Last year I bought the Toshiba A2 HD-DVD Player. I believed HD-DVD was a superior technology, and that superior technology would prevail as the chosen HD format. Well, one lesson I have learned (again) is that marketing is more important that having the superior product.
That’s why McDonalds is the #1 fast food hamburger joint. It’s certainly not because they have the superior hamburger (or healthier for that matter). It’s all about their marketing that keeps them #1. If that wasn’t true, we’d all eat at Fudruckers, Chapps, or some other hamburger joint.
The same thing could be said for Apple Computer vs. the PC. In the early days, when it counted, PC had better marketing even though Apple was clearly superior.
When you study how Blu-Ray did it… being implanted into the PS3, having strategic relationships with Disney, Fox, etc. It was a brilliant marketing plan. I do believe, that their game plan is what has ultimately brought about the inevitable – Blu-Ray has won the HD war. While HD-DVD may still be around for awhile, the inevitable awaits.
So, last night I went out and bought at 40gb Playstation 3 as my Blu-Ray player. Got it hooked up and I was blown away. I love High Def!
Here’s my top 5 reasons for the switch:
- Blu-Ray has more family friendly movies. One thing that was hard was 97% of the movies for HD-DVD seemed like they were either R or PG-13. Very little for my family.
- Blu-Ray’s technology has clearly advanced within the last year. It’s nice to see they took some of their profits to create a better product.
- All the Disney movies – cartoons, Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Carribean, etc.
- Blockbuster rents Blu-Ray. I don’t always want to fork out $30 to buy a movie to watch. I like to rent. I can’t rent HD-DVD.
- Broad support. There are so many companies that support Blu-Ray, and a dwindling list for HD-DVD.
By the way, I already sold my Toshiba A2 on ebay while I still could. Whew!