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General discussion

Pay More for Blu-Ray

Feb 9, 2006 9:22AM PST

I think it's a pretty sure bet people will pay more for Blu-Ray players and Blu-Ray content in the early going. I don't think they can sustain high prices, though as always, the greedy b*stards who own studios will try their best to milk the consumer for as long as possible. Then, they'll spend millions on ad campaigns to convince people to stop stealing their high-def content from the internet instead of just making it affordable in the first place. And so it goes... on and on.

-Kevin S

Discussion is locked

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I should note...
Feb 9, 2006 10:26AM PST

I make a living from said "greedy b*stards" so you'll often see me arguing on both sides of the fence with regard to DRM.

I think the iTunes store and Apple's insistence on keeping prices reasonable is an example that consumers will strive to be legal if the quality and price are reasonable. I personally think 4-5 times as many people would download videos if they were also 99 cents (therefore profit would be more than double) so studios are missing the boat on this. But that's a discussion for a different thread...

-Kevin S.

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More of the same
Feb 9, 2006 10:57AM PST

I agree with you and Molly on this. I remember when CDs came out you could buy a record album for about $7.00. CDs initially cost $17.00, but we were told by the record industry that the price would come down as more people bought them. Well, that never happened. Because of that, I never bought the amount of music on CDs that I once did when I would buy vinyl.

My bet is that HD DVD will be the same. A movie is a movie, and squeezing another pixel or two into the display is not enough to justify the sure to come high cost. Far cheaper to rent it, watch it and forget it. In fact, at my local library, I can borrow just about any movie out there for free if I'm willing to wait a couple weeks for it.

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Late Adopters
Feb 9, 2006 12:29PM PST

People who just recently adopted DVDs, like my parents & grandparents for instance. They will not appreciate the fact that they will now have to make sure they are buying the right thing for their DVD players. Or, the scary thing, they buy an HD-DVD, open it, pop it in, and then find out it doesn't work, try to take it back only to find out they can't return opened DVD's.

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Good Point
Feb 9, 2006 12:41PM PST

LOL. True, true. Just this Christmas, I bought my parents their first DVD player. In fact, I got them the kind that has the VHS player on the other side so they could ease into it. <sigh>

Happy

-Kevin

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Similar situation
Feb 9, 2006 1:18PM PST

My parents have actually had a DVD player for about a year (what's bad is that I have had my own for about the same amount of time).

Also, I have probably a dozen movies on DVD. Guess how many were purchased above $10? Two. A set of two movies for $20. The rest came out of the bargain bin a Wal-Mart because I am only willing to spend $20+ on video games, since they are a longer-term investment (timewise, anyway).

No hi-def DVD's for me.

That's my two cents.

-Ryan

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HD
Feb 9, 2006 6:05PM PST

Of the handful that I own, most have been gifts. I bought each of the Lord of the Rings to get the statuettes from the WETA workshop and, of course, the director's cut from Peter Jackson (who I considered a movie god before Kong - we'll discuss these thoughts at a later date.)

-Kevin S.

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Bleeding Edge
Feb 9, 2006 7:47PM PST

I used to be the guy that these companies loved. A new technology.. boom, I got it. You name it I had it. I had relationships with some companies that I would have it even before it got to the shelves.

This blue ray issue has only done one thing for me and that is, I am not buying anything. I will sit and wait for the clear winner.

I think of all the money that I have spent, the hours configuring, sitting on hold for support and all the crap that had accumulated in the closet. Anyone want an Amega HD200? Anyways, my rant is I have had enough. I am not paying one more cent.

My wife and I just moved to Ireland and we have to pretty much start from scratch, and I am not wasting any coin until then.

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My Solution
Feb 10, 2006 12:25AM PST

Google + Content Distributor + Dark Fiber + HDD Set Top

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i don't mind...
Feb 10, 2006 2:26AM PST

...paying more for a really good copy i can archive. what i mean is that since there are more and more devices that can carry and play compressed video and music, it would be nice to have a high quality backup. right now, i backup all my DVDs and watch my copies and other downloaded video on hdtv through my computer. i put the DVDs away in a safe place with my music CDs. it makes it easy for me to watch it anywhere on my house and not have to worry about getting the disc scratched. same with my music. most people don't see too much difference between the compressed version of my music or movies with the uncompressed version when they come over to my house.

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Best Idea
Feb 10, 2006 6:06AM PST

I like that idea a lot. Make a backup of the good one, use the copy to use for every day use. I use to do that with CDs, when I use to buy CDs.

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It's inevitable...
Feb 10, 2006 1:12AM PST

I gotta say, I side with Tom on this one. I don't like that I do because I am, as a result, siding with the idea the spending more for new technology is inherent... the nature of the beast. (And maybe it doesn't HAVE to be that way, but good luck convincing the powers that be of that one.)

Hard core movie fanatics and techno-junkies will be the ones to usher in and support the new rush of HD DVD content being released (for yes, probably too much money) but I am pretty confident that when governmental requirements regarding mandatory HD has taken effect, these things will be ironed out, this type of media will be the norm, and god let's cross our fingers AND follow the trends of history in this regard, the media will be more reasonably priced.

