So, Warner goes Blu...

So the Blu-ray fanboys are screaming and throwing confetti, and thumbing their noses childishly at the HD DVD fanboys.

I don't care particularly. I have an XBox 360 and an HD DVD drive. Not too big of an investment. I can buy a Blu-Ray player.

The only thing that frosts me is the degree of BS being spewed about the reasons for the outcome. For anyone to say with a straight face that "the consumers have decided" just makes me roll my eyes. The "consumers" didn't really have a choice? Did I have a choice to buy Disney HD DVD or Blu-Ray movies? No. Did I have a choice to buy HD DVD or Blu-Ray Universal movies? NO! It came down to studios. The STUDIOS decided which format would win, and not the consumer. No? Well, if you reverse the studios, is the outcome different? You bet. Sony, Disney and Fox are a huge block, and with Warner being neutral that is a huge gap to overcome, even for Paramount and Universal. Disney alone is scary huge. So yeah, the fact that the Blu-Ray fanboys are crying victory immediately on the heels of the Warner announcement is just more evidence that the Studios Decide, not the customer.

It can be truly said that the Blu-Ray sales were outpacing the HD DVD sales, however, again, this is a function of answering the question: "Which format has the movies I want?" Content IS King, and the Sony/Disney/Fox (and now Warner) block is just an insurmountable obstacle.

Then the Blu-Ray fanboys will say "the best technical format won". Again: BS. Not because you are wrong, but because technical merit had NOTHING to do with this. VHS beat Beta without winning on technical merit. Microsoft pounds Apple without technical merit. Only high-end videophiles who like to show off their systems and keep leapfrogging their buddies with 'the next big thing' are the people that care about this. The average consumer doesn't see any difference between the formats, because for all intents and purposes, there isn't any.

Now, why the blu-bots are so fanatic for Sony, I just don't understand. We're dealing here with a company that put rootkits on our CD's to copy protect them. We're dealing with a company that still requires DRM on their music. Warner just announced they are selling their music library on amazon at TWICE the bitrate with NO DRM. Where's Sony on this issue? NOWHERE. Same for Disney music. I can buy the latest Disney Enchanted soundtrack from iTunes, with DRM at 128K, or I can go jump in a lake. Sony is very protectionist with their content. They support region coding, they support harsh measures for DRM, proprietary formats, and high prices. Sony has NEVER been interested in what's best for the consumer. So while other content owners dump DRM and bump up their bit rates, Sony sits there and looks arrogantly down on us. "Let them eat 128k DRM cake". And yet these blu-ray obsessed fans act like Sony loves them. It's beyond unreal.

Sony owning motion picture studios and music labels is Sony's way of fixing the Betamax debacle. Get some content, sit on it and make it clear that hell will freeze over before it gets released on the other format, and wait it out. It's part of a process called "tying", that got Microsoft in so much trouble. Oddly, the people who hate Microsoft for such practices see nothing wrong with Sony using its software (music/movies) content to push a hard format (Blu-Ray/PS3).

So, Blu-Ray is victorious. Whoopee. BD player manufacturers can now stop worrying about dropping the prices of their players and movie companies can set disc prices at whatever they want. When Blu-Ray players put out a solid version of their BD software and a reasonably priced player, I'll buy one and follow along with all the other sheep who really have no choice in the matter. After all, what can I do? The Studios have decided what's good for me, and if I want to enjoy their content at home, it's this or a long download.

After all of the above, some might say I'm a bitter HD DVD owner. Not really. I'm more annoyed at the BS being delivered as as the REASON for the win. Just admit these facts, and we can move on with our lives:

1. Blu-Ray won because it had the better Studio Support
2. The customer picked Studios, and not 'technical formats'
3. Sony's acquisition of music and movie content has given them a stronger hand than they otherwise would have as a format backer.
4. Sony will give us portable DRM-free content when hell freezes over.

Just admit the above facts, blu-fans, and we'll move with our lives as blu-ray disc owners with one format (which is not a terrible thing, in the end).

Randy