Straight from the Horse's mouth: Interview with Paramount's CTO

[Mantour]

PC World was able to get an one-on-one interview with Alan Bell, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Paramount and to explain the reason behind the surprising announcement: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,13...y/article.html

Although I am fairly aware of the number of threads on Paramount, I thought this one would be of value with its ending:

"PCW: Will this exclusive period extend for a limited time, or is this an indefinite arrangement?

Bell: At this moment in time, it's an indefinite commitment. The core of this announcement comes from our experience, and what our consumers are looking for. We hope this will influence consumers' choices."

[MasterBlaster]

PCW: So, as a studio, you believe that the underlying stability of HD DVD's specs is a benefit?

Bell: When you look at what the DVD Forum has specified as required, it's a good set of advanced technologies. You can be assured that that benefit will be available to all consumers, no matter what [player] model they purchased. That speaks to the DVD Forum, that it published specs that were complete and market-ready, and that it didn't need to publish up [and change the specs], as Blu-ray has. To some degree, [such changes are] going to create some legacy issues.

Face it, Sony has seriously handicapped BD by releasing it prematurely. BD may be the superior product in theory, but in application it's obviously inferior to HD DVD.

[Xyz123]

Eventually, that's true, but right now we have early adopters and enthusiasts [buying players]. If you do migrate the spec and your options are not included on the early players, these are the very people you leave behind. They're our most valuable customers in launching a new format, and you want to make sure that what they buy continues to represent the best of the format.

WTF? You just left your "most valuable customers" behind by completely abandoning them.

[StarkyLuv]

DING!

Been saying this for a while. The same basic tech is in EVERY HD DVD player. Paramount has looked at all the angles and have taken a proactive approach to try to lead consumers to the best HD value.

Good for them.

[Xyz123]

Originally Posted by MasterBlaster

Face it, Sony has seriously handicapped BD by releasing it prematurely. BD may be the superior product in theory, but in application it's obviously inferior to HD DVD.

How did Sony seriously handicap BD? Blu-ray is leading 2-1.

[Xyz123]

Originally Posted by StarkyLuv

DING!

Been saying this for a while. The same basic tech is in EVERY HD DVD player. Paramount has looked at all the angles and have taken a proactive approach to try to lead consumers to the best HD value.

Good for them.

BS, they were paid off. EVERYONE knows this.

[Blu-News.com]

Paid off or not, it's not negative for HD DVD. I would let you have a tissue to wipe your tears, but I used them all with my tears of joy.

[Mwright]

yea it looks like MS and paramount...along with transformers 2 man..have been doing some damage control to combat all the common lines...turns out they wereNT paid off and everyone DOESNT know that because its not true..and the 18 months thing didnt last very long...ahh over reacting..

[Blu-News.com]

18 months is a long time to make an impact, so if your okay waiting that long to even have a chance to get many of these titles...that's your decision.

[Mantour]

"Bell: For one thing, the lower prices of the players: It's good for consumers, it's good for our customer base."

And there you have it, early adopters are not regarded as CUSTOMERS, just addicts,take us for granted I imagine. In the end, Bell seems to intended that the HD customers are about the show up and aren't there yet, despite the 2:1 lead Blu-ray sales has on HD DVD.

[StarkyLuv]

Originally Posted by Xyz123

How did Sony seriously handicap BD? Blu-ray is leading 2-1.

You're looking short term. The PS3 is 90% of blu-ray sales. The PS3 isn't going to take blu-ray mainstream, period. Try to convince the VAST majority of Americans who don't play videogames to buy a PS3 as a blu-ray player. Go ahead. blu-ray's PS3 edge is tenuous. Paramount saw it.

A $200 HD DVD player combined with Transformers and Bourne Ultimatum? A whole other story.

[Xyz123]

Originally Posted by Mwright

yea it looks like MS and paramount...along with transformers 2 man..have been doing some damage control to combat all the common lines...turns out they wereNT paid off and everyone DOESNT know that because its not true..and the 18 months thing didnt last very long...ahh over reacting..

Of course they were paid off. See WSJ, NYTimes, etc. To argue otherwise doesn't pass the smell test.

[Xyz123]

Originally Posted by StarkyLuv

You're looking short term. The PS3 is 90% of blu-ray sales. The PS3 isn't going to take blu-ray mainstream, period. Try to convince the VAST majority of Americans who don't play videogames to buy a PS3 as a blu-ray player. Go ahead. blu-ray's PS3 edge is tenuous. Paramount saw it.

A $200 HD DVD player combined with Transformers and Bourne Ultimatum? A whole other story.

What makes you think blu-ray can't price compete if necessary? HD dvd is only cheaper because they have to be.

[Blu-News.com]

OKay..paid off or not you won't be seeing most if any of their titles on Blu-ray for quite some time.

[Xyz123]

Originally Posted by SpartanJohnson

OKay..paid off or not you won't be seeing most if any of their titles on Blu-ray for quite some time.

Again, this is true. The move was huge for hd dvd. Nobody is arguing any different.