We Should All Care Less About The Hi-Def DVD Format War

February 24, 2008

Massive hype is surrounding Sony for winning the so-called hi-def DVD format war. The movie studios and distributors sided with Sony Blu-Ray, and rival Toshiba announced immediately it would stop producing its HD DVD players. While standardization will be welcomed by the movie industry to help inject some life into a stagnant market for movie DVD’s, this advancement is much ado about little.

This was especially clear as I sat in my living room last night and viewed a few streamed episodes of Lost in hi-def, directly from the ABC Web site, followed by “10,” streamed directly from Netflix. I suspect that PC manufacturers will begin to bundle PC-to-television video output capability as readily as they bundle WiFi and operating systems. That will enable streamed and downloaded content to serve as a truly viable — and better — alternative to yet another media-playback device clogging our homes. On that note, I’d also like to get rid of my cable-television provider. Why can’t I everything just be streamed or downloaded, when and where I want it?

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  • http://net-savvy.com/executive/ Nathan

    There is the small matter of live programming. People want to watch sports, some news events, and the Oscars (or so I’m told) as they happen. Streaming all of that isn’t easy, and existing broadcast technologies work well.

    Also, watching a purchased disc multiple times doesn’t incur multiple fees. As the parent of a young child, you will soon experience the joy of seeing the same show over and over, and streaming the favorite (again) isn’t how you’ll want to do it.

  • http://net-savvy.com/executive/ Nathan

    There is the small matter of live programming. People want to watch sports, some news events, and the Oscars (or so I’m told) as they happen. Streaming all of that isn’t easy, and existing broadcast technologies work well.

    Also, watching a purchased disc multiple times doesn’t incur multiple fees. As the parent of a young child, you will soon experience the joy of seeing the same show over and over, and streaming the favorite (again) isn’t how you’ll want to do it.

  • http://www.attentionmax.com Max Kalehoff

    Hi Nathan,
    I see your point, but I don’t think multiple fees will be a problem for long. Program-streaming costs will come down, for example, in the form of one low base price for all you can consume — similar to music (although I think the underlying psychological factors bode better for video versus music.) For example, even today my Netflix account is unlimited streams. And if you’re not covered under an all-you-can-eat subscription plan, there’s increasingly ad-supported streaming.
    Cheers,
    Max

  • http://www.attentionmax.com Max Kalehoff

    Hi Nathan,
    I see your point, but I don’t think multiple fees will be a problem for long. Program-streaming costs will come down, for example, in the form of one low base price for all you can consume — similar to music (although I think the underlying psychological factors bode better for video versus music.) For example, even today my Netflix account is unlimited streams. And if you’re not covered under an all-you-can-eat subscription plan, there’s increasingly ad-supported streaming.
    Cheers,
    Max