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Dreamworks stuck with Toshiba, HD DVD
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The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 27 February, 2008
Dreamworks Studios has announced that they are still "locked" into an exclusivity deal with Toshiba to distribute their movies on HD DVD only and would continue to do so until Toshiba tells them differently.
"We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through," DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said.
"As you know, we have been well-compensated ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
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videomake
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28. February 2008 @ 14:37 |
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Unfortunate it had to happen to one of the formats sooner or later.
holla
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llongtheD
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28. February 2008 @ 17:01 |
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It just goes to show that the consumers really didn't get to choose. Both sony and toshiba payed off the studios, and consumers lost. The next gen format war went to the highest bidder. But I guess its no different than what the big corporations do with the politicians. I think I liked it better when consumers at least had the illusion that we were driving the market place.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 28. February 2008 @ 21:53
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28. February 2008 @ 19:46 |
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I said it before and I'll say it again, "money makes the world go around" Everybody pays everybody off. Those that don't believe that are fools. So here it is confirmed that Toshiba paid dreamworks. To be honest, does this surprise anybody. So what Sony just hides it better. Besides theres more ways to "pay" people besides just cash. Theres stock options, which is a major one. Theres trips, tickets all types of stuff.
The one thing that does impress me about this article is that they ARE honoring there agreement, well, at least for now. That means alot to some people. It is to bad that they are REALLY REALLY gonna hurt in the sales area though.
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Gnawnivek
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29. February 2008 @ 09:42 |
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Originally posted by llongtheD:
It just goes to show that the consumers really didn't get to choose. Both sony and toshiba payed off the studios, and consumers lost. The next gen format war went to the highest bidder. But I guess its no different than what the big corporations do with the politicians. I think I liked it better when consumers at least had the illusion that we were driving the market place.
While your points make sense, but only in an ideal world... Consumers don't get to choose in the real world, they have voices (democracy). What can they do? Bitch and moan... I mean come on, do i ever get what i really want for my hard earned/saved money? NO, a fat no! If i'm lucky, i get something close to what i want... Trust me, we all do things at our own conveniences (like double parking), so the whole idea of consumer get to choose crap doesn't really exist. At some level, the decisions are made base on compromises and if you're lucky, the compromises are toward your favor. Bottom line? In the real world, consumers or clients, most of them don't know what they want (i.e. the "makers" have to make decisions for them). If the "makers" have to constantly update/communicate with the consumers/clients, nothing ever gonna get done (think of meetings at work place).
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llongtheD
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29. February 2008 @ 09:55 |
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@Gnawnivek
Thats why I said I liked it better when we at least had the ILLUSION of choice. I'm well aware of who's really pulling the strings.
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Sontiago
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29. February 2008 @ 10:24 |
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Greed almost always wins.
Smart consumers didn't make the choice. A smart consumer wouldn't have chosen the studio friendly, anti-consumer blue-ray over it's somewhat more consumer friendly hd.
Maybe the porn industry alone will keep HD floating unless sony changed there minds about porn..
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Newbie
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29. February 2008 @ 10:41 |
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My Qestion, as an average Movie watcher, and not a Technofile is this. Why did HD lose out to BluRay? If you put the two side by side is BluRay vastley superior to HD, or did they win because they have a cooler name?
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eatsushi
Senior Member
3 product reviews
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29. February 2008 @ 10:42 |
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A_Klingon
Moderator
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29. February 2008 @ 11:27 |
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Quote:
So here it is confirmed that Toshiba paid dreamworks. To be honest, does this surprise anybody.
No, not in the slightest. If someone weren't trying to buy someone else off, then I'd have cause to worry.
It was a telltale, doomsday omen when Toshiba plunked down $2.7 Million for a 30-second Superbowl ad. A last desperate attempt, if you will, to stave off annilation. (Didn't work).
Since Toshiba is no longer supporting *retail* (commercial) Hollywood discs, I think they should let Dreamworks off the hook, and concentrate (as I believe they said they were going to do), on blank HD-DVD media and PC drives/other gizmos. At least that would help spur-on Blu-Ray in the Movie Biz. Tie up all the remaining loose ends; end the losing contracts, do whatever damage-control they need to and just move on.
Blu-Ray's here, we gotta live with it, so BRING IT ON BABY! :)
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llongtheD
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29. February 2008 @ 11:50 |
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I disagree with you klingon, we don't have to live with it. For me, since I really don't play that many video games, I won't buy a PS3. So unless the price of blueray players drop dramatically, I won't buy one. Wait until Sony's subsidies to the movie industry run out, what will be the cost of players and discs then? I know I won't plunk down 300-400 bucks for a player and 30 for each movie, and alot of other people won't either. If the players drop down to a hundred bucks or less, and 20 a movie, then I might be willing to learn to live with sony's DRM infested format. Sales of blueray players and discs are still extremely poor when compared to dvd, so we will see if enough people are willing to pony up, to make it a success.
