Crap? How did you come to that conclusion exactly? Are you someone that had invested in Toshiba's failed HD-DVD format and feeling a little bitter? Blu-Ray is certainly not crap, and I have very much enjoyed watching this format for the past 12 months or so.Thank goodness that you don't make the decisions then. Apple will include them though, and it's just a matter of when, and on which of their computers first.So you don't even store anything on a hard disk drive? What do you use? Flash media only?What on earth does a laser disc have to do with a Blu-Ray disc? I see very little similarity whatsoever, so please explain this.Abomination? That's a bit strong. You do sound bitter, and I'm having difficulty understanding your logic. DVD's replaced VHS video tape, not laser discs. Laser disc was a format that never took off, but it was a stepping stone toward DVD. Blu-Ray is not at all comparable to laser disc for many reasons, and already there are more titles available on Blu-Ray than there ever was on laser disc, and that is growing constantly.And how on earth is receiving a Blu-Ray movie in the mail, and watching it, and mailing it back adding to clutter exactly?
Please explain. If you don't want to add this so-called "clutter" to a shelf
then don't buy them! I have been watching Blu-Ray for twelve months, and in that time I have purchased three movies that have not added any "clutter" to my shelf. The rest of the Blu-Ray movies I have watched in that time were rented for an extremely low monthly membership fee.So how much would you like to put on that insightful prediction of yours that Blu-Ray will cease to exist next year? Did you predict that CD's would cease to exist because of the availability of downloaded music as well? There is no doubt in my mind that Blu-Ray will not only survive through next year, but for many more years beyond that, just as CDs have, and will continue to survive since downloaded music has become mainstream. Why is that? It's because many people still want the pure quality that is only available straight from the disc.
I buy CD's and rip them to the quality that I want, which is a lot higher than the 128k MPEG-4 format available at the Apple Store, and I can then use those files on any amount of Mac's that I choose. As for Blu-Ray, I prefer to watch movies in 1080p resolution because my telly is capable of producing it. I also enjoy watching the bonus features sometimes that are only available on the disc. If you're satisfied with downloading 720p HD, then that is your choice, but I prefer the full 1080p HD quality which cannot and will not be available for download because of the huge size, just as I prefer the full audio quality with my music.
Blu-Ray may not be the revolutionary step that DVD was from VHS, but it is certainly a format that has it's place and will only get bigger as people begin the step-up to high definition televisions. There will always be many people that continue to rent movies off the shelf, and there will always be many people that will buy movies for their library collection, the same goes for CD's, and those movies will be in Blu-Ray format. Downloaded HD video
and Blu-Ray will co-exist to please the people that are satisfied with lower quality HD without the so-called "clutter," and for the people that want full 1080p HD quality, just as downloaded music and CD's co-exist for the people that are satisfied with lower quality audio and for the people that are not.
Why does it have to be one or the other as you're suggesting? Is it because you fail to look objectively into the needs of all people based on your own personal preference? If you don't like discs taking up precious space (even though most people rent), and if you prefer lower quality HD, then I'm not going to criticise your choice, just as you shouldn't be so bloody high and mighty about my choice of pure music audio, and pure HD video.
