I may be alone on this one, but I just noticed a small pattern in my CD shopping habits. Here’s an example:

Over the past couple years, I’ve come to love music from the band Muse. British rockers with some serious talent, they have a great sound that [...]]]>

I may be alone on this one, but I just noticed a small pattern in my CD shopping habits. Here’s an example:

Over the past couple years, I’ve come to love music from the band Muse. British rockers with some serious talent, they have a great sound that is a mix of britpop, rock, alternative, and electronica.

What I realized is that I own all five of their albums in CD format, and that I made all of these purchases in the last two years (during which time I bought almost no CDs, as I’m more into downloading music). So why did I buy these albums as CDs rather than MP3s?

Simple. Their most recent two albums each come with a live concert on DVD. So I could buy the MP3s via Amazon for $8.99. Or I could get the CD/DVD set for $12.99. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but getting a DVD included for $4 made my brain automatically pick buying the CDs.

As for the other three earlier albums, well, they aren’t as easily available in downloadable form. And once I am “converted” enough to a band, I have no problem buying their CDs. But the key here is that the DVD bundling sold me as a CD buyer in the first place.

Now, on the back end, I have no idea how much it costs to make stuff like this happen. And I’m not about to claim that it’s automatically worth it for all bands to do this. But while Radiohead gets buzz for experimenting with new forms of distribution, I thought I should mention a perhaps overlooked old school method of getting at least me interested in buying music.

Of course, you could argue that DVDs are going away too and will soon be replaced by digital content. But even if that’s the case, it’s at a much slower pace than the same transition happening in music. So, at the very least, I think CD/DVD combos could at least slow down the CD’s death while the industry figures out what to do.

But is this just me? Does anyone else fall for CD purchases when DVDs are included?

Note: This article is cross-posted at BobCaswell.com.

I purchased my HD DVD player with 10 movies for $174 way back in November. Today, to my surprise, I received the email below. This is much better than the company’s first attempt at treating me [...]]]>

I purchased my HD DVD player with 10 movies for $174 way back in November. Today, to my surprise, I received the email below. This is much better than the company’s first attempt at treating me as a “valued HD DVD customer” and comes after Best Buy made a similar move. In related news, Amazon also has a Buy 2 Get 1 Free Blu-ray movie promotion happening right now.

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who purchased an HD DVD player from us before February 23, 2008,* you might like to hear about a special offer available from Amazon.com.

New technologies don’t always work out as planned. We at Amazon.com value our customer relationships more than anything and would like to support customers who purchased these players by offering a credit good for $50 off any products sold by Amazon.com.** Just use promotional code XXXXXXXXXX when checking out. The code is valid through April 9, 2009, so you have plenty of time to use your credit. Purchases from third-party merchants on our site are not eligible.

In addition, we’d like to share some of our top offers on Blu-ray discs, HDTVs, and other high-def technology and remind you that the Amazon.com Marketplace is available to sell items you might not want anymore as you upgrade to new ones. Also be sure to check out our monthly Amazon.com Early Adopters Delivers e-mail to find out about the latest technology.

* On February 23, 2008, the last manufacturer of HD DVD players announced it was ceasing production of those players.

** Offer cannot be used to pay for special-order titles, e-books or downloadable e-content, wireless service plans, gift certificates, gift-wrap, taxes, or shipping and handling charges. $50.00 promotional credit is per HD DVD player purchased prior to February 23, 2008–up to 10 units for a maximum credit of $500.00.

Sony CEO Ryoji Chubachi knows something we don’t. At a press conference a few days ago, he pointed out Sony’s plan to increase Blu-ray market share to 50% by the end of the year. How is this possible you might ask? Well, apparently new Blu-ray devices to be offered by [...]]]>

Sony CEO Ryoji Chubachi knows something we don’t. At a press conference a few days ago, he pointed out Sony’s plan to increase Blu-ray market share to 50% by the end of the year. How is this possible you might ask? Well, apparently new Blu-ray devices to be offered by Sony will include a model integrated into an HD LCD TV with Blu-ray recording functionality.

