The hotly contested and costly war between Sony's Blu-Ray and Sony's HD-DVD featured two technologies that are likely to become obsolete in the near future. The two companies spent hundreds of millions of dollars when they developed and marketed their products and they spent even more still when they made deals with movie studios for exclusivity rights to their movies. Sony tied its Blu-Ray technology to its PS3 gaming system in order to bolster sales of the PS3 and of Blu-Ray discs, while the XBOX 360 supported HD-DVD technology. Sony's discs eventually won over the market share and forced Toshiba to cut prices of it HD-DVDs and HD-DVD players. Blu-Ray technology drove HD-DVD out of the market and according to James Sherwood at reghardware.com sales of Blu-Ray disks in the first five months of 2008 surpassed sales in all of 2007. However, Wolfgang Gruener of tomshardware.com sighted the Electronic Merchants Association's 2007 report which predicted that sales of Blu-Ray disks will not surpass those of regular DVDs until the year 2012. The product is catching on with the American consumer, but the transition is slow and the technology may be outdated before it becomes the most widely used medium for movie watching.
Digital media has already replaced the compact disk for music lovers, as the IPod had taken over society. CD sales were down 19% in 2007 according to the Nielsen Soundscan, in favor of digital downloading and storage. The convenience of the IPOD, its ease of use and its multiple applications are killing off the compact disk and the slaughter will only continue to get worse. According to Greg Bartolos at thebigtakeover.com online music sales have forced big electronics retailers to consider devoting less space to compact discs, and small independent music stores may be forced out of business. Consumers are no longer willing to shell out $18-20 for an album with one or two good songs when they can sit at home and spend a dollar for a song they enjoy and put it on their IPOD. Sony should pay attention to this scenario, because movies are the next medium to fall prey to digital downloads.
At the beginning of the year Comcast demonstrated internet service speed that ran 16 times faster than today's fastest speeds, and promised a four minute download time for a high definition movie, as opposed to today's six hour download. The super high speed service may make DVD buying a thing of the past. Just as most people prefer downloading music to buying CDs, most will prefer downloading movies to trips to the video store. Apple had already introduced its Xdoc HD which converts compressed files into High Definition in order to play videos on a high definition television. Blu-Ray disks will no longer be necessary to get the superior picture and sound quality, and the movie industry will be forced to adapt in much the same way as the record industry. Instant downloads are the future of movie watching, and the Blu-Ray will go the way of the video cassette sooner rather than later.
I feel that the IPOD has the upper hand out of all the entertainment technology we have considered. Its adaptability and versatility as well as its ease of use enable it to appeal to a virtually all of society. Everyone from grandmothers to children can use an IPOD relatively easily. Music can enhance most daily experiences from chores to commutes to working out to work to studying; music makes the good times better and the bad times not as bad. The IPOD conveniently brings music anywhere anytime. Digital downloads give it the edge over the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. While both offer internet access, the user is tied down to the television in the home. It is difficult to enjoy and XBOX 360 while commuting to work and it does little to ease the strain of the traffic. Apple has already introduced the I-Phone which sensibly melds the two most common mobile technologies into one, and it already offers movie downloads through iTunes Movie rentals. Apple will continue to develop the IPOD and its support technologies to eventually make all media digital and mobile in a convenient package. Then people will never talk to each other again.
Digital media has already replaced the compact disk for music lovers, as the IPod had taken over society. CD sales were down 19% in 2007 according to the Nielsen Soundscan, in favor of digital downloading and storage. The convenience of the IPOD, its ease of use and its multiple applications are killing off the compact disk and the slaughter will only continue to get worse. According to Greg Bartolos at thebigtakeover.com online music sales have forced big electronics retailers to consider devoting less space to compact discs, and small independent music stores may be forced out of business. Consumers are no longer willing to shell out $18-20 for an album with one or two good songs when they can sit at home and spend a dollar for a song they enjoy and put it on their IPOD. Sony should pay attention to this scenario, because movies are the next medium to fall prey to digital downloads.
At the beginning of the year Comcast demonstrated internet service speed that ran 16 times faster than today's fastest speeds, and promised a four minute download time for a high definition movie, as opposed to today's six hour download. The super high speed service may make DVD buying a thing of the past. Just as most people prefer downloading music to buying CDs, most will prefer downloading movies to trips to the video store. Apple had already introduced its Xdoc HD which converts compressed files into High Definition in order to play videos on a high definition television. Blu-Ray disks will no longer be necessary to get the superior picture and sound quality, and the movie industry will be forced to adapt in much the same way as the record industry. Instant downloads are the future of movie watching, and the Blu-Ray will go the way of the video cassette sooner rather than later.
I feel that the IPOD has the upper hand out of all the entertainment technology we have considered. Its adaptability and versatility as well as its ease of use enable it to appeal to a virtually all of society. Everyone from grandmothers to children can use an IPOD relatively easily. Music can enhance most daily experiences from chores to commutes to working out to work to studying; music makes the good times better and the bad times not as bad. The IPOD conveniently brings music anywhere anytime. Digital downloads give it the edge over the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. While both offer internet access, the user is tied down to the television in the home. It is difficult to enjoy and XBOX 360 while commuting to work and it does little to ease the strain of the traffic. Apple has already introduced the I-Phone which sensibly melds the two most common mobile technologies into one, and it already offers movie downloads through iTunes Movie rentals. Apple will continue to develop the IPOD and its support technologies to eventually make all media digital and mobile in a convenient package. Then people will never talk to each other again.
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