Playboy shows prescience on high-def war
September 19, 2007

"Whoever wins, we'll all lose as movie studios and electronics goliaths take sides in the latest high-tech war."

That's the opening sentence in a Playboy magazine blurb on the high-def disc war, written by VB's own Buzz McClain...two and a half years ago (April, 2005).

A friend in the supplier community brought the old story to my attention this week, noting that 30 months after Playboy's take, high-def DVD has not yet become a replacement technology for standard-def discs, and that the public is still buying nine out of 10 discs in standard-def when BD and HD are available. She says, "not a single member of my staff has purchased either player."

While some of the studio allegiances have changed since 2005 (Warner is a dual-supporter;  Paramount has gone from HD DVD-only, to dual format and back again; and Fox got off the fence to support BD only), not much else has. Buzz wrote then "So you'll have to take sides, and it's going to cost you: Expect player prices to debut at $1,000 and up.With that kind of money at stake, only the most addicted technoholics will initially be game; smarter consumers may want to wait until a clear winner emerges (we hope) in a few years.

While player prices may be as low as $200 this year, there are still plenty of options in that higher price range and consumers are still waiting until a clear winner emerges (we hope) in a few years.
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Posted by Marcy Magiera on September 19, 2007 | Comments (1)