New format desperately tries to avoid slipping into obscurity

When asked about his hard-fought victories over the Romans in 279 BC and 280 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus famously remarked, "one more such victory would utterly undo (me)." Today, over a year after having dealt a death blow to its competitor HD-DVD, Blu-ray, Sony's proprietary high definition format, faces a similar Pyrrhic victory.

In the world of digital media being ubiquitous is the key to success. The most successful storage formats have found their way into the homes, cars, or offices of the majority of consumers. Whether its EP/LP records, cassette tapes, CDs, or DVDs at the height of each of these formats they could almost always be found in every household.

However, Blu-ray is not. During its sales battle against HD-DVD observers always overlooked the fact that while it outsold its competitor, its own sales were not very large. Now with the market to itself, Blu-ray is still struggling to avoid joining the likes of Laserdiscs and Betamax as the next fizzled format...

Read the rest here: http://www.dailytech.com/BluRays+Pyrrhic+Victory/article15503.htm

Already being discussed here:

Lukewarm interest in blu-ray Harris Poll (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157469)

Already being discussed here:

Lukewarm interest in blu-ray Harris Poll (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157469)

Yes, another duplicate thread that is quoting the all the huge errors reported in the poll. :(

Hate to say I told you so... Whats amazing in that story is that there are STILL more standalone HD DVD players in homes than Bluray players - a YEAR and a half after the end of the "war". And everyone here knew that they should have had sub-$200 dollar players out there from a year ago.

I do watch Blurays today, of course. But it's sad that it'll never take off the way HD DVD could have - the comparisons to failed formats like laserdisc are correct.

HD DVD media would have been more affordable and plentiful, due to the ability to convert existing DVD lines to HD DVD production. The whole investment structure for Buray is inherently more risky and costly.

Plus HD DVD coudl have started putting out dual-format discs, with a HD DVD version on DVD discs sold - thus creating more interest in the HD format.

Sad...

Hate to say I told you so... Whats amazing in that story is that there are STILL more standalone HD DVD players in homes than Bluray players - a YEAR and a half after the end of the "war". And everyone here knew that they should have had sub-$200 dollar players out there from a year ago.

I do watch Blurays today, of course. But it's sad that it'll never take off the way HD DVD could have - the comparisons to failed formats like laserdisc are correct.

HD DVD media would have been more affordable and plentiful, due to the ability to convert existing DVD lines to HD DVD production. The whole investment structure for Buray is inherently more risky and costly.

Plus HD DVD coudl have started putting out dual-format discs, with a HD DVD version on DVD discs sold - thus creating more interest in the HD format.

Sad...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but, I believe one of the many flaws in the poll is that it includes upconverting players as HD DVD players.

Already being discussed here:

Lukewarm interest in blu-ray Harris Poll (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157469)

Dupe.