And Microsoft denies paying paramount anything
Quote:
"Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. We provided no financial incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever, said Amir Majidimehr, the head of Microsoft's consumer media technology group."
The blu bois are foaming at the mouth on this one.
If MS didn't buy Paramount at the rock bottom price of $150 million who did? A mystery for the Hardly Boys to be sure. A real 'who done it', that may never be solved, because it may have never happened.
From what Bell says blu Java was a major problem, they had to hire extra people to work with it and it was not reliable.
From another article the cost of producing Blu is much higher than HD. Plenty of reasons for a company that was reluctant to produce BD to go back to solely HD.
Quote:
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has long asserted that its Blu-ray (BD) format is superior to the rival HD DVD format, and BD's "revolutionary" buzz has understandably caught the fancy of certain technologists. But CEOs should be wary, because what the BDA does not sufficiently address is what lies behind those assertions. The numbers are stark: manufacturing BD discs will require an estimated US$1.7 million cost per manufacturing line. Per line!
Then, each major manufacturing facility would require the implementation of a minimum of two mastering systems, at a minimum cost of US$2 million per system. DVD, at the height of its success, resulted in an estimated 600 manufacturing lines globally. Even allowing for a decline in systems costs over time as the manufacturing base expanded, the tab for radically overhauling the media manufacturing industry would approach a billion dollars worldwide or more. Already-beleaguered CFOs will be challenged to raiseand riskthis significant amount of capital.
Compare this to the estimated cost of retooling for the HD DVD format compared to BD. HD DVD is able to utilize virtually the entire existing manufacturing infrastructure. The cost of upgrading an existing DVD line is about US$150,000less than a tenth the cost of a BD line. A DVD mastering system can be upgraded for US$145,000. Basically, HD DVD is a DVD-9a version of DVD we have enormous manufacturing experience with alreadywith a denser pit structure.
Once people realize the hidden costs of the Blu-ray format, they will also realize the extent to which it actually endangers their very industry.
Blu-ray is the Emperor's New Clothesit advances the agendas of a few select companies instead of the markets and that of the consumer. No onethe studios, the disc manufacturers, the consumer electronics manufacturerscan afford a format war today.
Rick Marquardt, former GM, Warner Advanced Media Operations,
From Ars Technica
