HD-DVD or BluRay? Which will win?

It's interesting to watch all these companies stick their necks out like this. Whose head will end up rolling down the aisle of dead formats? Guess we'll just have to sit back and wait patiently.
 
Jubal, are you saying that Hollywood is why DVD seriously took off? If so, what does it mean that Hollywood prefers HD-DVD?
 
No, I'm saying that 11 million DVD players had already been sold in the US before the PS2 was released here and DVD was already the fastest-growing piece of consumer electronics of all time.
 
Jubal28 said:
I take very, very, very serious exception with that.
Click to expand...

But the PS2 singularly brought the DVD player into the average household. In fact the system has just sold over 90 million system (aka players). They just recently announced it in a press release. I'd like to see you confirm your 11 million players with accurate facts.

Before that, DVDs were seen as extremely pricey. The PS2 changed that image because not only did the PS2 play DVDs, it played movies as well. It was an all in one solution.
 
DVDs cost about the same in 1999 as they do now -- about $20 for a movie; some at $15 (like the Warner Bros. catalogue). I've been collecting since '98 and prices have stayed pretty steady. New-release DVDs -- even of older movies -- stil typically come in at $20.

As for my numbers, they're here:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/cemadvdsales.html

Keeping in mind that the PS2 was released in the US in late October 2000.
 
Here's a story from October 4, 2000, denoting the 10 million mark hit that September. The story was written weeks before the PS2's debut here. Relevant passages:


"This level is reached faster than any other consumer electronics product in history, just three and a half years after its introduction. The DVD Entertainment Group announced this new milestone for the popular home video format at the annual DVD Forum meeting in Scottsdale. "

. . .

"``The milestone of shipping 10 million DVD-Video players is regarded as an indicator of mass market acceptance,'' said Emiel N. Petrone, chairman, DVD Entertainment Group and executive vice president, Philips Entertainment Group, Worldwide. ``We know that shortly we will achieve 10 percent household penetration -- a benchmark of success for any consumer electronics product.'' "


Did the PS2 help bring DVDs into millions more homes? Certainly. Is the PS2 "the reason DVD ever seriously took off"? Obviously not.
 
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