"Although the last format war of this magnitude was being waged when many contributors of this forum were either children or perhaps as yet to be born. It should be mentioned too, that some number are indeed old enough have been engaged in that "war" as well. Having just celebrated my 60th. birthday, I for one, remember all too well. My point? Sony took on the virtually all of the rest of the industry in trying to find a large enough customer base willing to accept their Beta tape format. And, even the most ardent anti-Sony individual who has done his/her homework is sure to discover that the Beta product actually was a superior format. The very size of the media cassette, in and of itself, was embraced by many upstart video rental retailers that easily concluded that "more titles per shelf" was an obvious plus. So, despite what has been proven in hindsight to have been the better format, Sony found itself simply overwhelmed by the collective likes of JVC and all of those manufacturers that decided to embrace VHS, and as a result: rendered the format an orphan. After swallowing what must have been a bitter pill, Sony sold their remaining inventory at a loss in a last ditch effort to at least minimize their losses. And, within a year, began producing a line of VHS players, many of which won "best product awards," - who could have predicted that a couple of year prior? Care to turn the clock back a bit more? Consider the track audio format, or even the earlier 4-track version. They were a quantum leap in the infantile automotive audio market of the 60's, when 2-5watt AM radios reigned supreme in automobile sound systems and an RCA 45 RPM auto record player was the only auto-based upgrade (?) that consumers had to choose from. 8-track players and auxiliary door-mounted speakers that actually produced a frequency below 250Hz, in addition to STEREO, provided the look and feel of the future to those early adopters who had a couple of hundred dollars (or less) to indulge themselves with what was then described as high-tech. By 1969 or 70 cassette arrived (sans Dolby) and killed 8-track within a year. When Dolby was implemented shortly after the arrival of the cassette, 8-track players and media rapidly went the way of the wire-recorder. Now its 2008, can any of you over 40 believe it? Once again, we are subjected to yet another format war; a war beyond the wildest dreams of anyone old enough to have stood in awe when first viewing a color television. However, and returning to the more recent Beta vs. VHS video war of the 80's, does anyone here, regardless of your allegiance to either Blu-Ray or HD DVD see the similarities? Unlike the last magnetic tape-war that pitted Sony against virtually everyone else, Toshiba now is in the unenviable position of being the standard-bearer of HD DVD. Sony, at last, has the backing of a number of large well-respected names in the electronic world as allies. As mentioned, this was quite the opposite in 1980-84 (+/-.) Technically, Blu-Ray may or may not have an edge. In fairness, HD DVD may very well have HAD the edge, or perhaps still does. Point being, does that really matter? It mattered very little to consumers who bought VHS players by the millions 25 years or so ago. If you cannot SEE a difference, all of the other technical arguments on either side don't mean a darn thing. Technical superiority has been, and will continue to be debated for years to come among both Blu-Ray and HD DVD supporters. All of that makes for good banter among those who care or wish to defend their purchases. But for 99 44/100 of the consumer market, it will fall entirely on deaf ears. Actually it already has. In conclusion (finally,) and as first and foremost a supporter of high definition, I appeal to all HD DVD enthusiasts to surrender. Blu-Ray, despite any flaws it may have, will emerge victorious. A prolonged war never ever produces a clear winner."
"If HD DVD continues it's shallow support, this format war will easily continue until Christmas 2008. In the meantime, the real monopolistic monster from Redmond, WA (aqui se refiere a Microsoft) will have the better part of a year to continue to perfect high resolution downloads and, perhaps, gain enough acceptance to render high resolution on optical disc obsolete altogether. That, my friends would truly be a crushing blow to ALL Of US. I've save the best for last. Perhaps you'll never believe this, and I certainly can't prove it -BUT- my first high resolution player was a genuine Toshiba HD DVD player. It was only sold on eBay 2 weeks ago. My new Blu-Ray player has only occupied its spot in my audio-video cabinet for 10 days. I refuse to be stubborn, I refuse to be a slave to any corporation (excluding banks,) my having abandoned Toshiba is proof of this. I pray that some of you here will read this "mother of all posts" and at least give due consideration to the content."
Gracias por leer.
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