But that’s not all. While the vast majority of Blu-ray players out there are the ones built-in to the Playstation 3, Sony has plans for cheaper Blu-ray players including a new focus on “IT devices.” (Because we all would adopt Blu-ray if only our computers had it, apparently). Last but not least on the list of reasons, more Blu-ray movies will be offered by Hollywood studios to entice you into switching to the new format.

All of this may very will be true, but none of it has happened yet. The Playstation 3 is still the best deal for anyone interested in Blu-ray. And that’s because you get a gaming system along with your Blu-ray player for the $400 you’ll be spending. Otherwise, your Blu-ray player options still seem to be well into the $400 price range.

And let’s not forget the cost of the movies themselves. HD DVD movies now are finally reasonably priced only after the format is pretty much dead. But Blu-ray? Does Sony really think that $27.95 is the new price for movies?

Plus, we’re seeing some serious momentum behind the move toward downloadable/streaming content. All things considered, though, I think the biggest challenge for Sony is that people seem just fine with good ol’ DVD. Sure, I could see this changing but only if the premium for Blu-ray (over regular DVD) was, say, 20-50%. I personally think 400%+ is a bit much.

*Update* Gizmodo has the news of a new Sony Blu-ray recorder release. I think the first comment is very telling:

“So now that Blu Ray won, we’re supposed to all run out and stock up on Sony products we never wanted in the first place? No thanks.”

Since Blu-ray became the next generation movie disc format of choice, the consumer supposedly has been better off. But Tom’s Hardware claims that prices of Blu-ray players are higher than ever and that now, in fact, is the worst time to buy.

Interesting. I’ve been tracking [...]]]>

Since Blu-ray became the next generation movie disc format of choice, the consumer supposedly has been better off. But Tom’s Hardware claims that prices of Blu-ray players are higher than ever and that now, in fact, is the worst time to buy.

Interesting. I’ve been tracking Blu-ray vs. HD DVD player pricing for the past year via Amazon and hadn’t noticed any recent increases. As of today, the Blu-ray players on Amazon are priced in the same range they’ve always been: the mid to high $300′s. Right now the cheapest Blu-ray player on Amazon is this Samsung for $357. I’ve seen it $20 cheaper, but I’ve also seen it more expensive.

The truth is, of course, that until Blu-ray players fall well below $300 (which I haven’t seen on Amazon), there’s no point in buying anything but the Sony Playstation 3. It’s $400 and has Blu-ray included. And HD DVD players are now the same price as upconvert DVD players. Amazon has this HD DVD player for $79 (via the TigerDirect link on the right).

Meanwhile, Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, today seemed to squash any rumors of Microsoft working on a Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360:

“Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience… We’re the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content.”

So there you have it. Since Blu-ray won the next gen movie disc war: Blu-ray prices aren’t coming down, HD DVD players are the new upconvert DVD, and digital distribution seems to be where Microsoft is headed. More coverage and opinions via Techmeme.

For anyone keeping score since Blu-ray won the next generation movie battle, HD DVD players are now $99. And that’s with 7 movies included. Considering these players also work well as upconvert DVD players (DVD players that convert and play regular DVDs at a [...]]]>

For anyone keeping score since Blu-ray won the next generation movie battle, HD DVD players are now $99. And that’s with 7 movies included. Considering these players also work well as upconvert DVD players (DVD players that convert and play regular DVDs at a slightly higher picture quality), in some ways, it’s actually the best deal on the market if you’re looking for a good DVD player.

If you value the 7 movies included (incidentally, most regular DVD players don’t come with free movies like this) at the discounted price of $10 per movie, then you’re effectively getting a nice DVD player for about $30. Retailer Play.com is using similar logic, as it relabeled all its HD DVD players for sale as upconvert DVD players (but Play’s deal isn’t nearly as good as Amazon’s).

And remember that Blu-ray players are well into the $300 price range. The best deal available is really the Playstation 3 for around $400; you may as well get a gaming console if you’re already willing to spend over $300 for the next generation of movies. I agree with Saul Hansell who writes for the NYTimes blog BITS:

“I suspect Sony’s Blu-ray will have a hard time for a few years, but not because of downloading… The competition for Blu-ray players is the latest generation of DVD players that can generate a high-definition picture from a standard-definition disc.”

