Another format dies: Farewell LaserDisc
Mikey 11 comments
If you don't remember Laser Disc, allow me to paint a picture. Imagine that DVD player sitting in your living room, but about 3 times bigger. Now imagine a DVD Disc, but about 3 times bigger.
I've always prided myself on being an early adopter of new technology, but Laser Disc is one format I'm glad I skipped over.
It turns out that Pioneer have stopped manufacturing Laser Disc players. To be honest, I never even knew they were still making them. I guess that shows there is always a market for obsolete technology, but only up to a certain point.
Anders
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 08:35 PM...in response to this comment by EricVonZipper. HD-DVD was better but it lost out to marketing like Betamax did back when it still competed with VHS.
As for flooding the market with a reduced price point that's not Sony's style. They are still firm believers that people will gladly pay a premium for their stuff. Look at the PS3. Talk about over-priced. If they had halved the price and sold it below cost (like Microsoft did with the 360) then there would be a lot more people supporting Sony.
andrew
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 08:45 PMlaser disc, was i asleep, when did it come out
Haddy
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 09:34 PMtotally forgot laserdisc ever existed. wont be missed!
Anders
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 09:42 PM...in response to this comment by andrew. It was out during the later half of the VHS revolution. My Dad had one (still has I think) I remember the discs were the same size as an vinyl album (12 inch).
Jim
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 10:24 PMI remember seeing laser discs at the library downtown when I was a kid. I assumed they stopped making them in 1989 or so...
Rodney
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 10:26 PM...in response to this comment by Anders. Betamax didn't lose to better marketing. It lost because Sony, who owned Betamax, refused to be associated with Porn , resulting in the porn industry releasing their titles on VHS. Apparently, porn outsells regular movies by some $3b US, so game over Betamax.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245638,00.html
Laser disc is to DVD as LP is to CD. In size anyway. I only knew a couple people that owned these. It never did catch on.
Gong
Friday 16th January 2009 | 09:20 AM...in response to this comment by Rodney. never knew that Rodney. Thanks.
I had a laser disc player. My family and I used to rent movies and watch them on the then amazing Sony Trinitron TV. I remember it was so clear.
Good times.
Anonymous
Tuesday 14th June 2011 | 10:26 PMSo why exactly was HD-DVD better? Was the picture any different? Was the sound any different? I never owned one cos' I didn't see the point in buying gear that would become obsolete by the time you walked out of the store with it and realized by the time I could afford to own HD gear the format war would be settled anyway. Blu-Ray will probably be replaced in a couple of years by movie downloads, and I imagine at some point holographic TV will come along. They are already working on some disc-based successors to Blu-Ray http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5D_DVD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc
Gina
Wednesday 15th June 2011 | 11:39 AM...in response to this comment by Anonymous. Precisely! My thoughts exactly. Thank you for the link. (You must have been reading my mind. I have been considering buying a Blue-Ray, which I may still buy; however, like my TV, I'll buy last year's floor model for a fraction of the original price--God willing.)
EricVonZipper
Thursday 15th January 2009 | 08:29 PMLaser disc ay. Memories. Damn discs and players were temperamental.
I wonder if other companies (will) still make the media? I guess some companies/people have the equipment/presses.
For example. A good friend of mine owns a record vinyl press. The bloody thing is running almost 24/7. He can't keep up with orders. I wonder if the same will happen with laser discs. What market is out there for these things, if any.
Off-topic, but; Next to die (prediction): Blu-Ray. What a horrible horrible format. Awesome for data backups, but that's about it. RIP HD-DVD, a far superior format, just like Beta was.
If Sony/Blu-Ray mob wish to succeed, take a large hit in initial profits and make players $100, and the actual discs at same price, if not lower than current DVDs. Flood the market.