Seascape you are right. I don't think hardware is an issue. Make a multiformat player. Maybe the tier-one manufacturers will be stubborn at first but that's where the chinese manufacturers will take over with the cheap stuff. It's all digital at this point so the cheap players should do a pretty good job.
I don't think different formats are a real big deal in this day and age.

I'm sure there'll be an HDTV files standard for the computer and all kinds of software to manipulate the files so I'm not too worried.

Bill Gates put it well when he said "this is probably the last physical format we'll see" And I believe that.

I think there will be an HDTV frenzy in a couple of years. Not too long to wait.

At least that's my take on all this.

"Bill Gates put it well when he said "this is probably the last physical format we'll see"

Yeah, and 640k is all the memory we'll ever need. Right whatever, and just what are we supposed to store our files on? There will come a time when even Blu-Ray isn't large enough, and I'm certainly not keeping all my data on some web server somewhere if that's what he meant. After HD-DVD/Blu-Ray will come other formats, perhaps holographic storage.

holographic storage ???
whats that ????
how would it work ????

Gates never said anything about 640K being enough. I don't know how this always comes up.

Gates was fully aware that memory would continue to increase.

Netflix has a two day turn around for me. I drop the movie in the mail they receive the movie the next day and then ship my next movie which I receive the following day. I drop a movie in the mail on Monday and have new movie on Wednesday.

With Blockbuster, I could drop a movie in the mail on Monday and I would be lucky to get a new movie buy Saturday. They would usually not receive it until Wednesday.

Netflix has a much better selection of videos than Blockbuster also. I would never go back to Blockbuster. I am looking forward to HD-DVD movies from Netflix.

Alister

NetFlix kinda sucks.

1. Cracked or broken disc is a waste of my time

2. Slow movie rental turn around...10 days

3. Lost disc in mail means they charge you full price.

When you first sign up they are super fast and it works great but after a while service begins to get really bad.

I'm glad they will be supported both formats though even though BluRay would be the only format needed.

You are right for point 1, but not 2 & 3 are incorrect.

I used Netflix for about 3 years, and yes I received my share of scratched discs that wouldn't play, but they were extremely apologetic and without even waiting for the disc to be returned, had another in the mail the same day of talking to them. I also lost 2 discs in the mail, they were on my list and they supposedly had sent them, but never received. They never charged me one dime for those losts disc.

Even if someone were to lie and say they never got it, but kept if, they have no way of telling if you received them or not. It is primarily an honor system.

I think that when it comes to people that like movies and such, Netflix is quite a rival to the plethera of Rental Stores out there, and these stores have adopted Netflix ideas now to take advantage of Netflix's market - now offering a monthly fee and unlimited DVD's and no late charges. The movie industry has adapted much more quickly to the demands of the consumer than the RIAA.

Not knowing what the price of a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray disc will be, it is nice to know that there will be an avenue where you can get movie titles easily. Hopefully, the price will remain the same too.

Honestly, if I have to spend $500 dollars to get an HD or Blu-Ray DVD player, I absolutely will not pay Netflix more to rent an HD or Blu-Ray disc. They make more money than the DVD costs by renting them out to hundreds of customers. I used to subscribe to Netflix until my shipments slowed to a crawl from a 3 or 4 day turn-around, to 8 and 9 day turn arounds. Once their class action law suit runs its course I'll give Netflix a chance, but they need to do their part.

Quick turn-around is what Block Buster Video is for. Netflix is for those that have no specific time frame and want a casual -return it when I'm ready- mentality [also known as late fee avoidance] and a pay once-a-month plan works well too [provided the cost is minimal].

I welcome the nexflix will provide both offerings, but I SOOOOO much more wish HD-DVD would have won the format war though [HD-DVD is So much easier to explain to customers than Blu-Ray is]. If I mention HD-DVD/Hi-Def DVD almost everyone knows what I mean. If I say Blu-Ray DVD, everyone immediately looks confused and asks "Blue-What?" and "What is that" .. immediately followed by "you mean I'll have to buy a new DVD player?" or "do they work on my current player?

The only way this format war will become easy to the consumer is for hardware dvd makers to make hybrid players that play both types so that the consumer doesn't have to worry about 'will this work on my dvd player?' when deciding which one to buy.

This is the reason I bought a receiver that decodes Dolbly Digital AND DTS audio [so I dont have to worry about can I play this movies audio format in 5.1] Hybrids solve these issues best [its a consession, yes, but it works].

Good job netflix .. now its up to the hardware makers to fix the format wars problem it causes.

I am only hopeful that the individual movie companies offer both formats and not cater to one. This would make even buying DVD's less of a desire. I would hate to see the industry push the conusmer into a purchase that will be limiting their ability to enjoy all movies.

Since the two(Toshiba, Sony) are at odds with each other, I don't see them opening their patents to anyone for a combo Blu-ray/HD_DVD player anytime soon. Even if they do, it will be very costly since the basic model will range from 700 - 800 big ones.

Forget BluRay and HD DVD, this is just a small step to milk some more money from everyone.

Holographic DVD players will blow both of those away. Imagine storing all Seinfeld shows or all Star Wars movies on a single holographic DVD.