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Toshiba Going After Blu-ray?
Swifty Nifty has an adventure submitted a link to a story about Toshiba's new High Def Disc Format. No, I'm not kidding — apparently Blu-ray has a new contender. This seems to be intended as a DVD backwards-compatible format, but there's not a lot of detail.
Is it me or does everyone keep promising new formats whenever we have any inclination of settling on one? Blu-ray may have won the battle, but they haven't won the war in my eyes. Here are 10 reasons in random numbered order why I've shunned Blu-ray and everything that is media hyped.
1. I'd rather be programming something.
2. Passive entertainment sucks. I've grown weary of it after seeing my dad waste the last 20 years of his evenings in front of a tube.
3. My TV is not a movie theater. High-def really doesn't look that much better on a little TV. And I'm an engineer. Why fix it when it ain't broke?
4. My computer is 5 years old, my drives are full, I don't have a laptop, I need a new car, all my clothes are worn out, I lack furniture, I might buy a house. Do I really need an expensive blu-ray player? Maybe when I'm older, but then I might be married with kids. I think I'll pass.
5. I hate Sony with a passion. Every Sony product I've ever bought/used (DVD player, stereo, cd-roms, Everquest, etc) has only ended in disappointment. And every company/industry they overtake turns to garbage. Toshiba's products are heading in the same direction.
6. Those blue cases are gay. Sure, you need to distinguish them from DVDs, but the blue is reminiscent of Bondi blue.
7. The selection sucks. Every feature that comes out on a new format, the "pilot" of the format, is usually rated 3/5-stars or worse. Wait a few years and a new format appears and the whole process starts over. Then your old player dies and your library has turned useless, or you're stuck with some crappy "after market" player.
8. Every movie on DVD, let alone Blu-ray, in stores is still the same way. I have to plan my movie watchings so I can order them online, and when has watching a movie ever been planned a week in advance? Redbox will never have obscure movies. Hollywood and Blockbuster always have scratches on their obscure selections. Netflix isn't worth the subscription since I hardly ever watch movies.
9. I bought my first console, the Wii. My tiny movie budget is now going toward all the ridiculous number of accessories and games (controllers, nunchucks, wavebirds for smash, balance board, guitars). And it's way more fun than vegitating.
10. The so-called format war has only finished its first battle. Every time I turn around we have news of a new emerging technology that promises release in 5 months offering storage sizes ten-fold or more greater than what we have now.