Blockbuster Goes Blu-Ray<< FCC: Not One Thing, But Another | Main | Wiimbledon! >> Joseph Laszlo | June 18, 2007, 02:12 PM Blockbuster's decision to back Blu-Ray over HD-DVD is a huge win for the Blu-Ray camp. While HD-DVD apologists have focused on caveats and provisos in the decision (only 1,400 or so stores will carry Blu-Ray; out of 5,000+; HD-DVDs will still be available online and in 250 Blockbusters; Blockbuster itself is obsolete and will soon be dead) if I were in the Blu-Ray camp, I'd be pretty happy. Actually, not happy so much as falling all over myself proposing joint marketing campaigns making every household in America aware of this move. While Blockbuster says it's consumer demand that prompted its choice of Blu-Ray, clearly Blockbuster can have a huge impact on consumer hardware purchase decisions. Back in the VHS-Betamax wars, rental places phasing out beta was the invasion of Normandy, the fall of Saigon, rendering the outcome pretty inevitable. Anything that helps consumers feel confident that they're picking a winning format is likely to help spur next-gen player sales. And of course, the best thing of all would be if one format clearly won over the other; as long as the 2 are in contention, the next generation will never arrive. Also, if you haven't seen fanboy partisans of the two techs duking it out, I highly recommend the comments over at Engadget HD. Wow. Harsh. |
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