Wow this prompted more discussion than I thought!

Well to fire off some quick answers:

(1) Perhaps I misspoke then when I criticized the non-HD-compliant plasma on which they were demo-ing the HD-DVD player: I was referring to hoping they were using a full 1080 display, interlaced or progressive, I don't care, as long as we were seeing the full 1080 lines of resolution.

(2) I agree with your theory in further analogizing BluRay to Beta: it would be interesting if it ended up following a similar fate -- presumably more for the better than for the worse, as the BetaCam products command a huge price tag in the B2B industry of film production, agreed.

(3) Rayxi, thank you for your input, that is essentially what I was going to say: at 26 years old, and having been lucky enough to have a Dad who picked up the first IBM PC XT when I was about 3 yrs old, I've always been a huge supporter and enthusiast in the advancement of technology, be it for home or business. And when I see a new technology come to surface in which *I* can see its obvious benefit over existing products, I want nothing more than for it to get pushed as strongly as possible for the hope that it will ultimately supervene the extant solutions currently out there.

Ultimately, all I'm really saying is, your average consumer is very slow and unwilling to upgrade to newer and better. (ASIDE: this ties in rather neatly, I think, to the other thread about why we feel the "need" to upgrade every "40K miles"?!) and this reluctancde is often, unbeknownst to them, to their detriment.

Take something as elementary as the little rollerball in the middle of your computer mouse: when was the last time you tried to navigate a Word DOC or website without that rollball thingy?! Or how about the slightly newer mice that have the back/forward buttons in the thumb position, totally negating the need for an Internet Explorer toolbar whatsoever, thereby freeing up an extra 70-100 pixels worth of screen real estate?

All I'm saying is, while granted, DVD --> HD/BR DVD is not as obviously and radical a leap as VHS --> DVD, the fact remains that when DVD came out, people were JUST as hesitant to embrace the new medium. And would anyone ever even CONSIDER regressing to VHS?

I think not.

I guess all I'm saying is that I'd hate to think that the ignorance of the masses could actually dictate -- or at least influence -- the velocity (literally, e.g. direction AND magnitude) in which new developments proceed.

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MARC/CROSVS | UCLA Bruin, B.A. Econ, Aug 2004 | J.D., Thomas Jefferson School of Law, May 2008 -- MEMBER: California State Bar, December 4, 2008

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