herod said:
If the bootleg scene really was that rampant, that's just more incentive for the labels to kill off DVD as soon as they reasonably can.
I know I'm skipping a bunch of posts here, so someone might have pointed this out already, but the DVD piracy scene really IS "that rampant" and it's a huge issue for the studios.
Some of you may not be aware that DVD was never intended to be copyable- when the encryption was broken by DVD jon a while back, the floodgates opened and now not only are bootlegs EVERYWHERE (I can't throw a rock downtown without hitting someone selling them) but a huge community of people sprang up that do nothing but use netflix/blockbuster to burn massive amounts of dvds in the privacy of their own home.
This is a huge concern for the studios, obviously- a big difference between Laserdisc and VHS, or VHS and DVD here is that the studios REALLY, REALLY want to put an end to DVD since the copy protection is all but worthless now.
In fact, now that it appears that HD-DVD is essentially finished and there will be only one next gen format, don't be surprised if studios begin actively promoting Blu-ray OVER DVD by doing things like releasing the Blu-Ray version of a hot film several weeks earlier than it's DVD counterpart, to spur the masses to jump into HD.
Think that's farfetched? it isn't.
things like this are exactly what happened when they decided to phase out vhs.
edit: now I'm sorry I skipped some posts- I missed some gems like this:
No they are not because they were not there for other format changes. They were not even born during the cassette to CD change. Lots of them were not adults when vhs to dvd happened.
I think you're underestimating the age of some of the posters here, chief. Quite a few of us- me included- were most certainly around and aware during those eras. Some of us (me again!) even worked IN the retail side of the Consumer Electronics industry and are VERY aware of the ins and outs of why certain formats won out. Hell, I still have the first VCR I got for christmas in 1984- It's a zenith, it's the size of a freaking refridgerator and yes, it still works.
Unless you were around you do not understand why the shifts happened. You get grand ideas like PQ/SQ won people over. They forget how horrible VHS and cassettes were with mechanical noise durablity not being able to skip to any track and form factor. Most of them think the jump in PQ/SQ from DVD to blu is the same as vhs to dvd or sq from cassette to CD
different people have different reasons for upgrading. interesting you bring up the casette to CD shift, since that's one area where Sound Quality WAS a gigantic advantage and most certainly a reason for people to switch- "digital sound!" was quite the buzzword back then, and it's certainly arguable that casette tapes had the advantage in form factor over CDs- they were a LOT more durable and easier to carry around, scratches weren't an issue, casettes were recordable (CD-R didn't come about until long after that war was decided, and not at mass market prices) and the better models of cassette players DID have "track skip" capability.
They are kids with out families they don't know what a god send that DVD player in the car is to a parent to keep the peace. They don't understand having to budget for things and not being able to go out and replace all their players with blu. Which is what you must do to avoid double dipping thanks to blu media not working in DVD players.
If and when blu takes off, portable blu players will be quick to follow, no worries there. There USED to be a market for portable VCRs for car use, and before that car mounted antennas so one could watch broadcast television on the go. No one is lamenting the death of either of these technologies, and it will be the same with portable DVD as well.
LOL at you for going into a panic at the thought of not having a portable DVD player to keep the crotchfruit entertained though. Something tells me you wouldnt have lasted 5 seconds being a parent in the late 70s/early 80s when such things didn't exist. Kids would have actually had to read! or talk to each other during car rides! the horror!
