This is the second of my articles about CES and the format war, with my take on it.
http://www.tvpredictions.com/smith011407.htm
Comments welcome!
http://www.tvpredictions.com/smith011407.htm
Comments welcome!
CES: The Studios Take Charge [article]
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with all due respect, it reads like an article written for know-nothing-J6P (far lower knowledge than the regular-J6P).
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I loved Casino Royale ! I was rooting for David Craig after I heard he was in the running and having seen his acting as well as him being more of a man than Brosnan. Now that CR has set the record for Bond box office I feel vindicated. Bring it on BD ! Oh and yea, the review is short on details and content.
Art
Art
What can I say. It is in the same theme of your pre-show report. Namely, tilt toward BD, no matter what the news.
6 CE companies announced support for HD DVD. That was one of the key tenants of BD before, that everyone loved them. Now it is completely dispelled. One of their exclusives, LG, now supporting HD DVD. You mentioned most of this, but you drew no conclusion for expanded support for HD DVD. Why? Isn't it remarkable that one of their founding members, having known everything the rest of them know, still believes they must support HD DVD?
You also made no mention of our announcement with Broadcom to build reference design for HD DVD so that many more companies can enter the market. The reaction to this at CES was fantastic.
No mention was made of the innovative scenarios we showed around interactivity and network sharing either. Remember why Disney joined BDA and how they used to trumpet interactivity? Questioning what happened to all of that would have newsworthy.
And what do you mean Universal was quiet? They gave the keynote for HD DVD. They lead HD DVD marketing for US. Just because they don't pre-announce stuff, it doesn't mean they don't support HD DVD. They are way, way ahead of Fox/Disney and even Sony in supporting HD DVD so far with some of their top titles. What Fox/Disney showed is simply going where they should have already.
And what did BDA really announce beside new titles from studios who should have always been producing BD titles? Nothing. Just a Samsung player. Sony only hinted about players, with no availability, etc, yet you give them top billing, while not mentioning the first high-end company to lend support to HD DVD (Meridian).
As I noted before CES, you have great insight and opportunity to tell a fresh story. Instead, what you wrote is what BDA likes you to write. BDA declares the war won and folks just repeat that.
6 CE companies announced support for HD DVD. That was one of the key tenants of BD before, that everyone loved them. Now it is completely dispelled. One of their exclusives, LG, now supporting HD DVD. You mentioned most of this, but you drew no conclusion for expanded support for HD DVD. Why? Isn't it remarkable that one of their founding members, having known everything the rest of them know, still believes they must support HD DVD?
You also made no mention of our announcement with Broadcom to build reference design for HD DVD so that many more companies can enter the market. The reaction to this at CES was fantastic.
No mention was made of the innovative scenarios we showed around interactivity and network sharing either. Remember why Disney joined BDA and how they used to trumpet interactivity? Questioning what happened to all of that would have newsworthy.
And what do you mean Universal was quiet? They gave the keynote for HD DVD. They lead HD DVD marketing for US. Just because they don't pre-announce stuff, it doesn't mean they don't support HD DVD. They are way, way ahead of Fox/Disney and even Sony in supporting HD DVD so far with some of their top titles. What Fox/Disney showed is simply going where they should have already.
And what did BDA really announce beside new titles from studios who should have always been producing BD titles? Nothing. Just a Samsung player. Sony only hinted about players, with no availability, etc, yet you give them top billing, while not mentioning the first high-end company to lend support to HD DVD (Meridian).
As I noted before CES, you have great insight and opportunity to tell a fresh story. Instead, what you wrote is what BDA likes you to write. BDA declares the war won and folks just repeat that.
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You beat me to it
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Since when are proposed announcements for release dates for software the big news in a hardware show?
Especially considering Sony's record on this in 06'?
You beat me to it
Since when are proposed announcements for release dates for software the big news in a hardware show?
Especially considering Sony's record on this in 06'?
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Amir, Universal was quiet. They were quiet like BD50 is science fiction, that's how quiet they were.
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They may be the *most* onboard studio for HD DVD right now, but when you're in charge of marketing, and you don't do the simplest of marketing maneuvers for yourself, (ie the content announcement), it makes people wonder just how much 'most' means.
@rlsmith, I thought is was a good article. Amir's right that you could have mentioned more, but frankly why should you alone among all journalists be expected to provide a comprehensive overview? They'll report what they feel conveys the heart of what took place in their eyes, and you did the same. Makes sense. Fact is that if you were writing an HD DVD-leaning article, never in a million years would Amir show up to advise 'balance.'
For folk that think HD DVD 'won,' I'm not seeing it. And neither are any BD-only supporters I've seen. But there is many the HD DVD-only supporter that thinks BD won the show, I can tell you that much (and point anyone to the threads and posts).
(Of course today, less of those supporters are HD DVD-only; looks at Vancouver)
@rlsmith, I thought is was a good article. Amir's right that you could have mentioned more, but frankly why should you alone among all journalists be expected to provide a comprehensive overview? They'll report what they feel conveys the heart of what took place in their eyes, and you did the same. Makes sense. Fact is that if you were writing an HD DVD-leaning article, never in a million years would Amir show up to advise 'balance.'