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Gnawnivek
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29. February 2008 @ 12:27 |
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Originally posted by llongtheD:
@Gnawnivek
Thats why I said I liked it better when we at least had the ILLUSION of choice. I'm well aware of who's really pulling the strings.
yeap, the word ILLUSION is well applied... It looks like the consumers are making some kind choice, but they're not really doing it :)
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sgriesch
Junior Member
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29. February 2008 @ 14:56 |
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Doesn't it suck when you are on a sinking boat, and you are a not allowed by the captain to evacuate? I'm sure that Dreamworks has already prepared everything for the switch. Time IS money, and that is all they are concerned with. As soon as they get the go-ahead, they will have titles ready to be produced on Blu.
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Ludikhris
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29. February 2008 @ 15:38 |
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consumer didn't choose arguement
This isn't true because the consumer can still choose. Apathy is a vote for BR though. In this case letters could be written and a boycott could be placed on BR. The consumer still has final say. Guess what though? Of the vast everyones, the few people here that a die hard HD-DVD fans will be drowned out. People don't care because the differences between the two formats was insignificant.
The more consumer friendly option lost
This point is never proven by anyone, they just repeat it over and over. Stronger blocks against piracy is not anticonsumer. Root kits are, sure, but they aren't part of BRay. Let's start a good list of which is more consumer friendly, I'll start.
Blu-Ray
- Better advertising for more customer awareness
- Better copy protection limiting piracy which in turn lowers the price of media. Piracy for the sake of theft increases prices, piracy for fair use keeps prices flat. That's why prices of items are cheaper as more people buy them. If you want more explaination buy an econ book.
I won't list tech specs because really tech specs aren't necessarily pro-consumer because they are tied to a price.
When you say "Pro Consumer" I have the feeling that you guys don't mean "pro consumer" you mean "pro pirate". Sure I am for being able to rip videos to my own devices when I buy them, but that is what DVDs are for. They are much easier to rip and edit than HDDVD or BRay will ever be. I know they aren't going anywhere anytime soon so I am all good.
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goodswipe
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29. February 2008 @ 15:55 |
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Quote:
consumer didn't choose arguement
This isn't true because the consumer can still choose. Apathy is a vote for BR though. In this case letters could be written and a boycott could be placed on BR. The consumer still has final say. Guess what though? Of the vast everyones, the few people here that a die hard HD-DVD fans will be drowned out. People don't care because the differences between the two formats was insignificant.
Well duh! Of course the consumer had a choice between Blu-ray or HD DVD, but did they REALLY choose because they like Blu-ray over HD DVD? No they didn't, I would say that 70 percent of the people out there chose Blu-ray over HD DVD either because they took a look at the studio support behind Blu-ray or a salesman told them to go Blu because of the studio support. Why buy a product that you can't put to full use?
If this were the other way around, HD DVD being the winner here, the same can be said for that. Someone would have seen the studio support behind HD DVD and would have been forced into buying the format with the most studio support.
I bought into this high-def craze early. There wasn't to many movies to choose from for either format at the time and I liked what HD DVD offered. So at that point I guess you could say I really had a choice. I do plan on buying a Blu-ray player in the future.
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Newbie
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29. February 2008 @ 16:13 |
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I receive some HD Movies through my Cable supplier. Will this gruesome defeat of HDDVD have any effect in this area?
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goodswipe
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29. February 2008 @ 16:19 |
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Originally posted by wrowe:
I receive some HD Movies through my Cable supplier. Will this gruesome defeat of HDDVD have any effect in this area?
HD movies through your cable provider? Like VOD? This shouldn't have any effect on what cable companies supply you with.
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llongtheD
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29. February 2008 @ 17:07 |
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Quote:
Better advertising for more customer awareness
- Better copy protection limiting piracy which in turn lowers the price of media. Piracy for the sake of theft increases prices, piracy for fair use keeps prices flat. That's why prices of items are cheaper as more people buy them. If you want more explaination buy an econ book.
Better advertisement? I absolutely agree with you on that. But lower prices through DRM? Wake up and smell the coffee. The ultimate goal of this extravagant copy protection is to tie your disk to a particular device. When that happens, then talk to me about lower prices. I agree that mass producing, and adoption can lower prices, thats a no brainer. Just not when DRM is involved. Thats just my opinion I could be wrong.
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ichido
Newbie
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29. February 2008 @ 17:41 |
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No body is bashing Sony, but their stuff is more expensive than others for some things as TV's between $200 to $500 just for the name.
Thye had the better format all those years ago with Beta as opposed to VHS and this time I don't think they have the better format but they were there first, and last time as in Beta, they were later.
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YOBUZZB
Senior Member
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29. February 2008 @ 18:45 |
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Why can't I stick with DVD's and just buy a DVD player that upconverts to High-Def? These are a lot cheaper than the BD Players and I'm not about buy all of my movies over again at a higher price and buy an expensive player! It's just not going to happen! As long as DVD's are made, they will be my choice.
