/three-people-fac...iracy/?rfp=dta

It seems that hacking via the motherboard is pretty popular. It seems that one guy advertised how to do the mod on Craigslist. Now what were you saying about security?


But more to the point D/L content is absolutely a threat, and can be compared with each other. The markets are merging.
How can a market based on disc be merging with a market based on downloading? They appeal to different people looking for different things. Downloaders are mainly getting TV programs that are highly compressed (more compressed than DVD) HD on disc supporters are looking for high quality HD video with lossless audio and extra's. I can hardly see a merging in that.


Technical point here. The DRM doesn't "corrupt" the movie. It simply doesn't allow playback without a current "Key". If you don't have your XBOX on a constant connection, after the 24 hour "window" it will prompt you to re-connect to see if a new key has been issued. If not, you can't play it past the 24hr window.
If you do not have the current key, what condition is the data in at the point? Besides you are only speaking of xbox live. Other downloading services use a different kind of DRM. I am aware of the practice of some downloading services that use code to corrupt the files after a certain period.


Only for the dishonest ones. I don't steal movies OR music, but I DO pay for my d/l content. Please don't lump everyone into the same basket.
If you are not one of the dishonest ones, then this comment does not apply to you. I was not lumping anyone. There are some that do not pay for the content, and my comments apply to them. Do not be so defensive.


Is that $120 just for internet? That seems really high! And again with the 1080p/Lossless. That may be what it's gonna take for YOU, but not for a majority of the US customer base. Live certainly doesn't offer that level of HD, but for its offerings, its blowing the doors off expectations. Disney has signed on, Lionsgate is releasing more and more, and more studios are taking note. Not everyone owns a BMW A/V setup.
Ummm, no. $120 pays for HD cable AND internet. The HD content is heavily compressed and so is the audio. The audio is not even DVD quality at 384kbps for the 5.1 channels. The internet is the highest speed available on comcast. In my neighborhood, cable prices at around $100 is not all that usual, especially after the recent hike in prices. Alot of studios have signed up at Xbox live, but the content they are offering is not the same as their HD on disc content, and not even close in quality. More folks enjoy quality images and audio than you think.


A small distinction here. Advertisers promote products that they HOPE to induce consumers to "Try" or "Buy". But there are no direct correlations between amount of $$ spent on advertising to actual products bought. I am not suggesting that advertising doesn't increase awareness of a product, highlight its features, and promote the brand. But to suggest that there is a $ to $ translation between ads and purchase is not right.
Actually it is right. If an advertiser has committed a certain percentage of operating income to advertising on a certain media, there is an expectation of return of investment in the form of sales. If they see that the advertising on that media is not providing a return, they cut advertising on that media. If you were interested in just highlighting features, and promoting the brand without any expectation of return on your expendenture, then that would be wasting cash. How do you support an advertising budget without sales?

And DVR, and PVR are causing a huge shift in the way that advertisers are marketing to consumers. Many ads have gone from quick cuts, and fast action, to those of slow action, and long still shots of either the product or the name. Why? So when consumers zip over them, they are still "exposed" to the ad. Also, Nielson has begun tracking DVR use, especially with TiVO. Some TiVO users through a process of election, and "opting-in" have allowed Nielson access to their viewing habits via electronic tracking. Not of specific housholds, but how often shows are "time delayed", "commercials ff", "# of times watched", and other aspects.
Great information. But how does this address the issue at hand?


And its funny you keep bringing up the show you were at. How come you haven't addressed why BR hasn't been re-signed with Warner. Contract obligations lapsed 10/31/07. If BR and Warner are so much in "Love" why hasn't Warner re-signed with BR? At this point they are operating under the terms of the old agreement, but Warner could walk away, and there is NO penalty for them to do so.
Sorry, but nobody knows the terms of the contract obligations Warner has with the BDA. If Warner had no intention on supporting BR, then there would be no need to for them to attent the festival, or show off new BR releases. There would be no need to annouce new titles for 2008 would they? The BDA forbids releasing contract information, so this appears to be nothing more than FUD, or in other words, a bald face lie. Warner is not nearly stupid as Paramount. Why in the hell would they walk away from a format that provides them with a two to one sales advantage over the other format on all of the titles they released? Paramount is still smarting from their move. Transformers is a perfect movie for the PS3 crowd. Instead of just selling 89k worth of disc, they could have sold twice that or more had they stayed neutral. If Warner was going to walk away, then why did they bother attending the Bluray session at IFA? The did not attend the HD DVD session.


I'm not suggesting that Warner is going to leave BR, and go HD-DVD exclusive, but it does seem a bit funny that they havn't re-signed w/ BR.
Sorry, but you do not know if they signed, or they didn't. This is not public information, and even the insiders at Bluray.com have refused to discuss this because of legal restraints. Lying to advance a false point is a balless act.

Everything may be peaches and cream at the trade show, but in business, it doesn't appear to be the love fest your talking about.
That is a matter of perspective. You were not there, and you did not see or hear what was going on at the festival. Maybe you should refrain from spreading bull crap. Anyone selling 300k worth of HD disc on a single format should be having quite a love fest at this point.