Microsoft: Blu-ray Will Be Passed By As a Format

[mykem]

They're making the assumption that home theater setups are content with current standards and that those standards won't progress anytime soon. What will they do when movies are 9000x6000 pixels uncompressed with master audio at 192K per speaker and America is still stuck at 5Mb/s downloads? Physical media will always have the ability to deliver higher quality content than streaming. It's like having a Gigabit wired network as oppoased to a 300Mb wireless N network. Some people go wired for the reliability and speed.. just as some people will go physical media for reliability and quality. Media technology appears to be progressing much faster than broadband technology, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

 

[Guest]

Ok if you have download only content, then no more deals at the stores when you have competitive pricing. With download content they can keep the prices jacked up. Like the stupid PSP GO.

 

[Guest]

For Microsoft to say that the 1080p content they currently offer is "Blu-Ray Quality" shows how little intelligence they think the public has. Their HD content is FAR from Blu-Ray quality!

But with over 40 million Xbox 360's sold I suppose they have a point!

 

[masterasia]

I have never watched a Blu Ray on my PS3 since I got it 3 years ago. They are way too expensive to buy and cost more to rent as well. Netflix is still working out great for me. With services like HULU and Boxee, I don't even have cable anymore. I would back up my data to blu ray, but it's just too expensive. Traditional hard drives are dirt cheap nowadays so I just stock up on those.

 

[sagansrun]

I prefer having the physcal media in my personal library. So streaming for me is not an option.

Plus, the older Laser disc of the 80's and 90's seem to have titles that are uncut, unedited, and letterboxed correctly unlike a lot of the new cuts made in DVD or bluray. They are litterally re-writing history as these shows are being cutup. So I still look for LD's and rip them to DVD. Not as good as HD but I get the whole movie.

 

[kartu]

Anything related to Blue Ray = paying big bad guys who has invented format plagued by DRM.

So I actually dislike both Microsoft and group standing behind Blue Ray.

 

[TheKurrgan]

I'd pay the premium at this junction for a SD card based distribution. more space, quick enough, and not damn Sony proprietary.

 

[ksharp25]

Hands down, I use BluRay disc over streaming anything. Why? Because not everyone has access or affordability to pay $70 a month for fiber based internet like AT&T UVerse or Verizon FIOS.

And I wouldnt dare try to stream a full 1080P HD Blu-Ray quality video on a cable connection of less than 10 MB down or God forbid, attempt it on a high tier DSL. You never would be able to.

Until pricing gets decent for fiber-based Internet and its readily available in nearly all market areas (meaning $35-40 a month vs the common $55-70 now) Blu-ray format or discs are not going to be passed by or outdated

 

[Guest]

People still like to own 'something'. A digital download is too easy to delete or misplace. Also there are a lot of people, even in the states, that live in remote areas were internet connection is not that great and GB downloads are very difficult to do.

So I don't think a physical media will ever really be replaced by a download solution. However I do see disk based media going away in favor of chip based media. Smaller packaging and less shelf space would be nice. Blu-ray will not be as ubiquitous as DVD was I think.

 

[castle songbird]

as it stands now i have a netflix account so i do "use" a lot of blu ray discs. I completely acknowlage digital distribution as the the way of the future however. In general though the PC landscape is a testing ground for console buisness model. If it wasn't for Valve stepping up to the plate and showing D2D that "your doing it wrong" the console machine likely would not have been so eager by now to switch to dig. dist. It would still have happened eventualy i think, just 5 or so year later when it wasn't so risky.

 

[Rab1d-BDGR]

M$FT just whining because they lost the format war.

Digital distribution can't become the standard for the vast majority of internet users around the world thanks to poor connections. I feel very privileged to have access to 24mbit (probably more like 16-18 actual) with no caps. - I still prefer physical media for now and won't pay for any download unless it has no DRM killswitch whatsoever. As others have said, solid state storage is probably the interim future of premium content distribution once price-per GB drops. I wouldn't be surprised if Blu-ray becomes the last optical storage, but it will be around for a good few years to come.

 

[treyking11]

what a bunch of backpedaling bullshit. they didnt think physical media was "dead" when they backed HD-DVD. i want a physical copy with some type of resale value. something i can take to a friends house. yeah, i store my BR discs on my HDD's, but only save the originals from wear and tear. typical Micro$uck spin.

 

[wishtar]

Digital Downloads are fine if you like paying for a movie everytime you want to watch it. If you keep all your downloads on your HD but even with TB drives you will eventually run out of space and you'll have to either delete movies or off load them to some external storage. Makes more sense to purchase movies already in a removable physical format. Plus you get pretty case and and additional content.

 

[awood28211]

Blue Ray makes sense for backups IF the price of the media drops to DVD/CD pricing.

 

[wishtar]

I think the only reason that Blu-ray has't taken off more is that most people don't yet have HD TV's. Given the high price of HD TV's and the current state of the economy, this isn't likely to change anytime soon.

 

[antilycus]

the only people that still think that Blu-Ray is the future are 1) the people that own one (such as the PS3) and 2) people that can't let go for their mini disc, scd and laser disc.

Just because you got suckered into buying an over price, over hyped technology does not mean that you know the future, sorry.

 

[Guest]

I see Blu-Ray following in Laserdisc's footprints: It hangs on in the enthusiast market for many years, but never really goes mainstream. There's no doubt it looks and sounds better than DVD or streamed movies, but most people don't really care.

 

[toolinthemist]

I like my physical media but i don't plan on shifting to blu-ray anytime soon.
I definitely don't want to see digital downloads become the only means of content distribution.

 

[Guest]

MAYBE streaming will reach or exceed Blue-Ray in quality but just remember: "The average U.S. household has to pay an exorbitant amount of money for an Internet connection that the rest of the industrial world would find mediocre. [...] The consequences are far worse than having to wait a few extra seconds for a movie to load. Because broadband connections are the railroads of the 21st century—essential infrastructure required to transmit products (these days, in the form of information) from seller to buyer—our creaky Internet makes it harder for U.S. entrepreneurs to compete in global markets." See http/www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=competition-and-the-internet&sc=SA_20100922

 

[badaxe2]

Microsoft's console division is always good for lols. Last winter it was them saying they don't need to "go back to the drawing board on a console" when asked if they'll introduce a "Slim" model like Sony had. Well we all know what happened this summer. Now this-

People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay.

Actually that one deserves a lmao. I'd like to see the percentage of people who can stream Blu-ray quality picture and sound to their Xbox 360. I'm guessing it's a lot less than the 100% of PS3 owners who can.

These Xbox PR guys are long overdue for a big fat slice of humble pie.