Tuesday, April 18, 2006
C|NET: HD-DVD's Xbox 360 Strategy
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 11:00 AM
"Let's get this straight from the start: This isn't a column about how Toshiba is working with Microsoft to implement HD-DVD drives in the next rev of the Xbox 360. And yes, theoretically there's some sort of newfangled external HD-DVD player in the works for Xbox 360. But this column isn't about that either. It's about how Toshiba hopes that, by being first to market and pricing its next-generation, high-def DVD players lower than the Sony-backed Blu-ray players from assorted manufacturers, it will gain the upper hand in the next-generation DVD war. If you're hearing echoes of Microsoft's strategy for defeating Sony's PlayStation 3--getting to market earlier and cheaper--then the column's title should make more sense."
An interesting article about Toshiba's strategy of being first to market, and how they're hoping that will given them enough lead over Blu-Ray to achieve market dominance. It's funny, but even though I care about image quality a great deal, and have a nice big TV, I don't care about HD-DVD or Blu-Ray all that much. The content is really what matters, and as the columnist points out, who wants to go out and buy DVDs that might not work in the player that achieves market dominance? Using a DVD rental service such as Netflix or Zip (for us Canadians) is a good option, if only they didn't suck so much. I cancelled my Zip subscription because I could never get new releases fast enough. Six to eight weeks is a ridiculous wait time to watch a new movie. Is anyone out there planning on buying one of the Toshiba HD-DVD players when they arrive? Anyone at all?
An interesting article about Toshiba's strategy of being first to market, and how they're hoping that will given them enough lead over Blu-Ray to achieve market dominance. It's funny, but even though I care about image quality a great deal, and have a nice big TV, I don't care about HD-DVD or Blu-Ray all that much. The content is really what matters, and as the columnist points out, who wants to go out and buy DVDs that might not work in the player that achieves market dominance? Using a DVD rental service such as Netflix or Zip (for us Canadians) is a good option, if only they didn't suck so much. I cancelled my Zip subscription because I could never get new releases fast enough. Six to eight weeks is a ridiculous wait time to watch a new movie. Is anyone out there planning on buying one of the Toshiba HD-DVD players when they arrive? Anyone at all?
