[...] their DVDs less appealing. First, they tried releasing the Blu Ray of Bolt (I'll get my ball) two days before the DVD. Now, they’re releasing a Terminator: Salvation DVD far inferior to the Blu Ray. The DVD contains [...]

[...] attempt to drive customers to the more expensive Blu-Ray format. Last time, with Bolt, it was only two days early, [...]

[...] they released the Blu-Ray version of Bolt two days early, to goose sales [...]

“As far as the blu-ray only features, that is not an issue of choice (In the sense that Disney is not keeping them off of the standard DVD). Those are simply things blu-ray is capable of due to the formatting and amount of space on the discs. DVD is just not capable of those items.”

Not trying to pick an argument, but that is not always the case. There is no reason why the “Bolt Art Gallery” cannot be included on the 2-disc DVD edition. Art Galleries have long been a staple of 2 disc Disney animated DVD sets.

I am not so sure it is lack of interest as much as HD was not really on the radar until people found out that broadcast standards were changing. I was back to working at a video store last year, and a lot of customers were surprised to hear about the switch to a digital signal, and just had no real idea what “blu-ray” was.

The HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war ended before people were fully aware it was going on. And ten or eleven years ago, Blu-Ray could have taken it’s time building an audience…but geez, people are trying to declare it a failed format in under three years. I think I would be trying to convince people to try my product extra hard if people were trying to call it DOA and I thought it was a better product. :)

I was interested by a study where people were saying they could not tell the difference between a Hi-Def pic and a standard Def pic. I can see a major difference, personally. On the other hand, music-philes swear vinyl is superior to digital audio and I can’t tell the defference in quality (except that a CD and MP3 don’t have the hiss of a record.

My antipathy towards Blu-Ray stems from it not being *significantly* different from DVD in any way that matter to consumers. The two biggest distinctions that I can name are these: 1) it’s supposedly better protected, which prevents people from using content they buy in ways they might find convenient and 2) it costs a lot more.

From my perspective, people were saying “not interested”, and as a result, the studios are stepping up their pressure to push the format harder. When people feel under pressure from lots of different forces, they may get a little more involved in something like this that they feel like they might still have a say in.

Very interesting opinions, thanks.

As far as the blu-ray only features, that is not an issue of choice (In the sense that Disney is not keeping them off of the standard DVD). Those are simply things blu-ray is capable of due to the formatting and amount of space on the discs. DVD is just not capable of those items.

The two days earlier thing is silly, stick to standard release dates. It’s less confusing for the public. I prefer Disney’s last idea. The Sleeping Beauty Blu-Ray came with a standard def DVD at no extra cost.

As far as the more negative comments regarding the format…I am feeling a sense of deja vu from when I worked at a video store in the early days of DVD. People complained about having DVD being pushed on them, trying to force them to adapt to new technology when they had perfectly good VHS at home. People were quite incensed at this intrusion. And back then, the idea that you would *have* to replace your VHS seemed far more likely.

And to be honest? I don’t get the aggressiveness about it. People do not seem to be content to say “not interested right now.” I am not speaking about your initial posts, Johanna. I feel you have given very balanced reasons for your concerns. But it seems like every time you have made a post about the Blu-Ray push, people leap in to declare how stupid it is anyways and they like their standard def. And that’s great. It is an incredibly new format (barely three years old). And people seem to have developed a network TV mentality. Three episodes in and it is not a huge hit? Cancel it! It isn’t like “I am taking a wait and see” attitude, which I completely understand. But the reactions seem…over the top.

I thought the way capitalism and the free market is supposed to work is that this would _stop_ the studios pushing Blu-Ray, as the consumers aren’t buying. Apparently that’s _not_ how capitalism and the free market works when you’re a large company.