Slashdot Mirror
Blockbuster Chooses Blu-ray
s31523 writes "The format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray has posted another battle, this time the victor seems to be the Blu-ray side. Blockbuster has announced it has chosen Blu-ray as the HD format to rent out in the majority of its stores. This decision comes after rental data was looked at for the 250 stores that carry both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray with the majority of rentals being Blu-Ray. Blockbuster now plans to stock Blu-ray only in 1450 of it's stores, but says the 250 stores with the HD-DVD movies will be kept on the shelf."
Yet another win for Netflix, which allows you to pick your favorite HD format!
Someone's getting paid off. With no clear winner in the format war, it doesn't make sense that they would want to stock both.
More interesting will be to see what the retail giants do.
If Wal-Mart decides not to stock HD-DVD (or, for that matter, Blu-Ray) titles, then that's more interesting.
Myself, I think the idea of two formats which (unlike VHS/Betamax) are, at first glance, practically identical and come in very similar cases yet require different players is absurd. Unless and until either one wins or dual-format players become commonplace, there's going to be some very pissed off people when they get their shiny new film home only to find that it won't play.
Digital distribution is the way of the future, not Blu-Ray or HD DVD discs. Isn't netflix already selling movie downloads?
Why on earth would they not just rent both? Its not like it costs them any money to rent another format. Dollars to donuts there is some behind the scenes payola or pressure going on here. I guess with all of their sales heading towards online rentals it probably doesn't matter, as they are still supporting it online.
As I remember it, it was the rental market that killed off Betamax. Whatever you might think of them (and few have a lower opinion than I do) the rental market, and Blockbusters in particular, has a massive influence. You can just see the average clueless consumer saying 'Why get HD DVD when Blockies only stocks Blu Ray'
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
BB online will match netflix in that they will still have HDDVD, so how is this a win for netflix?
Is netflix starting a chain of B&M rental outlets to compete with BB?
"How to close the door after the horse has bolted." By the BlockBuster management
The future ain't DVD, of any format. The future be network distributed content, no matter what the US film industry wants you to think.
Deleted
I think you should have seen the writing on the wall YEARS ago, if you live in Michigan.
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
While this is somewhat interesting, the problem is that it doesn't matter at all. Neither HD-DVD nor Blu-ray has managed to get any sort of decent penetration into the home market aside from enthusiasts. There are a couple of reasons for this.
Firstly, there's price. I'm not just talking the price of players here, though that is a factor right now. The big thing is that the vast majority of people do not own televisions that will benefit from a higher-quality format. The cost of having a television that will benefit from this has to be added on to the startup cost, and that price hasn't seemed like it's gone down at all. Sure, you can get high-def 22" sets - but with a set that small, the difference between DVD and HD-format is pretty nullified. Again, only enthusiasts will notice a difference.
Another big reason is customer fatigue. DVDs have only relatively recently obtained high penetration in the home market - in no part thanks to cheap players from Walmart and other discount stores. Now customers are being asked once again to spend money to upgrade their collections... and as I said above, the startup price is not trivial for marginal improvement in quality. No, there are no MPAA-Nazis... oh, there are. My point is, no one is forcing them to upgrade - but on the other hand, the mass amount of customers just don't care.
Another thing I might point out is that the major indicator of trends - the porn industry - hasn't chosen a format yet. In fact, they're pretty much eschewing physical media for the internet. So, were I to be a betting man, I'd say that an online format is going to be the next big thing - and we're already seeing that with sites like YouTube.
So, in the long run, this isn't really news at all, this is just a blip on the radar.
The reason that nobody has broken BD+ DRM is because the studios haven't started using it. As soon as they start using it, people will find a crack. Can you please tell me what makes BD+ DRM so special that hackers won't be able to break it? Given enough demand, any DRM system can be broken.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
While I think it sucks when chain stores drive out local businesses, I'm not sure how this would have been different in the long run. If BB can't survive with its much lower overhead and cash reserve to get it through rough patches, what makes you think several mom and pop video stores would?
Naa, it's not really logical at all. The PS2 was released in 2000. The PS3 was released six years later, and it shares almost none of the same components (the only shared components are the chips in the PS3 to allow PS1/2 games to play.) It's an entirely new machine.
To be skeptical of the PS3 because of this issue, you'd also have to be skeptical of any other CD or DVD player on the market since and until the PS3 was released.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Well, we'd get to keep DVD for several years while the next-next-gen media gets its act together. Which would suit me fine - and many people who won't benefit noticeably from the higher-resolutions of the two formats, but will be charged more for them.
Because we all know the Fat American retirees living in the Rust Belt just LOVE indie movies and anime!
Are you paid by Sony and/or BMG? Because otherwise I cannot understand your extremely specious reasoning.
Corporations are entities that we are asked to treat [legally, and only more or less, but bear with me] as people. They are single entities, even when made up of other entities. And in fact all of them are, because they are made up of multiple people.
Now, you don't seem to think that blaming a corporation is wrong, just blaming Sony overall. But what is so different about blaming sony corporate instead of sony music, from blaming sony music instead of the people at sony music that make the bad decisions and implement them? Answer: fucking nothing. There is no difference.
Thus, if it is reasonable to blame sony music for the rootkit, and not the specific individuals responsible, then it is reasonable to blame sony corporate for the misdeeds of its child companies.
The thing that allows corporations to abuse their position is a lack of accountability, and here you are, making the biggest contribution to that lack possible: you're contributing your mindshare to the idea of that lack.
Finally, it is completely rational to boycott all Sony products because of the actions of one subsidiary, because each individual company would have less power in the marketplace if not for being part of a conglomerate.
Calling people fanboys for boycotting companies for their misdeeds is wrongheaded, to say the least. Stop being part of the problem!
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Blockbuster chose Blu-Ray. Porn chose HDDVD. Blockbuster is becoming incresingly irrelevant and is (IMO) heading straight for bankruptcy. Porn isn't. How has this choice "won" the battle?
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
Yeah, Blockbuster still 'offers' all those old faults that drove us into the arms of Netflix in the first place.
I must be odd - I don't find the process of driving to the video store, shuffling through the poor selection, finding something that's actually in stock and waiting in line to check out and driving home all that appealing.
I suppose they're still relevant in much the same way Blu-ray vs HD-DVD is relevant.
Other people might see value there - but all I see are the limitations that far outweigh the benefits.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
You are the minority.
Most consumers are either rent or purchase their movies. The concept of a DVD player is now ubiquitous in the consumer culture. I consider myself to be VERY computer literate, but I can see major hurdles with trying to toss a 50GB movie file around a home network. Better yet, how would I permit a friend to watch the movie?
I can walk into a Best Buy and pick up 250 GB of movies (I'm generalizing), go home and watch them, sell them, trade them, lend them to friends, etc. etc.
The disk is still a very efficient method of distributing film. (P.S. Most music is still sold on disks as well...)