This is a point that should be obvious to everyone, but it seems to me that it gets lost in the multitude of arguements over BD vrs HD-DVD and HD optical versus HD digital.
The consumer is not going to buy into HD unless they have a HDTV. It doesn't matter if its downloads, BD, HD-DVD, or rentals. At this point HDTV's haven't penetrated a large portion of the population. Untill they do people are not going to buy into HD or any kind.
If someone can afford to buy a $700 to $5000 TV, then you'd think they could afford to buy a $200 - $500 DL Box or Player to take advantage of their new purchase. If you have the money to spend only then do "features, studio exclusivness, profiles" matter.
Having read these forums for the last 4 to 5 months I can see that people are just not looking at the big picture. You have to be wealthy to enjoy any part of the HD experience right now. $1500 TV, $400 HD player, $600 HD reciever, $1000 speakers, that's almost $3500 for just a decent setup. A really nice setup can cost $10,000 or more. Hell people can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on this stuff. Your regular guy just walks by the row of HDTV's at BB and drools as his wife drags him past by the arm. If HD is niche then it's niche because of the cost. The cost of every part of the HD experience ought to go down.
Consumers are going to be happy with their SD TV's and DVD's untill it costs $1000 to get a decent setup. My humble opinion.
The consumer is not going to buy into HD unless they have a HDTV. It doesn't matter if its downloads, BD, HD-DVD, or rentals. At this point HDTV's haven't penetrated a large portion of the population. Untill they do people are not going to buy into HD or any kind.
If someone can afford to buy a $700 to $5000 TV, then you'd think they could afford to buy a $200 - $500 DL Box or Player to take advantage of their new purchase. If you have the money to spend only then do "features, studio exclusivness, profiles" matter.
Having read these forums for the last 4 to 5 months I can see that people are just not looking at the big picture. You have to be wealthy to enjoy any part of the HD experience right now. $1500 TV, $400 HD player, $600 HD reciever, $1000 speakers, that's almost $3500 for just a decent setup. A really nice setup can cost $10,000 or more. Hell people can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on this stuff. Your regular guy just walks by the row of HDTV's at BB and drools as his wife drags him past by the arm. If HD is niche then it's niche because of the cost. The cost of every part of the HD experience ought to go down.
Consumers are going to be happy with their SD TV's and DVD's untill it costs $1000 to get a decent setup. My humble opinion.