Some of us are upset at Warner for waiting 'til after the Holidays to make their announcement. While it could have been better, it certainly could have been worse!

It does seem to appear that their contract with HD DVD is up in May. They could have waited until then to make their announcement. Most of us can still return our players that we found under the tree or menorah or what have you. Of course, opened software might be more difficult, but imagine how much more we could have purchased had they waited until May?

Even as a blu leaner (sole HDM player is an A2,) I found myself a bit bummed about my minor HDM purchases. I can only imagine how some of you feel. I don't know about all of you, but I was waiting out the latest BOGOs and such for CES. Fortunately for me, that turned out to be a good move. But had there been no announcement, I would have gone full steam ahead! Now I can cut my losses and move on with confidence. Hope most of you can too.

JMHO

Cheers

Warner did not do HD DVD owners any favors this past week.

Warner did not do HD DVD owners any favors this past week.
Well I guess my title is not going to be taken as I had hoped. And it was certainly not my intention to bait. I'll see if I can get the title changed.

Thanks

Well I guess my title is not going to be taken as I had hoped. And it was certainly not my intention to bait. I'll see if I can get the title changed.

Thanks

The wording of your title hurt my brain.

The wording of your title hurt my brain.
Apologies. I've asked markrubin to fix it. Hopefully he will before we have too many more aneurysms.

Warner Did We, HD DVD Owners a Favor!
Warner Did Us, HD DVD Owners, a Favor!

No, not so much.

Probably just a grammatical error. Us is the object form, so it should say did us HD-DVD owners a favor. You wouldn't say "They did we a favor", unless it's the royal "we" ;).

The wording of your title hurt my brain.

Who knows what would have happened.

Perhaps if warner went back to toshiba before leaving everyone could have gotten together and figured out an exit stratagy . Perhaps they could have gone back to toshiba and toshiba could have made an offer extended their dual format contract length

Lots of things could have happened. I don't think that droping hd dvd a week after the holidays did anyone a favor except sony

Lots of things could have happened. I don't think that droping hd dvd a week after the holidays did anyone a favor except sony

And people who are sitting on the sidelines looking for signs that the format war is ending.

Apologies. I've asked markrubin to fix it. Hopefully he will before we have too many more aneurysms.

I think you need to ask him to fix it again.

Who knows what would have happened.

Perhaps if warner went back to toshiba before leaving everyone could have gotten together and figured out an exit stratagy . Perhaps they could have gone back to toshiba and toshiba could have made an offer extended their dual format contract length

Lots of things could have happened. I don't think that droping hd dvd a week after the holidays did anyone a favor except sony
Obviously it could have been sooner. My point was that it could have also been later.

It's time to move on, it's time to join our Blu-Ray brothers and help ensure Hi-Def media is around for a long time. I was mostly neutral but favored HD-DVD, but the better format has won. I will be retiring my A2 to my son's room and purchasing the new Panny BD50 as soon as it hits the market. Good bye HD-DVD it's been a hell of a ride.

This is how Warner continued to rip off HD DVD owners through the holiday: http://www.tvpredictions.com/warnerblu121307.htm

I tell myself it would have been interesting to see if the player purchases over the holidays helped q1 software sales, but would the release schedule have improved? Would CES have brough announcements of great titles? Surely that "2-hour presentation" had some sizzle in store.

The retailers would probably be happier - my guess would be that returns in may going back 30 days would be less.

How much more of a shot is expected? This was the holiday buying season and if Toshiba & Friends couldn't get enough players thorugh to consumers, and get them buying up sofware at greater than say 4 movies per machine to make up the difference in installed base...

This is how Warner continued to rip off HD DVD owners through the holiday: http://www.tvpredictions.com/warnerblu121307.htm
Yeah, so? Whoever said Warner made their minds up December 13th?

All of "US" ;) early adopters knew the risks.

Actually this is the link I meant to post: http://www.cdrlabs.com/news/byte/5416

Posted 2 weeks before christmas:

“Our position hasn’t changed and certainly any comments that were published in the US were not intended to suggest that we had changed our stance. We support both formats and we have not made any decision towards that policy and nor are any such announcements planned or in the pipeline.” he said.

“In terms of the short-term scenarios around the Q4 sales results, Warner Brothers are always reviewing our strategies and we can’t say what might happen in five or ten years, but for now, there’s been no decision made to change course.”

Yes the timing stinks as many, including me bought software over the holidays.(not to mention a 98 dollar A2 for my dad) But I would rather have this happen now then the same time next year. I ALMOST bought an A-35 as a second player for myself, but decided to wait a bit longer to see what happened. I'm glad I didn't. (I wouldn't rule out buying one really cheap in the near future though) I have really enjoyed being dual format, especially because of the competition that drove prices down. But personally, if this would have happened in say next June or July, I can guarantee that I would have spent hundreds more on HD DVD in that six month span. So.....if two formats were not going to become the norm, then I just assume it happen sooner so we can all move on. Now that the future is less uncertain, soon I can recommend to my friends and neighbors to go Blu without any trepidation. Now personally I can get a secondary player for my rack (prob a Panny BD50) and send the PS3 to the living room.:)

If they were doing favors, then Warner would have announced that they are getting out of the HDM market altogether since their ultimate goal is not distribution on optical media. When Warner can get you to spend $30 for a movie and not have to share it with disc manufacturers, printers, case manufacturers, retailers, etc., don't you think they will? So forcing people to switch from HD-DVD to Blu-Ray is just adding more opportunity for short-term profit (especially considering the money they were paid by Sony), and they know with Blu-Ray you will be locked into having to buy yet another copy once optical media is obselete. Favor my patootie.

