That's right, it's over, no more format wars harkening back to the days of VHS and Betamax. Toshiba (and just about everyone else who matters) have finally thrown in the white towel. So now where does that leave us? Blu-Ray clearly seems to be the disc format that will be the winning format but what about the downloading services that are out there? Microsoft has given us the ability to download a limited amount of movies in HD through their XBOX Live service and then there is Vudu. Vudu is a box available for purchase (for $300) that you can download movies to via the internet.
Long term it seems as though the download services make the most sense; no need for a big cabinet for all of the discs, no discs to scratch and instant access to the movie without having to sit through all those previews (unless your into that kind of stuff). The drawbacks right now don't favor them though, one; the download speed is just not fast enough and two; storage space just isn't there. Downloading a movie from anyone of these services can take 4 hours or more to download and in the case of the XBOX Live they don't even offer the best resolution for HD yet (it is till at 720P). As for storage; if you plan on having more than 60 or 100 movies in your collection you will have a hard time finding storage for them. That is about how many movies you will be able to store on a 1TB hard drive.
There is something to be said for going to the store on Tuesday for a New Release movie and cracking open the case and putting the disc into the player. Maybe it's just because that's the way it has always been, but it seems as though most of the public agrees with me. Take a look at CD sales in comparison to downloaded music sales. The last sales figures I have seen show that CD sales still account for 90% of the market compared to 10% for downloads. So if it was up to me; give me a big bookcase full of Blu-ray discs and I will be a happy man.
Long term it seems as though the download services make the most sense; no need for a big cabinet for all of the discs, no discs to scratch and instant access to the movie without having to sit through all those previews (unless your into that kind of stuff). The drawbacks right now don't favor them though, one; the download speed is just not fast enough and two; storage space just isn't there. Downloading a movie from anyone of these services can take 4 hours or more to download and in the case of the XBOX Live they don't even offer the best resolution for HD yet (it is till at 720P). As for storage; if you plan on having more than 60 or 100 movies in your collection you will have a hard time finding storage for them. That is about how many movies you will be able to store on a 1TB hard drive.
There is something to be said for going to the store on Tuesday for a New Release movie and cracking open the case and putting the disc into the player. Maybe it's just because that's the way it has always been, but it seems as though most of the public agrees with me. Take a look at CD sales in comparison to downloaded music sales. The last sales figures I have seen show that CD sales still account for 90% of the market compared to 10% for downloads. So if it was up to me; give me a big bookcase full of Blu-ray discs and I will be a happy man.
And the winner is… Blu-Ray
Jim Carter's Technology Blog
Posted 3/4/2008
