"Blu-ray Disc" vs. "HD DVD": Neither Is Winning

[Hulk]

I don't know if Comcast upgraded my service or something but my download speed is now 2.3Mb/sec. That's fast enough to stream HD actually.

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=friS4OOcdgQ

[Brian Ellis]

The BBC did a segment on the new lap top and on the TV last night. They were reasonably enthusiastic about the size/weight of the computer, with some misgivings about whether it is robust enough for business travellers. They were scathing about Apple TV, in terms of quality and the fact that no ordinary people in Europe had the necessary bandwidth nor were likely to in the foreseeable future. They pointed out that Europe is potentially a much larger market than N. America with 500,000,000 population in the EU alone and the Euro being more economically powerful than the Dollar. There was also a brief evocation of the iPhone fiasco in Europe. Unless Apple cater for Europe, then the world's most vibrant economy will seek alternatives.

[Jerry Jones]

And they are correct, in my view.

But it's going to take time for Apple to get this rolled out all over the globe.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

They pointed out that Europe is potentially a much larger market than N. America with 500,000,000 population in the EU alone and the Euro being more economically powerful than the Dollar. There was also a brief evocation of the iPhone fiasco in Europe. Unless Apple cater for Europe, then the world's most vibrant economy will seek alternatives.

[Tjalfe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=friS4OOcdgQ

repost
posted that a few days ago in this very thread

[Brian Ellis]

But it's going to take time for Apple to get this rolled out all over the globe.

You mean Apple are going to ensure that Europe has high-speed broadband connections, better than the 1 Mbit/s peak that I "enjoy"? If so, I'm all for it! There is no way that I can download a 30 Gb HD blockbuster: at an average download speed of 500 kbit/s, it would take 5½ days If it's less than 30 Gb, it ain't HD.

[Tjalfe]

here bell canada is offering 15Mbit DSL, but has a 30GB/month cap, after which it is $1.5/GB up to $30 extra per month.. That means the speed is available, at least to the select few who can actually get this speed, but they make IPTV impossible with the caps
funny how at full speed, you can fill your monthly cap in 16 hours

[Jerry Jones]

Apple won't do that.

But consumer demand in Europe will.

It will happen sooner than you think.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

You mean Apple are going to ensure that Europe has high-speed broadband...

[Jerry Jones]

"APPLE TV: THE NEW HD FORMAT?"

Nice article:

http://www.cio-today.com/news/Apple-TV--The-New-HD-Format-/story.xhtml?story_id=10000CBBGYJC

...the prospect of Apple's easily available HD movie downloads may render the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray dispute moot.

Gartenberg agreed that consumers will eventually prefer HD downloads over disc purchases, but predicts that it will take some time for that to happen. "There's a still a format war going on," he said, "and downloading HD content, while viable, still takes awhile for most folks, given their Internet connections."

Certainly, however, the percentage of homes in the United States with broadband access to the Internet is growing steadily, and a number of manufacturers (including Apple) are rolling out Internet-ready devices specifically for downloading and storing HD content. Downloadable HD movies may still be in the preview phase, but the main feature is right around the corner.

The undeniable, inevitable conclusion?

HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are as dead as DISC-o.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Elie]

HD DVD maybe, but certainly not Blu-Ray, it will be here for a very long time

[Jerry Jones]

Yep... right next to the Laserdiscs and the 8-tracks.



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

HD DVD maybe, but certainly not Blu-Ray, it will be here for a very long time

[Jerry Jones]

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/01/itunes_movies_o.html

"iTunes Movies Outsell HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc"



Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Elie]

Hmmm, doesn't look all too good for movie downloads...

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Time-Warner-Trial-Could-Stifle-Net-Films/story.xhtml?story_id=10200BKRDFD6

[Dr Mordrid]

Porn is sticking with HD DVD, for now

Link....

One thing that bodes ill for both HD DVD and BR is the coming of 'net video downloads by cable/satellite boxes to "whole home" DVR's; ONE physical DVR that any box in the house can record to. AT&T's U-Verse starts this in the Detroit area very soon with DVR's that can record 4 programs at once.

Not only that but what happens when rental services discover that DivX can do HD and download quickly? Don't discount DivX, they're signing partners at a very rapid clip and just bought out MainConcept to get their hands on encoder tech.

[Jerry Jones]

Here is a pretty fascinating Web page that dispels some myths about APPLE TV such as the fact that you don't really need a widescreen TV to make it work just fine if you select the 480i mode in the SETTINGS menu. This means you can use the APPLE TV with an older 4:3 tube TV if you have component inputs.

LINK: http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/posts...07-03-22-21-30

APPLE TV: http://www.apple.com/appletv/

The other interesting thing is that there is a 1080i setting available that doesn't get much publicity either.

I plan to take the plunge for an APPLE TV soon.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net