For folk that think HD DVD 'won,' I'm not seeing it. And neither are any BD-only supporters I've seen. But there is many the HD DVD-only supporter that thinks BD won the show, I can tell you that much (and point anyone to the threads and posts).
(Of course today, less of those supporters are HD DVD-only; looks at Vancouver)
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You're kidding! Then why do I see people who were exclusive to HD DVD switching to Blu-ray after CES?
I didn't see a single person from Blu-ray saying "WOW! What a great CES for HD DVD. I'm going to sell my Blu-ray player and buy and HD DVD player."
Toshiba's new player at the $599 pricepoint is fantastic. But you still need content. HD DVD had to do one thing: Steal Lionsgate or Disney. That's what I've been hearing all year. That Lionsgate and Disney were to go neutral. They did neither. Virtually no confirmed dates for any of the titles from Universal. It was not a disaster for HD DVD. They certainly won points, but this is about movies in high definition. And right now, it's looking like that's what they're going to lack.
That 300 title announcement is about as ridiculous as Fox claiming BD has won.
You're kidding! Then why do I see people who were exclusive to HD DVD switching to Blu-ray after CES?
I didn't see a single person from Blu-ray saying "WOW! What a great CES for HD DVD. I'm going to sell my Blu-ray player and buy and HD DVD player."
Toshiba's new player at the $599 pricepoint is fantastic. But you still need content. HD DVD had to do one thing: Steal Lionsgate or Disney. That's what I've been hearing all year. That Lionsgate and Disney were to go neutral. They did neither. Virtually no confirmed dates for any of the titles from Universal. It was not a disaster for HD DVD. They certainly won points, but this is about movies in high definition. And right now, it's looking like that's what they're going to lack.
That 300 title announcement is about as ridiculous as Fox claiming BD has won.
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This CES was all about pounding nails into the hddvd coffin. A lot of nails were added.
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rlsmith is a widely known BR supporter and anti HD DVD. It doesn't surprise me at all that he would do the same as the BDA. No credibilty at all. Especially now.
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I just saw a post disappear really quickly about amir's last comment. What's that all about?
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RLSmith waits until the 2nd to last paragraph of his article to even mention Chinese manufacture of HD-DVD like its a footnote.
Deeply discounted players in a Walmart kiosk with a shelf full of those red disks ends the format war.
The studios that he mentions at the top of his article have to either surrender the most precious real estate in North American retail or release in HD-DVD.
This alone takes this into the realm of the general public instead of the enthusiast.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4501097&EDATE=
Amir was right.
RLSmith waits until the 2nd to last paragraph of his article to even mention Chinese manufacture of HD-DVD like its a footnote.
Deeply discounted players in a Walmart kiosk with a shelf full of those red disks ends the format war.
The studios that he mentions at the top of his article have to either surrender the most precious real estate in North American retail or release in HD-DVD.
This alone takes this into the realm of the general public instead of the enthusiast.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4501097&EDATE=
Amir was right.
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I was very pleased with the news from CES. The additional harware support is what the BR crowd has always crowed about. Now that HD DVD will have ce support and have the ablity to deliver lower cost players, they are all scared to death about the waiste of money on a $1000.00 plus player. I don't blame them. I would be upset myself if I had been crazy enough to buy into the BR hype.
Desperate people say desperate things. We shouldn't get mad at them. We should feel sorry for their loss of so much money.
Desperate people say desperate things. We shouldn't get mad at them. We should feel sorry for their loss of so much money.
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Rah Rah, go Chinese cheapo junk! Yay!
Frankly, I'd rather have HD formats from real allies than someone like China. Oh well, I guess the Chinese are some straws for desperate format fans to cling to.
Frankly, I'd rather have HD formats from real allies than someone like China. Oh well, I guess the Chinese are some straws for desperate format fans to cling to.
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I find it funny that people are calling out rlsmith for his pro BD spin and right away Amir jumps in with his pro HD DVD spin yet no one calls out Amir. No I don't find that funny actually, I find it telling. AVS is still very pro HD DVD although it's fun reading all of the defection threads. If HD DVD was a success at CES they sure failed to get that point across even to the heavily pro HD DVD crowd here at AVS.
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trgraphics, I got the hddvd addon for $120 total since I had a gift card. I think I probably wasted my money. The PS3 I got has the lineup of movies I want. I switched my netflix over to prefer blu-ray, and I'm not looking back.
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Eh, I decided to delete it... I often review my own posts and consider whether they're 'worthy' of me or not.
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The deleted post was basically one where I accused Amir of dodging the questions; but whatever.
Anyway, awesome - with Snickeing Hound and Trgraphics both in this thread now, the daily grind can get back underway.
Hit me up guys! Watchoo got? BDA propoganda? Sony plots to take over the world? Ah yes... Chinese manufacturer press releases.
Word.
Well hey, when they're available at Wal-mart PM me so I can run down and check it out.
Eh, I decided to delete it... I often review my own posts and consider whether they're 'worthy' of me or not.
Anyway, awesome - with Snickeing Hound and Trgraphics both in this thread now, the daily grind can get back underway.
Hit me up guys! Watchoo got? BDA propoganda? Sony plots to take over the world? Ah yes... Chinese manufacturer press releases.
Word.
Well hey, when they're available at Wal-mart PM me so I can run down and check it out.
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