i think we should just wait a bit. http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,106288,00.html I always thought it was too soon to switch to another format anyway. EDIT: other links i've found. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2146751/300-gb-disc-set-challenge-dvd http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,105682,00.html http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020415,39237204,00.htm
"Optware also plans to release a holographic disk product for streaming video that's targeted at the film and broadcast industries, and a consumer disk product that is about the size of a credit card with 30GB of capacity. " Sounds good for the psp2 or Gameboy X in a couple of years time when the cost has come down. Bluray is rather dubitable, but I think Sony with their contacts and share is companies can force the ownder of bluray on the world whether we want it or not. Although I think we will appreciate Bluray when it arrives, just consider how long the 360 is going to be on the scene and they are now commited to using ageing tech for that period. So while Bluray is probably not the best thing for the long term, in direct competition with MS it is going to be a significant factor (potentially)
I completely agree with you. I am not willing to ditch my dvd player for a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player anytime in the near future. I have a good bit of money invested in my DVD collection and I'm not ready to consider it obsolete yet. I refuse to stoop to the level of participating in another VHS-Betamax war again, until there is a definite standard agreed upon, I will be boycotting both types. Plus, by the time a new standard for DVD type medium is agreed upon, something else will probably be poised to take its place such as this holographic storage medium that you posted about.
As long as it is cheap to mass produce; the players that play that media are cheap; and it shows a great improvement in the quality of the audio and video, then it will replace the current DVD format. Just like how CDs replaced audio tapes. It started out as an elite audio media format where a single CD player costs about $500, but quickly it became a cheap format that delivered superior audio quality. The same with DVDs, the DVD players started at $500 and the movies were $25and up, more than VHS movies.
I've read various articles on this holographic storage medium for the past few years, and even though its always sounded incredible, it doesn't really matter unless it materializes on a consumer level within a reasonable ammount of time from its competition (Blue-ray/HD-DVD). Thats assuming it intends to compete against optical discs that is, as opposed to simply attempting to replace the age-old magnetic standard disks used in hard drives.
It also heavily depends on if the Movie/Rental/Retail industry accepts and supports the format as well. Both Beta and Laserdisc was superior to VHS and D-VHS is currently superior to DVD in picture quality. Since the previously mentioned industries didn't really support them though they became niche markets at best. Much like the Neo Geo.
There is always something better, or a woman more beautiful. But like media and women, you have to settle sometimes.
IMO Blue-ray will be much like Sony's memory sticks and HD-DVD will most likely be the mainstream product. I think I remember reading up about them a while back and HD-DVD production wouldn't actually require much new equipment for factories to begin production, whereas Blue-ray would on account of it being thiner (or something like that).
honestly though, sony never really wins these format wars, beta was frowned appon due to its odd numbered lenghts and i think there was some odd licencing deal, vhs was cheaper adn easyer to produce for, dvd while expensive at first, was alot more compact then laser disc, and a hell of alot cheaper, plus the better picture and sound, belive me dvd aint going to die fast. As for hd dvd being the winner, i feel the same, the name isnt misleading and most consumers would assume it would play normal dvds as well compared to looking at blue ray where your most average people are going to be like what the hell is that, plus like i said, sony has these great ideas, but they usually botch these formats somehow, psp is really what helped memroy stick sales go up, since you need that format to save or use any other features, yet the industry standard mostly for cameras is the sd format, which is cheaper and alot more reliable(im told its more reliable but i cant confirm).
I wonder if this announcement they made is just them trying to keep consumers from dimissing Blu-Ray before it even comes out. After all, 90% of the time, all consumers care about is the price.
Well, if I'm understanding the article right, these discs currently cost $100 each and can "only" hold 300GB. I don't know how much Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs cost, but I'm willing to bet you could store 300GB (across multiple discs, of course) for much less money. I don't think HVD is necessary for consumers yet, both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are just fine for what they're going to be used for. They can hold enough HD video and most people who are backing up computer files will have more than enough space. They actually did find a way to manufacture the discs for less. One of the biggest costs before was the protective coating on the bottom of the disc, but anouther company figured out how to make it cheaper. Here's an article about it; Cheaper Blu-Ray coating
