One thing that would increase adoption of Blu-ray in the US is stand-alone recorders not r/w drives that are meant to be in PCs, but true stand-alone recorders that are meant to be in an audio/video rack. But draconian copy protection and they mistaken attitude by some manufacturers that in the US people only record to DVRs is hampering that.
My main reason for holding off buying a Blu-ray deck is because I want a stand-alone recorder and I am not willing to shell out $400 or perhaps more for something that I will get rid of when stand-alone recorders finally hit the US market.
One dealer that I know has also said that they could sell quite a few stand-alone recorders to people who want to archive content from their HD camcorders. Personally, I would like to archive my VHS collection as well as some Digital 8 and Hi-8 tapes.
According to an article that I read recently, the only sales of stand alone devices in Japan have been stand-alone recorders. Apparently, no manufacturer has sold a play-back only stand-alone device in the Japanese market, and the current market price for stand-alone recorders in Japan is around $400 US. So, why not in the US????
Hear this Blu-ray device manufacturers: the longer you keep stand-alone recorders out of the US market, the longer this delay in conversion from DVD to Blu-ray will take - assuming you do not kill the market for Blu-ray in the US.
And if its the draconian copy protection in the US that is keeping you from introducing stand-alone recorders, take it to court. You manufacturers ought to be able to win on the basis of the VHS ruling from years ago that copying for personal use is legal.