Actually this is the link I meant to post: http://www.cdrlabs.com/news/byte/5416

Posted 2 weeks before christmas:

Supposedly, if you trust the blu-ray insider guys, MaxPower stated that talks of exclusivity finally finished just last Wednesday. So any time before Jan 2 is fair game for WB to issue the typical, non-revealing PR speak.

If Warner was doing anyone favors it should have been at the outset when they first decided to support HD DVD exclusively...then oh wait...we made a mistake, we now support both...to now Blu Ray is the one and only. Talk about a company's half-arsed approach. Doesn't give you much confidence in their ability to make decisions which have authority and confidence in them. Remember their half-baked hybrid disk idea which also fell by the way side. They didn't do anyone any favors at any time. I would have been quite happy if they had made up their bloody minds at the outset and go Blu Ray exclusively and this "war" may never have gotten off the ground. With the payoff though I'm sure they've made up and more any shortfall they may have incurred in this war. But let's not ascribe it to a profound sense of business acumen.

Probably just a grammatical error. Us is the object form, so it should say did us HD-DVD owners a favor. You wouldn't say "They did we a favor", unless it's the royal "we" ;).
I was thinking "We" Americans, as in "We the people."

:)

Kidding

If Warner was doing anyone favors it should have been at the outset when they first decided to support HD DVD exclusively...then oh wait...we made a mistake, we now support both...to now Blu Ray is the one and only. Talk about a company's half-arsed approach. Doesn't give you much confidence in their ability to make decisions which have authority and confidence in them. Remember their half-baked hybrid disk idea which also fell by the way side. They didn't do anyone any favors at any time. I would have been quite happy if they had made up their bloody minds at the outset ang go Blu Ray exclusively and this "war" may never have gotten off the ground. With the payoff though I'm sure they've made up and more any shortfull they may have incurred in this war. But let's not ascribe it to a profound sense of business acumen.

Agreed 100%. But corporations worldwide would do anything to make a buck.

Warner Did We, HD DVD Owners a Favor!
Warner Did Us, HD DVD Owners, a Favor!

No, not so much.

I think Warner may well have just killed any possibility of a future for HD Optical Media!

This post is where I'm coming from: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12736762&postcount=3792

Supposedly, if you trust the blu-ray insider guys, MaxPower stated that talks of exclusivity finally finished just last Wednesday. So any time before Jan 2 is fair game for WB to issue the typical, non-revealing PR speak.
Agreed

I think Warner may well have just killed any possibility of a future for HD Optical Media!

This post is where I'm coming from: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12736762&postcount=3792
That's your opinion, of course and you are certainly entitled to it.

Unfortunately Max has had enough poundings for the day and you may not get your response. But then again, it would still be just HIS opinion as you did not ask for any facts.

I think Warner may well have just killed any possibility of a future for HD Optical Media!

This post is where I'm coming from: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12736762&postcount=3792

Although some in principle disagree, this is WHY the BDA must continue to drop prices. That is how BD can grow as a format. Look at what the 98 dollar players did. (90,000 in one day) Let's have some cheaper players to get J6P involved. They need players to market to everyone. Hopefully soon there will be Elite expensive players, mid range players and cheap players for the masses.

Some of us are upset at Warner for waiting 'til after the Holidays to make their announcement. While it could have been better, it certainly could have been worse!

It does seem to appear that their contract with HD DVD is up in May. They could have waited until then to make their announcement. Most of us can still return our players that we found under the tree or menorah or what have you. Of course, opened software might be more difficult, but imagine how much more we could have purchased had they waited until May?

Even as a blu leaner (sole HDM player is an A2,) I found myself a bit bummed about my minor HDM purchases. I can only imagine how some of you feel. I don't know about all of you, but I was waiting out the latest BOGOs and such for CES. Fortunately for me, that turned out to be a good move. But had there been no announcement, I would have gone full steam ahead! Now I can cut my losses and move on with confidence. Hope most of you can too.

JMHO

Cheers

While I hate to see HD-DVD go down, it was my preferred format, fact is my blu-ray collection has outgrown my HD-DVD collection simply because the studios released more movies that I wanted to watch in blu. So now, I'll continue to watch and enjoy the 100 HD-DVD's in my library and pick up a few more at what will probably be a good price. I can also perhaps invest in a better blu-ray player, hoping at least that format will be with us for a few more years. Something I was hesitant to do with the two formats.

I think you only need to look at Warner's press release to see who Warner did a favor for. Something about the best time for consumers And Warner

I think you only need to look at Warner's press release to see who Warner did a favor for. Something about the best time for consumers And Warner
No doubt corporations have a responsibility to their shareholders, but can you at least agree that now is better than 30 days or more after the holidays?

Had they waited much longer, they would have been doing a bigger favor for retailers and some of us that would have liked to make some returns would be SOL!