The pleasure of ownership
27th Feb 2008
By Chris Tomlinson
This week I thought I would step off the social networking soapbox and take you to the movies instead.
I personally don't regard going to the pictures as proper night out, more a way of avoiding alcohol on a Sunday evening.
But for those who prefer to watch their movies on the sofa with a glass of wine, the good news is the next generation DVD format war is over - Sony won!
Well perhaps not such good news for some early adopters who will soon be putting their HD DVD players in the loft next to their laser disk player, beta max video and eight-track music system.
But was this a war worth winning as more and more on-demand movie services become available online?
Last Tuesday, Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida fell on his own sword by announcing that they where to cease development and manufacture of the HD DVD player.
The announcement came after a string of major retailers and rental companies announced their preference for Blu-ray, the format developed by Sony.
Last week Wal-Mart abandoned HD in favour of Blu-ray, a reaction to last month's announcement by Warner Brothers, the largest media company releasing content in both formats, that it would now offer DVDs solely in Blu-ray.
Now, I've never been a collector of films. I never saw the point of owning something I'd watch once then have to dust for the rest of my life.
But perhaps the pleasure of ownership doesn't just come from being able to watch your favorite film whenever you want to or from lending it to a friend never to be seen again.
Like the prized collection of music CDs hanging on most living room walls, movie collections for some people are an important expression of their individuality.
I still acquire my music on CD even though my CD player has been unplugged for years. Like most, I use my computer and iTunes to manage and listen to it. It's also pretty hard to gift wrap a download and give it to someone as a present.
So the war may be over, but will consumers, who have been waiting to see which format would succeed, start buying Blu-ray players in their masses?
I think not. More likely they will end up with Blu-ray drives in the computers and games consoles now employed as their home entertainment hub.
Steve Jobs, however, begs to differ. With broadband now ubiquitous, removable media (like CDs and DVDs) are theoretically no longer needed. The new MacBook Air comes without a removable media drive, much to the dismay of even the most loyal Mac lovers.
There is a practical reality that broadband in the UK just isn't quite fast enough yet to live the download dream, but I suspect there is also a psychological need to own physical content amongst those that covert it.
Whether the pleasure of ownership will remain important to the download generation and that the format war was worth winning, only time will tell.
Chris Tomlinson is Head of Digital at WAA.
steve commented 3 months ago
"Now, I've never been a collector of films. I never saw the point of owning something I'd watch once then have to dust for the rest of my life."
in years to come this might rank with Shakespeare & Dickens ( couple of geezers who were around pre-internet)