Blu-ray: Just a Novelty?
High definition; By now, almost everyone knows what it is. Over the years… the number of HD channels greatly increased and the price of HDTV's are much lower than they once were, making high definition content more widely available to the majority of people. And, if you have ever compared an HD quality picture to a standard definition picture… you know just how vastly improved the HD picture is. Personally, I could never go back to a standard def. picture. But, as I was watching TV last night, my brain started to wander and I asked myself: "Why hasn't Blu Ray taken off?" As I thought about that I came up with a few possible answers.
The first thing that came to my mind was the fact that Blu Ray was in a long, drawn out format war with HD-DVD. I think it possible that the average consumer has lost interest in the whole concept of HD movie discs. But if I had to guess… I'd say it had more to do with the price of the Blu Ray discs and peripherals.
At this point, Blu Ray discs are $60 and the Blu Ray players average $200. When you pair that with the idea of having to buy or re-buy DVD's to take advantage of the player… I think it is very possible that the investment in Blu Ray is just too high for the mainstream. To be fair, though, Blu Ray itself is a relatively new technology and all new technology has a price premium. It is possible that the price may drop given some time.
I think it is possible that one, or both of these things may be playing a factor in the slow adoption of Blu Ray. But I believe there may be a bigger reason why Blu Ray has not taken off. The reason? Streaming media.
You may be thinking to yourself, "What does streaming media have to do with Blu Ray?" Well, in my opinion, streaming video is quickly becoming a new, acceptable way to consume movies. With devices such as the Apple TV and many other set top boxes, it is easier than ever to get HD quality content on your TV instantly. While the initial investment in one of these boxes may be equal to, and maybe even slightly higher than most Blu Ray players, the cost of the media is often significantly lower.
All of these factors lead me to the question: Is Blu Ray over before it ever really got started?
What do you think?
Kyle Ankney
Reader Comments (4)
LOL Blu-ray disks are 30$ and offer many features such as watching live commentaries from the makers of the movie over the internet.
Blu-Ray is going to take over DVD, did anyone see DVD going anywhere when VCR as the best thing yet??
Blu-Ray is almost the same price as most DVD's So its not like its 2'ce the Price
I was about to say that disks are nowhere near that price. I don't own any blu ray movies (even if i have my ps3 hooked up to 720 i can't see a difference with movies) but I see them at Walmart for $20 a lot of the time. Also, I think that the PS3 is going to help blu ray get moving. In my opinion there will be people with HD tv's who haven't gotten the blu ray players yet and now see the ps3 has a drop in price and has blu ray built in with other features (such as some family games such as LBP and R&C series) as well as the capabilities of streaming media, all in one package. Thus, with blu ray movies being close to the same $ as dvds now, and with the ps3 price drop, i think they will take off this Christmas, which means a good financial season for sony, owning both.
Personally speaking, I wish Blu-ray would curl up and die! Its highly over priced and not worth the extra money. I mean, you can only get so clear on a picture before there is no more clearer to get!
I say stick to DVD's and leave Blu-ray out the door! There is no need for it!