Receive instant notification of new columns:
Register Now to receive notification of new HDTV Magazine Columns via email as soon as they are published.
So you want to petition Warner and let them know you still want HD-DVD.........and you've got 12,000 signatures..................really? What are you guys thinking?!! How many HD DVD players were sold? 750,000......1,000,000? Doesn't matter the number, if it were 1,000,000 and I'm a Warner Exec, I would EXPECT 1,000,000 names on the petition and not one less. Not new news! OF COURSE everyone that has an HD-DVD player wants to see content continue from all possible sources. No mind-reading required there. But this was never about wondering which format the Consumer wanted. It's all about making a return on the investment already sunk. Clearly, John Q. Public was conflicted, sitting on the sidelines waiting for a winner, while neither side was capitalizing on their investment. The only way to win (make any ROI) was to ensure a winner. So Sony wrote the big check, and now they are the winner. End of game. The only thing sillier than the Warner petition was the guy who wanted to petition Toshiba - to kill the format. Believe me, I was the one in the HD-DVD Promotion Group's booth before CES opened, calibrating 22 Toshiba monitors. Those who stayed for the party had faces longer than a Lindsay Lohan rap sheet. Trust me, they heard the bells toll. If you must petition somebody, petition Sony to give all those disgruntled a $100 trade-in on a Blu-Ray player, since they put you in this box. If you bought an XA2, hang on to it as a decent upconverting NTSC player. Otherwise, stack your orphans in the closet, next to the D-VHS player, the Sony Elcaset and the Quadraphonic sound decoder. Petition for Consumer Justice...a quaint idea, but very, very naive.
Posted by Terry Paullin, January 28, 2008 10:29 AM
Reader Commentary Doesn't matter the number, if it were 1,000,000 and I'm a Warner Exec, I would EXPECT 1,000,000 names on the petition and not one less. It's a good thing you are NOT a Warner Exec, because you are expecting a 100% response rate. When in the real world does that ever happen??? OK, so the chances of the Petition changing Warner's position are next to nothing; still the consumer should have the right to express their feelings to the company. ... OR is it a case of trying to say, freedom of expression shouldn't be allowed. Too many big businesses operate in a vacuum as if the customer doesn't matter, so customer feedback IS important. Bob Diaz... Petition for Consumer Justice...a quaint idea, but very, very naive Wrong, Mr. Paullin, I've been petitioning for consumer justice most successfully for 40 years (although I do agree with you that Warner is not the party to be petitioned). BTW, assuming someone successfully petitions the court to require the studios to license movies in both formats, why do you think that would be inferior to having Blue Ray only? Phil... The count is now up to 30,000...++... So is it a good idea to buy an HD-DVD player now, and start scooping up HD-DVDs? The A35 is under $250 @ Amazon... Its currently $129 at Costco, with five free HD DVDs. That also includes an HDMI cable, which effectively matches the previous $98 deal of several months ago. Its a no brainer to buy if you would benefit even with only a quality upconversion DVD player. I purchased one several months ago and feel way ahead of the game. I received my five free DVDs yesterday. If I never buy another HD DVD, I have paid a ridiculously low price for some very high quality goodies. I don't have a problem with buying a Blue Ray player down the road, if that is the only format available. What is wrong with stacking these two different formated players on top of each other. Both are relatively small components. There is nothing incompatible about using two different formats to reproduce movies. I still use (on a regular basis) in addition to CDs, a turntable, cassette deck, and a reel to reel tape deck to reproduce audio. Each of these components has its own strengths and weaknesses. Regarding th... First, for anyone looking for a link the the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/SAVEHDD/petition.html He states: "Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A valid concern. Always check out the privacy policy on these websites in addition to a quick Google search to verify their legitimacy. Here is a link to the privacy statement for the site in question: http://www.petitiononline.com/privacy-pets.html A quick look and check of this policy quickly alleviated any concerns I might have had. ANOTHER FACT: Government entities, from the White House on down, DO NOT accept emails as any semblance of a valid petition." You might want to brush up on your "f... Jordanm, It's hard for anyone else to say what the "right" value proposition is for YOU. Turns out there are about 1,000 titles out there currently, some of which are foreign, documentarys and concert videos. Still, there are 7 or 800 "normal" movies. Just know that someday (soon, I expect) the lights will go out completely on HD-DVD. Assuming you will want to continue the magic of high definition optical disc, you will have to buy a BD player. You will then be left with a "spare" that is good for archived HD-DVDs and up-converting NTSC discs. The real question is, of all the HD-DVDs that are available, how many do you really want to own/rent. If the number is small, perhaps your $250 is better spent as a headstart toward a BD player.... Bob, Of course you never get 100% on a petition. You took me too literally. I only meant to say that no one at Warner (or Sony) expects any HD-DVD owner to be happy with this situation. That said, there's no turning back. They got what they want and 1,000,000 of us are stuck with the debris (remember Divx). I couldn't agree more that many big businesses attempt to operate in a vacuum, though these businesses eventually fade away. An immutable law of business is that they must sell products that people want to buy. Warner and Sony have already calculated that although they may have pissed off 1,000,000 people, those same people won't swear off HD optical discs just to get even. The few that might are easily replaced with "fence-sitters" who will now get in the game since the future is (now) clear. If it makes you feel better, by all means, sign the petition. It may serve as an excellent blood pressure reduction aid.... "OK, so the chances of the Petition changing Warner's position are next to nothing; still the consumer should have the right to express their feelings to the company. ... OR is it a case of trying to say, freedom of expression shouldn't be allowed. Too many big businesses operate in a vacuum as if the customer doesn't matter, so customer feedback IS important. " Of course you have the right to petition any business. Petitioning Toshiba is of no help. They agree with you. You'd have to petition all the studios that are solely recording Blu Ray and the HD ones that are or will be going to Blu Ray. Will this do any good? If getting something off your chest is good, then it's good. But since the penetration of both formats is still next to nothing compared to dvd's the chances of any success is between Slim and None. And Slim left town. You'd also have to petition all the retail outlets that only want to sell one format, which is probably all of them. Shelf space is expensiv... More in Category: HD DVD & Blu-ray
About Terry PaullinAfter 25+ years as a Silicon Valley Executive, most recently as President and C.O.O. of Crosscheck, Mr. Paullin decided to follow his passion to the emerging Home Theatre industry. In 1994 he formed Front Row Cinema to design, build and calibrate Home Theatres for private residences. Nearly 600 theatres later, he remains engaged in the Industry in the following ways.Builds dedicated (single purpose) Home Theatres and “Theatre Environments” (rooms used for other purposes as well). Teaches Imaging Science and other courses for the Imaging Science Foundation. Mr. Paullin has taught CEDIA accredited classes to the installation community at both AVAD and ADI. Consults to Industry on the topic of Imaging Science (Pioneer, Optima, In-Focus and several others under non-disclosure). Mr. Paullin has served on the Board of two companies and the Advisory committee of two others. Has written articles/product reviews for major industry publications, including Widescreen Review, The Perfect Vision, The Ultimate Guide to A/V, WIRED magazine and CEPro and has maintained a monthly column (One Installer’s Opinion) in Widescreen Review for the past eight years. Mr. Paullin has a B.S.E.E. degree from Long Beach State University Performs ISF monitor calibrations for private individuals. Mr. Paullin also maintains 3 theatres in his home for testing, comparison, performance verification, and reference viewing. |
advertisement
Authors
Categories
Other Recent Discussion
|
||||||||
© 1998 - 2010 HDTV Magazine, Ltd.
Home |
Advertise | Contact Us | About HDTV Magazine | Help | 
RSS Feedsv3.0
