Stock Analysts Down on DIVX

rmcd sent us a link to a New York Times article that talks about Circuit City is being financially hurt by DIVX. Apparently they are really making a mess over there. So lets get rid of divx, standardize on HDTV, and merge THX & Dolby. That'll happen around the same time as the whole world agrees on the same OS.

Comments

Artifacts only problem if you are completely anal

[Tony Shepps]

I've watched about 40 DVDs on a 32" TV and only in two films did I notice artifacting. (In the first apartment scene in Blade Runner, and crowd shots in Young Frankenstein).

Only in the case of Blade Runner did it bother me, but it bothered me a *lot* less than having to watch a Pan-n-Scan blurry bulky VHS tape with metal oxides flaking off of it...

Sure they might have come up with a solution that doesn't fit in notebook computers or on your bookshelf or in the palm of your hand. Every consumer product has tradeoffs. Complaining about DVD because of artifacting is like complaining about sex because of the wet spot.

Offtopic moderator question

[Tony Shepps]

I don't know! I think my reply there STARTED with a three!

I know my post on another topic was moderated up to five (I watched it go), and then somehow wound up back down at three; and another post on yet another topic seemed to go right to three and stick there, but not automatically.

also..

[Aaron M. Renn]

That's one reason not to invest any money in a Divx player or a Divx disk. Why take a chance that they'll go belly up and you'll never be able to watch all those movies again?

DIVX is just allright with me, yea...

[Aaron M. Renn]

Heh. Just remember, you can rent DVD's from a video store. There is no need to shell out the $25 bucks to buy something you'll only watch once.

Let's Summarize Divx

[Aaron M. Renn]

The Divx v. DVD thing had been beaten to death, but let us summarize:

Advantages of Divx v. DVD:

-- Able to watch the limited number of movies available in Divx format only.
-- Do not have to return disks after renting them.

Advantages of DVD v. Divx:

-- PRIVACY. You don't need to let the DVD company know that you bought a disk. With Divx you'll be required to do that to get repeat views or to "purchase" the CD permanently.
-- Price. Divx is more expensive.
-- DVD does not tie up a phone line. Nor does it require a credit card to charge.
-- DVD is more popular and thus is likely to win the format war, making Divx disks obsolete. This is especially bad given that if you don't "own" the disk and Divx goes under, you can't watch any of your movies.
-- DVD is availble for computers. Divx is not.
-- The DVD people are not resorting to questionable "astroturf" campaigns to prop up sales.

I'm writing this off the top of my head and might have missed something, but this right here shows that DVD is the no brainer choice. I wonder how many of the people who bought Divx were unsophisticated consumers talked into it by a Circuit City sales person? I'd guess a lot of them. I bet that few people who know the issues are choosing Divx.

DIVX is just allright with me, yea...

[ewhac]

Just to clarify, what specific aspects of dealing with video stores do you find hateful?

Schwab

Best Buy coulda pulled it off

[Skyshadow]

Circuit City just isn't pervasive enough -- they're not in the small markets in the sort of way that a company like Best Buy is. There was no way they were ever going to pull this one off.

BTW, has anybody else here noticed exactly how unhelpful the Best Buy web site is? I mean, for Christ's sake, I've seen better sites churned out by 12 year olds using Hotdog....

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