Saturday Sermon
- The Weekend Blah
In one of his many philosophical moments, the French emperor Napoleon told his cohorts never to interrupt an enemy while he is making a mistake. Messrs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, respectively chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, must be laughing themselves silly after Sony announced earlier this week that it will delay its PlayStation 3 launch to November this year. It effectively means that Microsoft may just achieve the 10 million console sales target by that time with its Xbox 360.
However, the PS3 issue is not just about the console market -- it will define the future of the DVD, and therefore, the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. It is no secret that Sony is still smarting from the BetaMax's loss to VHS in the videotape market nearly three decades ago. It now wants to be doubly sure of the Blu-ray format for high definition DVDs as opposed to the HD DVD format that rival Toshiba is promoting along with Sanyo, NEC and Microsoft. These formats are important because even a single-layer disc can store up to 15 GB of data, compared with the current 4.3 GB. A multi-layer disc can store up to 40 GB. Imagine where these formats will take content!
Obviously, it is a big-stakes game. Take a look at the worthies supporting the two formats.
Blu-ray: Sony, Apple, Dell, HP, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Mitsubishi, LG, Pioneer, Samsung, TDK, and Thomson. Apart from these giants, Blu-ray is also supported by 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. And since Sony owns Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM, their support is a foregone conclusion.
HD DVD: Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC, Intel, Microsoft, and the three studios mentioned above.
Obviously, there are heavyweights on both sides. But here's why the problem is more complex than the videotape issue: The gaming industry makes more money in the US than movies, even as home entertainment becomes cheaper by the day, it is finding new markets in India, south-east Asia and China. Both these industries mean billions of dollars to the world in terms of trade and employment.
My bigger problem is that of choice. Either of the two protocols will have to give up in the long run. Movie and gaming companies are not going to release DVDs in both formats, are they? And why should you and I be forced to buy the stuff that THEY want us to buy?
Not that India has a large DVD market. It is a market dominated by VCDs, so one may argue that the DVD war is of little consequence to this country. Not really. As our economy continues its boom phase, and prices of DVDs come down, the demand will go up. Today a DVD player is available for less than Rs 3000. If the hardware is present, there must be, even if it is a gradual shift, a demand for legal software, in this case movies and games. Therefore, the Indian consumer must look at the DVD format war with greater interest than he or she is right now.
- The Weekend Blah
In one of his many philosophical moments, the French emperor Napoleon told his cohorts never to interrupt an enemy while he is making a mistake. Messrs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, respectively chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, must be laughing themselves silly after Sony announced earlier this week that it will delay its PlayStation 3 launch to November this year. It effectively means that Microsoft may just achieve the 10 million console sales target by that time with its Xbox 360.
However, the PS3 issue is not just about the console market -- it will define the future of the DVD, and therefore, the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. It is no secret that Sony is still smarting from the BetaMax's loss to VHS in the videotape market nearly three decades ago. It now wants to be doubly sure of the Blu-ray format for high definition DVDs as opposed to the HD DVD format that rival Toshiba is promoting along with Sanyo, NEC and Microsoft. These formats are important because even a single-layer disc can store up to 15 GB of data, compared with the current 4.3 GB. A multi-layer disc can store up to 40 GB. Imagine where these formats will take content!
Obviously, it is a big-stakes game. Take a look at the worthies supporting the two formats.
Blu-ray: Sony, Apple, Dell, HP, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Mitsubishi, LG, Pioneer, Samsung, TDK, and Thomson. Apart from these giants, Blu-ray is also supported by 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. And since Sony owns Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM, their support is a foregone conclusion.
HD DVD: Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC, Intel, Microsoft, and the three studios mentioned above.
Obviously, there are heavyweights on both sides. But here's why the problem is more complex than the videotape issue: The gaming industry makes more money in the US than movies, even as home entertainment becomes cheaper by the day, it is finding new markets in India, south-east Asia and China. Both these industries mean billions of dollars to the world in terms of trade and employment.
My bigger problem is that of choice. Either of the two protocols will have to give up in the long run. Movie and gaming companies are not going to release DVDs in both formats, are they? And why should you and I be forced to buy the stuff that THEY want us to buy?
Not that India has a large DVD market. It is a market dominated by VCDs, so one may argue that the DVD war is of little consequence to this country. Not really. As our economy continues its boom phase, and prices of DVDs come down, the demand will go up. Today a DVD player is available for less than Rs 3000. If the hardware is present, there must be, even if it is a gradual shift, a demand for legal software, in this case movies and games. Therefore, the Indian consumer must look at the DVD format war with greater interest than he or she is right now.
posted by Sachin Kalbag at 1:18 am
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