Jason Unger

Why I'm Not Psyched That the Format War is Over

Posted by junger - 02/25/08 at 09:02:41 am

You'd think that I'd be really happy that the format war is over. I wasn't buying into either format because I didn't want to waste the money on a useless product.

Now that it's over, I've considered jumping in with a PlayStation 3. It makes the most sense, since it is the cheapest player, is most ready for spec upgrades, and plays games too (including Rock Band).

But honestly, there's nothing on Blu-ray I want to watch.

The predicament here is that the movies available on BD are a mix of titles I could have (or did) buy on DVD years ago and new movies that, well, suck. I'm not re-buying my movies just to see them in real high-def, and I'm not buying junk just to have some Blu-ray discs.

The only title that I really want in HD is Heroes – Season 1, which is only available on the dead format. (Speaking of which, there is a horrible lack of TV shows on Blu-ray. One season of Lost, Sopranos, Smallville and Prison Break … give me more. Now!)

Sure, if the format war was still going on, that doesn't mean that there'd be anything worth watching. But Blu-ray won because it had the content studios.

I'm just waiting for them to deliver.

PS. Planet Earth is probably the only other title I'd buy, but I got tired of watching it on cable when it first aired.

Indiana Jones 4 Trailer: Niiiiiice

Posted by junger - 02/14/08 at 08:02:49 am

Let's hope it's more Raiders of the Lost Ark and less Temple of Doom.

(via Gizmodo)

No Thanks, Netflix, We Don't Need Another Box

Posted by junger - 01/03/08 at 07:01:23 pm

Great. Just what we need — another set-top box.

Netflix and LG have announced that they're bringing movies from the Internet to your HDTV … with another box that has to sit in your media cabinet.

(You can hear the excitement now.)

How many companies have tried to do this? MovieBeam? Vongo? VUDU? Akimbo?

You get the point. No one has succeeded in an on-demand movie service before, right?

Wrong!

The cable and telco companies do on-demand right. You've already got their box. They already have the wires. The interface sucks, but it's easy enough to use, with instant startups and no down time.

According to Hacking Netflix (via Dave Zatz), this isn't going to be the only Netflix-branded set-top box. In fact, Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) says he wants Netflix content in a lot of boxes.

"Our model is that we don't want one Netflix-branded box, we want to see 100 Netflix-capable boxes. We want to be embedded in high-def DVD players, Internet games, dedicated set-top boxes, a wide range of options, not all instantly. This is the first one, a great proof point."

Here's a suggestion: go with the cable companies. Yes, no one likes them, but everyone likes the convenience it affords.

Look at TiVo — they're rolling out software for Comcast boxes. They had a great product that the cable companies undercut in price and convenience. So, they adapted.

Netflix, your movie by mail service was revolutionary. But video-on-demand isn't.

Instead of trying to succeed where others have failed, take your position in the new digital market — as a content provider — and go to the place that needs a fresh face.

Netflix content and cable box convenience would work. I'm not going to go and buy a new box, but if you provide me the content on the box I already have, it's a winner.

You're going in the right direction, but you're starting off in the wrong place.