It's ALWAYS more expensive at first!

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Better said
Feb 10, 2006 2:19AM PST

I'm not sure if what we've said agrees more with Molly or Tom, Jason but you did a better job of explaining what I was attempting to. I think it will be more expensive and the early adopters will pay more for it but the masses probably won't, so prices will come down or they'll just go back to stealing it from the internet.

But on top of that and to tie it in with another thread on the forum, I think Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will be superseded by media centers and downloadable HD content. So, I think they will both have a very short life.

-Kevin S.

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Let's look at history
Feb 10, 2006 10:56AM PST

I think that to believe the price of things comes down as technology improves is somewhat incorrect. Prices stay as high as demand will allow it. VCRs are dirt cheap because nobody wants them, not because they've evolved. Sure, HD TVs are dropping, but mostly due to improving mass production. That will end as they find a balance point between supply and demand, and it won't be cheap. Ipods, computers, CDs, milk and bread all maintain their price.

I once heard a typical bookshelf speaker takes about 5 minutes to make and costs less than $50.00. But go price one and you'll find a decent one costs $600 or $700.

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I'll Pay Top Dollar...
Feb 10, 2006 2:46AM PST

...for each one of the glorious hi-def scales populating the snakes terrorizing that plane.

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Not Paying That Much
Feb 10, 2006 9:27PM PST

I'm certainly not going to pay $35 for Blu-Ray. I posted a tongue-in-cheek reply to Molly's post regarding this in the c|net access area showing that it's actually cheaper per pixel, but that's not really the point.

The price of the media is just the last in a set of really bad decisions by the media industry. Here are all the things holding me back (some of which Tom mentioned as well):

1- the lack of a single standard
I will absolutely, positively not buy any next generation disc until there is one standard. If that means I have to wait 5 more years, so be it.

2- the cost of maximizing the experience
Besides the high cost for the first generation of Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) players, I will also have to buy a new display. The plasma I have is only 2 years old, but it doesn't do HDMI or HDCP (basically component only). If the industry is going to down res my content because of that, then I'll wait until I need to get a new display (again, 5 more years), since I'd basically be watching DVD quality anyway

3- fair use protection
Until I can backup discs that I buy and re-encode this for other devices (read media center, iPod), I won't buy a new format. Sure, ripping a DVD is technically a violation of the DCMA, but I'm comfortable with exercising my fair use rights despite that. Any media format that doesn't let me exercise my fair use rights won't get my support. Even if it takes 5 years for the hacking community to break the DRM (and it'll be closer to 5 months I think), I'll wait.

So basically I'm sitting this one out. Really, I'm tired of buying physical media anyway. I'm almost thinking I'll just wait until I can download high def content from something like the iTunes Store (no, the crappy little 320x240 stuff they sell now doesn't count).

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my thought -- not really a replacement
Feb 11, 2006 7:17AM PST

Here's my thought -- if this Blu-ray thing catches on, it will likely be similar to the transition from VHS to DVD. I still have both, don't most of you? There's only 1 (well, 2) movie I replaced, having already bought it on VHS and then later bought DVD replacement. It was both of the Toy Story movies, and the reason was because my son actually wore out his VHS copy of Toy Story 2 (most of the lines of which I now have memorized as a result). It wouldn't play anymore, so we bought it on DVD.

I don't buy many movies. Of recent movies, here are the ones I have: Lord of the Rings (extended versions of all 3 movies), Star Wars, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc.

I think that there are only a couple of things that would make me buy a replacement copy in a different format -- if it was re-released with new content that I felt was worth buying, or if we got to the point that I no longer had a way to play my previous version and I still wanted to watch it (this happened when cassettes got phased out in favor of CDs, and I did buy a couple replacements, and am still kicking myself that I missed a chance to buy CDs of a very obscure band that doesn't seem to have CDs for sale online anywhere, if they're even still together. I have a lot of their cassettes and they don't play well, if at all, on my one remaining cassette player.

As far as price -- I suspect they will be higher at first, and then we'll just forget if the new format becomes the only format. I would be willing to pay a couple bucks more, but definitely a price of twice that of DVDs would be something that would keep me from even wanting to buy something that would play one of these disks (I think that way about video games, too, refusing to get a new platform till the game prices are reasonable).

Back to your lives, citizens.

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now the PS3
Feb 12, 2006 11:13AM PST

like how the blue ray dvd will cost more and so will the players can you just imagine how much the PS3 will cost.

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and don't forget
Feb 12, 2006 11:25AM PST

The games themselves. Sony's probably going to take a huge hit due to the cost of the PS3, so what kind of pricing scheme are we looking at for the games? Will a $50 price tag give enough of a profit margin to justify the high-cost development of the games and media? I don't think so. I could very well be wrong, but looking at how things are shaping up, I see everything relating to Sony's wonder box coming at a premium.

-Ryan

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MovieBeam HDTV online movie rentals
Feb 13, 2006 3:40PM PST
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I just read about this ..
Feb 14, 2006 5:14AM PST

.. from Newsvine. I haven't decided on whether I like the idea of this or not. I do like the fact that if you purchase a movie, you could burn it on a DVD, and even get access to bonus content (commentary, deleted scenes, etc.).