Blu-Ray Is Dead; Who Would Have Guessed?
Oct 28th, 2008 | By James Lewin | Category: Digital Video Downloads, Video 
ZDNet’s Tech Bits is declaring Blu-Ray dead:
Blu-ray is in a death spiral. 12 months from now Blu-ray will be a videophile niche, not a mass market product.
With only a 4% share of US movie disc sales and HD download capability arriving, the Blu-ray disc Association (BDA) is still smoking dope. Even $150 Blu-ray players won’t save it.
16 months ago I called the HD war for Blu-ray. My bad. Who dreamed they could both lose?
Who dreamed they could both lose?
Well…..since ZD asked…..
In June of last year, we said:Â
Internet TV is already good enough to make users realize that high definition video discs are a tangent to the real future of video delivery – Internet TV. “
At the beginning of 2008, we called the Blu-Ray Death Watch. Earlier this month, we said that Steve Jobs had delivered the Blu-Ray Coup de Grâce.
Why?
Blu-Ray is evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. It’s likely to become a widely accepted standard, like HD Floppies, that ultimately doesn’t matter very much.
The leading edge has already moved on beyond DVDs to Internet video. Apple’s MacBook Air has eliminated the DVD, iTunes is delivering HD, and Apple TV lets you watch HD Internet video.Â
If you’ve got a 50″ HDTV, Blu-Ray is going to look a lot better than HD Internet TV. By the time these giant TVs are mainstream, though, HD video downloads will be, too.
They’re just going to have to make Blu-Ray go away by incorporating the technology into all DVD players. Once they do that, you’ll start seeing people buy the discs.
At Best Buy, though, the Blu-Ray selection is pretty paltry.
Blu-Ray is a Gimmick! Nothing more than electronic bad revenue! Remember Beta. Yeah never forget!