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Sony Paid Warner Bros. $400 Million to Go Blu-Ray?
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Friday February 22, @04:02PM
from the beats-having-to-say-hd-dvd-all-the-time dept.
from the beats-having-to-say-hd-dvd-all-the-time dept.
eldavojohn writes "How much would you pay to be the leading video media technology right now? Is $400 million too much? Sony didn't think so and this article speculates that's how they won the Hi-Def format war. 'With billions of dollars in global sales at stake, experts had predicted the Toshiba-Sony battle would go on for years - not unlike the 1980s battle of videotape formats between VHS (Matsushita) and Betamax (Sony). That war lasted a decade, leaving Sony battered and humiliated. So how did this epic battle come to such an abrupt end? The answer lies in part with the bruising Sony experienced with Betamax, which, like Blu-ray, was also the better product on paper.'"
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Multiple users have written to tell us that Toshiba is planning to halt production of devices related to HD-DVD. According to Japanese broadcasting network NHK, Toshiba will lose "hundreds of millions of dollars" as the format war finally draws to a close. Regardless, investors are pleased that Toshiba has made the decision to cut its losses. This comes after a last-ditch price cut was unable to prevent Wal-mart from throwing their lot in with Blu-ray, although some sources suggest that Wal-mart was already aware of Toshiba's plans to withdraw from fight.
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Yeah right. (Score:5, Funny)
No more HD-DVD? (Score:5, Insightful)
We know step 2... (Score:5, Insightful)
Betamax wasn't better. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Betamax wasn't better. (Score:5, Insightful)
Even for /., bad summary and headline (Score:5, Informative)
Should read:
Really, other than the really obvious things we all know (Sony won the format war), there aren't any facts in the article, just speculation and some rather weird ideas from a variety of sources. Like Professor Xavier Dreze and his suggestion that "PlayStation buyers
$ony? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:$ony? (Score:5, Funny)
Plus and Minus (Score:5, Informative)
Now BluRay won the consumer war, but it is unclear if the professional disk version called XDCAM [wikipedia.org] will win the professional format, as pro video folks moving beyond tapes are also looking at flash-based systems like DVCPRO P2 [wikipedia.org] , and even Sony now offers professional XDCAM EX on SxS [wikipedia.org] flash memory.
Just Sony? (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe Sony did pay Warner the big bucks for the commitment, but I'd be surprised if they're the only ones making deals like this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Association [wikipedia.org]
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to worry — there is no such thing.
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's spelled 'we, the people', dumbass. The 'problem', such as it is, isn't the system, but your particularly shitty implementation of it.
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's spelled 'we, the people', dumbass. The 'problem', such as it is, isn't the system, but your particularly shitty implementation of it.
We got to see at least three major (and differing) implementations of Marx' setup. The number of deaths from it climbs up into the hundreds of millions, all told, and in places like North Korea, still climbing at horrific rate. Problem is, too many people are eager to claim their actions in the name of "the people", but the reality ends up being just the opposite. I think the USSR lasted approximately three years before it stopped being about "the people" and started being about "the state" (and yes, there is a distinction).
Capitalism (as practiced) isn't exactly a perfect system either (far, far from it). Quite frankly, it can outright suck at times. OTOH, it does have a tendency to keep its body counts down to a much more acceptable level.
Socialism? Cool... now who gets to fund it all when the majority of a populace figures out that they can do just fine without actually having to work for what they get? Ayn Rand may have been a nut case, but she does have a point - even economics has an ecosystem that requires each part of it to function well enough to survive. Humans are too damned lazy in nature to be eager about providing excessively for others in a system where they objectively don't have to.
Now here's the weak link in your arguments as per the free market... Collusion only works for as long as the people are willing to fund it. If not enough people buy Blu-Ray gear to justify the costs going into it, it eventually dies. If something freer, easier, and cheaper comes along (pick at least two) Last I checked, a lack of Blu-Ray gear won't prevent me from eating tonight, nor will that lack prevent me from drinking clean water, or having a nice warm environment in which to sleep tonight. This in turn leads to apathy among the larger population, which in turns leads to...
Re:free market? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's nothing insightful about your post; it's typical anarchist rhetoric, bound to no historical precedent or foresight.
Re:Market Isn't Even Ready (Score:5, Insightful)
Conversely, I think the lack of high quality downloads would actually spur increased demand for the delivery of high quality content though other means (in this case, HD discs.) If people have high def TVs, they are going to want high def content. If they can't get high def content from the internet, they will try to get it from high def media.
Re:Market Isn't Even Ready (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Market Isn't Even Ready (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Or... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Or... (Score:5, Interesting)
No, I'd say capacity was the #2 thing that mattered.
#1 was: Blu-Ray discs don't get scratched.
"Geeks" here on
Re:Or... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not entirely true. It had at least ONE major advantage, less market confusion with DVD.
I've seen at least two instances personally (not counting the numerous anecdotes mention here on slashdot
With Blu-Ray, there was much more of an instinctual "This is a new format that needs a new player".
I'd also wonder if Blu-Ray's choice of using Blue for their media vs HD DVD's Red made a difference from a psychological point of view. Most people associate Red with Danger, while Blue is usually associated with Calmness.
Re:Or... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Or... (Score:5, Insightful)
3-layer HD DVDs was just a PR stunt. None were ever produced, and I'm willing to bet that none of the existing HD DVD players could read them, so it might just as well have been a new format that nobody would have adopted.
Sony demonstrated much, much higher numbers of layers on Blu Ray discs as well.
Re:I guess free market means bribes (Score:5, Insightful)
BS.
The HD-DVD camp did the very same thing, yet where is the moral outrage? Hypocrisy is alive and well on