Customer stupidity also played a large part in that particular format war. Although YES, there never should have been a format war, it was a mark of idiocy that the two formats were named after another technology. Because I can just about guarantee that the average customer went something like this:
"Hm. DVD-Audio... how is this different from a music DVD that is over in the DVD section? This is too confusing. I'm not buying it."
or
"SACD. How is this different from a regular CD? And you need a special player for it? This is too confusing. I'm not buying it."
They REALLY should have gone with something like HR-AD (for High Resolution Audio Disc) or something like that. It should have had ABSOLUTELY no connection with previous formats.
As far as HDTV though, the battle to get people to upgrade will NOT be fought in media format wars. Nearly every person I know says that 480p DVDs look good enough on their TV's for them and that they don't feel a huge desire to upgrade, even if playing them side-by-side.
Where you see the STRONG desire to upgrade into higher resolution formats is in broadcast TV. Regular cable and regular OTA TV just simply looks like ASS on a HD screen. If you want people to upgrade to a better setup, simply show them how much better that HD cable (or OTA) looks than the regular stuff and you'll have to fight them off with a stick.
And yes, DRM is going to be a huge hurdle for the consumer to get over. I know that's why I won't upgrade.
[Posted by: Psimitry | Date: 09/27/07 05:35:06 AM]
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