Hits from the Bong

I am thinking that LG has been listening to too many Cypress Hill songs... Oh the song titles I could use here.... "Hits from the Bong", "Insane in the Brain," and "I wanna get high" Cuz a drug induced haze is the only way I can make sense of their most recent decision. While everyone else is abandoning HD-DVD (well okay maybe Paramount will still be supporting them after their payout in August to go HD exclusive) LG has decided NOT to join that trend. Instead they are planning to come out with a new dual-format player. With the fire sales that are about to happen why not just pick up another HD player? The dual-format players are typically more expensive and (as evidenced by the dual VHS and DVD player) if one part fails you're kind of SOL. I am assuming that people who had built up an HD collection already have an HD player. So I guess LG's strategy is to still make them abandon their old HD player in favour of one that plays both. Why not just pick up a Blu-ray player? Or they are trying to take advantage of some poor fool that hasn't heard the news yet that HD-DVD is dead and the funeral is now over. All I can say to LG is to remember to "Puff, Puff, Pass."

Toshiba PR Might Be Looking for a New Job

Obviously with the recent news HD-DVD is now officially dead.... The format war lasted about 2 years and has now ended with Blu-ray being declared the winner. Now I can't help but wonder if Toshiba's head of PR is going to be seeking employment elsewhere. Most of their press releases about a company (Warner Brothers, Netflix, Best Buy, Wal-Mart) choosing Blu-ray exclusivity were virtually the same.... just a cut and paste job with the names replaced. "We are sad to see _________ go. We continue to maintain that we have the superior format and the customers will continue to choose us for their high definition format."

Last week I think was the best though... Reports came out on many major news sources that Toshiba was accepting defeat and conceding. Toshiba didn't deny those reports. However, they denied making any press statement. Now what kind of denial is that? They also said they had not made a decision yet. Oh yeah a day later there was an official press conference where Toshiba conceded and HD-DVD was pronounced dead.

Now back to my PS3 and those bright shiny blu cases.... And who ever said that gamers don't buy movies... Oh wait that was Universal Studios exec. Ken Graffeo. I saw a poll not long ago at the Blu-ray web site and about 80% of the people on there said they use their PS3 to watch movies on. Guess it's a bigger market then Graffeo thought. According to Graffeo, the PS3 is a gaming machine first, and studies have shown that "70% of gamers don’t even know that their console has a DVD playback option." Hmm... Guess that he was a little off on that statement. Oops.... perhaps they should've pushed Microsoft to include the HD-DVD player in the X-Box 360 instead of as an add-on. Might have made a difference in the format war.... But the end is here and the future is Blu.

HD-DVD: The look and sound of upconverted DVDs. :o)

Nails in the Coffin and the Final Burial

TOKYO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.' decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.
We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007.
We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer.

February 12, 2008 - "We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail."

February 18, 2008 - "The media [has] reported that Toshiba will discontinue its HD DVD business. Toshiba has not made any announcement concerning this. Although Toshiba is currently assessing its business strategies, no decision has been made at this moment."

February 19, 2008 - "We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."

The Ongoing Saga of the Student Loan

In case you are wondering I still have no idea what they wanted. It took all my energy just to get out of bed this morning.... Needless to say calling them was just not a priority. I'll call them on Tuesday when I have a day off and a little more time to fight with them. I don't imagine that it will be a short conversation or have good news... But we'll see.