Re: DVD Info

Jim Scholtz (jscholtz@sdln.net)
Mon, 28 Aug 2000 07:30:25 -0700 (PDT)

Just a comment about Ranny's observations. I do believe that DVD is the
next great thing in video and the sales numbers obviously support that
fact. I also believe that part of the phenomenal growth of DVD has to do
with the industry side rather than the consumer side. The industry is
really pushing DVD - think back to Beta and VHS - even in '85 to '87, some
6-8 years after Beta/VHS were initially unveiled, players/recorders were
still selling for $500-$600 (high end). Sell through videos weren't
thought of yet - most of the programs were $49.95! I recently saw a
Phillips DVD player at Walmart for $140! and many DVD titles are going for
$24.95- $15.00 - even before the release of the same title on VHS. Now I
understand that this software sales phenomenon is expected to change within
the next couple of years to a higher price for new releases, but we'll wait
and see. I assemble PCs for a local computer sales company, and I've
noticed that less and less people are requesting DVD drives in their PCs.
I assume that this is related to 3 things - 1) fact that DVD players are
increasingly less expensive than PC hardware; 2) people don't necessarily
like to watch a DVD on their PC - even if they have a honk'in 21" monitor
and; 3) the rise in interest and price of faster CD-ROM 60X and CD-ROM
burners for home use ($159). Just perceptions not facts. Jim Scholtz.

At 01:53 PM 8/25/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Gary,
>According to Alexander and Associates, DVD hardware penetration will
>reach 13.5 million homes by year's end (not including playstation 2
>which will have DVD capacity and expects to ship 1 million by end of
>year) and according to Warner's DVD Home Entertainment group DVD
>software is expected to reach 200 million by year's end. These numbers
>were given at the DVD Supersession last month at the Video Software
>Dealers Association meeting. They seemed astronomical to me until I
>questioned some of the presenters who pointed out the impact of the
>early adaptors. Question to ask, "if you had both a DVD player and a
>VHS, which one would you use?" Obviously, the quality of DVD is so
>much better than VHS ever was and, unlike what happened to Sony when
>they lost the beta battle, they're making DVD players easy for people
>to buy. Who buys a new computer today without a DVD player?
>Ranny
>tks for the field of dreams image
>
>Gary Handman wrote:
>>
>> The point is, consumer electronics (and most everything else these days)
>> are not driven by populist impulse or the common good: the industries
>> involved call the shots, and those shots are based on the good ol'
>> meretricious bottom line. Taking a wait and see approach to DVD at this
>> time is not unreasonable, I guess...but sooner or later it's a leap we're
>> all gonna have to make (at least as far as feature films go). I'll bet
>> that within 2-3 years, taped movies have gone the way of 33.3rpm (the fond
>> collectables of nostalgia buffs). Now about all those off-the-mainstream
>> titles...I dunno...
>>
>> By the way, after this coming Christmas, I'll bet the gap between the DVD
>> haves and havenots in your community closes considerably...
>>
>> Gary Handman
>>
>> At 11:44 AM 08/22/2000 -0700, you wrote:
>> >> ..one could, of course, make the case that availability, easy access,
(and
>> >> fervent publicity) fire demand...not the other way around. I've always
>> >> been a big fan of building the field of dreams, and then standing by
with
>> >> bountiful popcorn and peanuts...
>> >
>> >A few weeks ago it was a announced that sales of DVD players had
reached the
>> >3 million mark.
>> >That's about the population size of my home city of Toronto -- a
relatively
>> >small fraction of the rest of the continent (let alone the world). So what
>> >is the rest of the population suppose to do when libraries choose to serve
>> >the minority instead of the majority?
>> >
>> >
>> Gary Handman
>> Director
>> Media Resources Center
>> Moffitt Library
>> UC Berkeley 94720-6000
>> http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC
>>
>> "Everything wants to become television" (James Ulmer -- Teletheory)
>
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