I don't like anything with DRM protection or protection of any kind. I'm no pirate! I just don't like the idea that someone can dictate what I can and can't do with something I spend my money on!
My father would by a car that was governed at a certain speed. He would remove it. He hated for a car company to basically say, "Your car isn't allowed to go faster than this"! He say, "Then why build an engine that could go much faster? It made since to me then and makes since to me now!
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Ludikhris
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29. February 2008 @ 18:47 |
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Quote:
Quote:
Better advertising for more customer awareness
- Better copy protection limiting piracy which in turn lowers the price of media. Piracy for the sake of theft increases prices, piracy for fair use keeps prices flat. That's why prices of items are cheaper as more people buy them. If you want more explaination buy an econ book.
Better advertisement? I absolutely agree with you on that. But lower prices through DRM? Wake up and smell the coffee. The ultimate goal of this extravagant copy protection is to tie your disk to a particular device. When that happens, then talk to me about lower prices. I agree that mass producing, and adoption can lower prices, thats a no brainer. Just not when DRM is involved. Thats just my opinion I could be wrong.
Coffee aside, this may have been thought of but would never pass with the consumers of today. Do you think people would put up with not being able to rent movies, or buy used movies, or borrow a friends movie? No. If that ever happened the consumer would ask for a new product and a new company like Toshiba would do something like revive HDDVD and bash the crap out of the overly constrictive DRM technology.
In the world we live in today, with the DRM of today, it is put in place to stop people for copying discs. I do have a problem when companies like Sony want to make you buy a movie twice so you can have it in your iPod too, but that is another fight. I believe you should be able to do that. However, the primary reason for DRM is to stop people for renting/borrowing a copy of a movie and copying it for their own use. My whole problem with DRM goes away when they allow everyone to get a free download of a movie when they buy a retail version. I want a copy on my PSP when I buy the BluRay version. If companies like Sony need to realize that consumers won't buy multiples of the same product, in the end they purchase the lowest common denominator and are done with it. "If I have it on DVD, why do I want teh BluRay version for $30 more?" Good question Mr General Consumer. Good Question.
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Senior Member
5 product reviews
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29. February 2008 @ 19:24 |
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Originally posted by Ludikhris:
Coffee aside, this may have been thought of but would never pass with the consumers of today. Do you think people would put up with not being able to rent movies, or buy used movies, or borrow a friends movie? No. If that ever happened the consumer would ask for a new product and a new company like Toshiba would do something like revive HDDVD and bash the crap out of the overly constrictive DRM technology.
In the world we live in today, with the DRM of today, it is put in place to stop people for copying discs. I do have a problem when companies like Sony want to make you buy a movie twice so you can have it in your iPod too, but that is another fight. I believe you should be able to do that. However, the primary reason for DRM is to stop people for renting/borrowing a copy of a movie and copying it for their own use. My whole problem with DRM goes away when they allow everyone to get a free download of a movie when they buy a retail version. I want a copy on my PSP when I buy the BluRay version. If companies like Sony need to realize that consumers won't buy multiples of the same product, in the end they purchase the lowest common denominator and are done with it. "If I have it on DVD, why do I want teh BluRay version for $30 more?" Good question Mr General Consumer. Good Question.
I have been trying to say this here on Afterdawn since day one. I think I may have finally found someone that feels exactly the same way as I do about DRM on Blu-ray.
I have made countless posts on this topic but very rarely do I get someone that agrees with me.
It is any persons right to prevent their property from being stolen. You don't see Car Thiefs up in arms... Saying "Hey, that's not fair! You put a GPS tracker in your Car. That's an invasion of privacy! Nobody should know where I drive your Car that I stole".
I haven't seen anything on Blu-ray that would indicate any restrictions on consumer enjoyment. I absolutely do not believe that Blu-ray would include a DRM that would lock you into using a single player. If it did, then I too would boycott Blu-ray. Can I ask... Where did this notion come from anyway? Is there any proof that Sony/Blu-ray intend to do this or is this a case of Chinese Whispers?
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Senior Member
5 product reviews
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29. February 2008 @ 19:29 |
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Originally posted by YOBUZZB:
It made since to me then and makes since to me now!
Are you from New Zealand?
Sorry, couldn't resist, I mean resest... :-P
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YOBUZZB
Senior Member
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29. February 2008 @ 19:32 |
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Are you from New Zealand?
Nope, I'm from Dallas, Texas, USA! What's your point?
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Senior Member
5 product reviews
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29. February 2008 @ 20:00 |
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Originally posted by YOBUZZB:
Quote:
Are you from New Zealand?
Nope, I'm from Dallas, Texas, USA! What's your point?
Think... Why did I say that? Don't get all aggressive now. It was meant to be funny.
Hint: Since = Sense.
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YOBUZZB
Senior Member
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29. February 2008 @ 20:04 |
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Quote:
Think... Why did I say that? Don't get all aggressive now. It was meant to be funny.
Hint: Since = Sense.
Duh! Ok. Got it. It is funny!
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