Toshiba calls it Quits

For all those who bought an HD player......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080216/tc_nm/...d_dvd_exit_dc_2

Steve B)

For all those who bought an HD player......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080216/tc_nm/...d_dvd_exit_dc_2

 

Steve B)

IMO, we as content creators should be more concerned with online content delivery

Cliff,

Disagree with you on that. While online content has been growing and will continue to do so, I like to plunk a nice DVD in my theater system, kick back and relax while I watch. I spend so much time on my computer editing and writing, the last thing I want to do is sit upright at my computer watching a movie on line.

Steve B)

Cliff,

Disagree with you on that. While online content has been growing and will continue to do so, I like to plunk a nice DVD in my theater system, kick back and relax while I watch. I spend so much time on my computer editing and writing, the last thing I want to do is sit upright at my computer watching a movie on line.

Steve B)

Having said that - We can disagree agreeably...

My point is with the increasing use of HTPC's - either built from parts or something like AppleTV, content is accessed from a hard drive attached to the HTPC via a remote - no need to plunk in a DVD. Networked throughout a house - more than one computer can access said content - and is attached to the internet via broadband or fiber for access to online movies, independent content movie portals, streaming music, weather, etc.

I understand your position about the idea of watching a DVD. I blogged recently, that the ever increasing development of Fiber being trenched to homes and internet over powerlines - this will up the ante with regards to digital media content and how it is consumed.

Those of us 40 and older - we're on the fringe of the archaic way of viewing content. We're use to putting a DVD into a player to watch a movie title. I'm through with doing it that way. I've begun the transition to HTPC and I can't imagine going back to dealing with hundreds of titles in physical form. I'm already beginning the encoding process of my DVD titles to store on hard drives that can be attached to the HTPC I am building. The new generation is looking to online for consumption of content - and all of this is going to change the way content distribution is going to take place - HTPC's (or some variation of what currently exists at this time) will be the center of attention in a home theater setup - companies like DivX and Apple are seeing to that with their hardware offerings. It's already happening with iPods, mobile phone's, etc.

I've been doing a fair amount of research regarding online content distribution - it's coming faster than most are willing to accept - TV stations are losing money hand over fist due to not being in touch with viewing trends - people are tuning out of traditional broadcast and tuning in to online alternatives.

If you had a choice between having to go physically through your DVD collection to find a title to watch, or using a remote to either access content you encoded to a hard drive on your HTPC, which is immediately accessible via a menu driven display - or even going directly to netflix online and watching the latest title in real time over the net - which would you prefer???

I would venture to bet people would choose the latter over the former.

Hey Cliff,

While I have a couple thousand music CDs, I do miss going through my vinyl albums just admiring the artwork and such. Same with DVDs, I like reading the stuff inside, looking at the deleted scenes and the 'how did we do that' sections. There is no question that MP3 music is highly compressed and thus you are not hearing all that the artist wanted you to hear. At this point, downloaded movies do not have the signal to noise separation or the video quality. I've spent way too much on my home theater ,at this point roughly 30k, to want to see some grainy movie when I can see it in all its glory with good audio separation. I'm sure on line stuff will improve but by then we will all be watching holographic projectors anyway.

You're right Cliff, I'm old and getting older, stuck in my ways. Now, if I had a 60" computer monitor and a lazyboy computer chair and a Lexicon MC-12 processor for the computer and Arial Acoustic speakers,including sub, a couple of Krell power amps, then maybe I would consider switching.....but then there would be no room in my computer room for me to get into it.

Have a great day.....;-)

Steve

Hey Cliff,

While I have a couple thousand music CDs, I do miss going through my vinyl albums just admiring the artwork and such. Same with DVDs, I like reading the stuff inside, looking at the deleted scenes and the 'how did we do that' sections. There is no question that MP3 music is highly compressed and thus you are not hearing all that the artist wanted you to hear. At this point, downloaded movies do not have the signal to noise separation or the video quality. I've spent way too much on my home theater ,at this point roughly 30k, to want to see some grainy movie when I can see it in all its glory with good audio separation. I'm sure on line stuff will improve but by then we will all be watching holographic projectors anyway.

You're right Cliff, I'm old and getting older, stuck in my ways. Now, if I had a 60" computer monitor and a lazyboy computer chair and a Lexicon MC-12 processor for the computer and Arial Acoustic speakers,including sub, a couple of Krell power amps, then maybe I would consider switching.....but then there would be no room in my computer room for me to get into it.

Have a great day.....;-)

Steve

Hope things are well for ya Steve.