*Update* There’s a rumor floating around that the Xbox 360 HD DVD player will be dropping to $49. It currently includes 6 movies with purchase (until the end of February 2008).

Notwithstanding the price slashing Toshiba has been doing (HD DVD player with 7 movies for $129 compared to Blu-ray players starting in the $300′s), Netflix choosing to drop HD DVD [...]]]>

Notwithstanding the price slashing Toshiba has been doing (HD DVD player with 7 movies for $129 compared to Blu-ray players starting in the $300′s), Netflix choosing to drop HD DVD by year’s end in favor of Blu-ray exclusivity is quite the blow to the HD DVD crowd. Thanks a lot, Netflix. Give me an online streaming experience in HD by year’s end, and you’re forgiven. See below for full text of the email going out to any Netflix HD DVD users:

We’re Going Blu-ray

Dear Bob,

You’re receiving this email because you have asked to receive high-definition movies in the HD DVD format. As you may have heard, most of the major movie studios have recently decided to release their high-definition movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. In order to provide the best selection of high-definition titles for our members, we have decided to go exclusively with Blu-ray as well.

While we will continue to make our current selection of HD DVD titles available to you for the next several months, we will not be adding additional HD DVD titles or reordering replacements.

Toward the end of February, HD DVDs in your Saved Queue will automatically be changed to standard definition DVDs. Then toward the end of this year, all HD DVDs in your Queue will be changed to standard definition DVDs. Don’t worry, we will contact you before this happens.

You can click here to change your format preferences.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

*Update* More bad news for HD DVD… “Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format.”

Netflix will be making a big announcement tomorrow, coincidentally one day before Apple will be making some [similar] big announcements of its own:

Starting Monday, January 14, 2008, Netflix subscribers will have unlimited access to movie viewing online. The company plans to do away [...]]]>

Netflix will be making a big announcement tomorrow, coincidentally one day before Apple will be making some [similar] big announcements of its own:

Starting Monday, January 14, 2008, Netflix subscribers will have unlimited access to movie viewing online. The company plans to do away with its quota/hours system it had in place before (viewing hours per month were based upon how much you paid for you mail-in DVD plan). The only group of Netflix subscribers to be left out of this unlimited plan: you who pay the minimum of $4.99 to rent just two DVDs per month.

Right now the Netflix online catalog consists of approximately 6,000 titles, which is still only a fraction of the 90,000 titles in the company’s DVD collection. But the number of movies available for online viewing is still on the rise and has doubled since the online service went live a year ago. And it’s still a bigger library than most other video-on-demand services available.

This news has even bigger potential when combined with the previous Netflix announcement of Netflix and LG marketing an LG-branded device (like a cable box) that will allow you to watch movies on your TV via Netflix streaming. The LG partnership is to be the “first of many” Netflix hopes to announce this year with makers of hardware devices, including videogame consoles.

Netflix’s news of unlimited movie watching comes just one day before Apple’s expected release of an iTunes movie rental service. The main advantage Apple will have is that its digital content will be viewable on iPods and iPhones along with computers. But so far, most consumers appear to prefer watching movies on their big-screen TVs. Apple already has a product, Apple TV, which syncs movies from your computer to your TV. But it has been met with some critism and is not without its limitations.

The Netflix unlimited plan may be more attractive than Apple’s expected $3.99 per movie plan, which will likely require movies to be downloaded and viewed within 24 hours of purchase. Whatever the case, more competition in this space is definitely a good thing.

Note: This article is cross-posted at BobCaswell.com.

Back in November, I asked for help in deciding between HD DVD and Blu-ray. I ended up choosing HD DVD via an amazing Amazon deal: HD DVD player and 10 HD DVDs for $174. (That deal is now over, but now there’s an [...]]]>

Back in November, I asked for help in deciding between HD DVD and Blu-ray. I ended up choosing HD DVD via an amazing Amazon deal: HD DVD player and 10 HD DVDs for $174. (That deal is now over, but now there’s an even better deal: HD DVD player and 7 movies for only $132.)

