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by Jordan Yerman | February 16, 2008 at 01:59 pm
1486 views | 20 Recommendations | 6 comments
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Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan's NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.
This news certainly doesn't come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD DVD's format war with rival Blu-ray. HD DVD had suffered a string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.
The NHK report says existing HD DVD products will remain in the market for a while, but Toshiba will stop further development of HD DVD. The report also estimates that Toshiba will take a hit to the tune of "hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars" and will close factories in northern Japan.
The format war, often compared to the Betamax-VHS battle in
the 1980s, has confused consumers unsure of which DVD or player
to buy, slowing the development what is expected to be a
multibillion dollar high definition DVD industry.
engender the switch to a whole new medium: DVDs are cheaper, they carry
more titles, and we already have tons of 'em. Maybe I'm just jealous
that my apartment isn't big enough to house a hi-definition television
and me at the same time. I'd have to place it at the window and watch
it from down on the sidewalk.
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Jordan Yerman
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 14:36 on February 16th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. Interesting development, thanks for this, It's good stuff. .
at 15:56 on February 16th, 2008
As I purchased a BLU-RAY player and a BLU-RAY writer I am delighted to learn that BLU-RAY may be the winner. I have made a lot of wrong decisions in the past ... betamax, laserdisc, commodore.
People keep referring to the Betamax/VHS format war but overlook the fact that Sony made a fair amount of money over a 27 year period from Betamax right up to 2002. It would appear that Sony are now on the winning side, possibly as a result of including a BLU-RAY player in the PS3.
at 19:15 on February 16th, 2008
At least Betamax remains the industry standard for television taping... at least, with those who haven't gone hi-def!
(I remember a friend's parents bringing home a video-disc player, proud that they had the very future of home entertainment in their hands... the)
at 15:56 on February 16th, 2008
jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 22:32 on February 16th, 2008
Don't laugh! I'm still holding onto an old 8 track, don't ask me why. Can't buy a darned thing to play on it!
As far as the video mediums, I'm waiting to see what's going to be the 'greatest thing since whatever the next thing is' before I get stuck with a house full of stuff, since my family always believed you could always find a use for everything.
(The real story is we hate getting rid of anything!)
at 21:43 on February 16th, 2008
I forgot the flag!