But it wasn’t just the price being nearly half of any Blu-ray equivalent (check out Amazon’s Blu-ray page, where every player is well above $300 with not nearly as many included movies), it was other little things. For instance, HD DVD is region free. This means that any movies bought in Europe or the U.S. can work on any player bought anywhere as well. The same isn’t true for Blu-ray.

And HD DVD technology allows for backwards compatibility with regular DVD players. Most of the HD DVD movies I own are dual format discs. They work on my HD DVD player but also work as regular DVDs in any DVD player (including Blu-ray players). But Blu-ray technology has no backwards compatibility. Another aspect of HD DVD that was superior: all players are required to have network support which makes updates more convenient and allows for some interesting features. Blu-ray, on the other hand, has plenty of players that don’t have network support.

And while the format wars have been raging on, I’ve been using Netflix which automatically sends me any available movies in my queue in HD DVD format. This has allowed me to enjoy plenty of high definition content over the past couple months (and will continue for some time until HD DVD officially dies).

So the less expensive, region free, feature-rich, backwards compatible format was beaten by the more expensive, restricted format. And let’s not forget that no matter how many Playstation 3 consoles Sony will sell (which include Blu-ray), a true DVD replacement will need stand-alone players. This is where Blu-ray has failed big time so far.

Plenty of people are speculating that even if Blu-ray has won the battle against HD DVD, its death isn’t too far off. News is coming out every day of more options that allow for digital content to be delivered straight to the TV with no separate disc player required. This war isn’t over yet. And if Blu-ray dies in the next battle, its expensive, restricted, non-compatible format will die with it.

As it stands, I appreciate what the HD DVD group has done to make its death less of a pain for its users. If it were Blu-ray dying, the same couldn’t be said.

*Update* The Financial Times claims Paramount will drop HD DVD via a clause in its contract that allows the company to switch sides if Warner chooses Blu-ray (which is exactly what Warner did). But now Paramount seems to be denying any such intentions and says it will stick with HD DVD.

Note: This article is cross-posted at BobCaswell.com.

Warner Bros. announcing exclusive Blu-ray support comes news of HD DVD canceling its CES press conference due to its rival’s announcement. The HD DVD group previously invited attendants with this upbeat message:

“Please join us as [...]]]> Right on the heels of

Warner Bros. announcing exclusive Blu-ray support comes news of HD DVD canceling its CES press conference due to its rival’s announcement. The HD DVD group previously invited attendants with this upbeat message:

“Please join us as we present exciting news and a sneak peak at what’s to come for 2008, featuring executives from the HD DVD Promotional Group: Intel, Microsoft, Paramount Home Entertainment, Toshiba, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video.”

Interesting that Warner was to be part of this group even if now the HD DVD group and Warner aren’t the best of friends. Here’s the HD DVD cancellation message followed by the press release post Warner Blu-ray announcement:

Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group

Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.

Toshiba’s Comment on Announcement from Warner Bros. Entertainment of Its Exclusive Support for Blu-ray Disc Format

TOKYO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ — “Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.’ decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray, despite the fact that there are various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD. As central members of the DVD Forum, we have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros. We worked closely together to help standardize the first-generation DVD format as well as to define and shape HD DVD as its next-generation successor.

We were particularly disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD DVD has gained in the US market as well as other regions in 2007. HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market in 2007.

We will assess the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluate potential next steps. We remain firm in our belief that HD DVD is the format best suited to the wants and needs of the consumer.”

Unfortunately for the HD DVD group, their fans don’t seem to be remaining quite as “firm in belief.” Mike over at Hacking Netflix is contemplating selling his “slightly used” HD DVD player while Robert Scoble apologizes for betting on the wrong format. And David Carnoy of Crave is of the opinion that selection trumps price even if HD DVD players could be half the price of Blu-ray.

Note: This article is cross-posted at BobCaswell.com.