tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10424035.post5210693220998377562..comments2023-09-11T08:58:24.710-06:00Comments on Reach Upward: The Road to High DefScott Hinrichshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11831447472339880148noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10424035.post-84443650160941292262008-02-26T09:13:00.000-07:002008-02-26T09:13:00.000-07:00I was beyond disappointment in the way the HD/BR w...I was beyond disappointment in the way the HD/BR war ended primarily because I chose to invest in HD, but more importantly HD was always better-priced. When you compare the technologies BR is superior only in capacity. They are equal in quality. And when you have the same quality and a cheaper price it seems like a no-brainer to me. I guess Warner Bros' recent decision to support BR exclusively prompted Toshiba's rash decision. I suppose in the long-run it will be a "win" for me and other HD consumers as long as BR somehow implements the capability to read HD DVDs. Otherwise I'm stuck with 30 HD DVD titles that will eventually be worthless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10424035.post-18093906189207939702008-02-25T08:42:00.000-07:002008-02-25T08:42:00.000-07:00This op-ed by Andy Kessler is a nice follow-on to ...<A HREF="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120390160543089503.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries" REL="nofollow">This op-ed</A> by Andy Kessler is a nice follow-on to this discussion. He says, "Haven't we learned that advancing technology is never served by arbitrary rules to divvy up scarce resources? Look at the dearth of good cell phone applications: Rules make incumbents lazy."<BR/><BR/>The answer, says Kessler, is a "policy to help cut a path for more competition, rather than protecting incumbents -- a Bandwidth Competition Act of 2008, not bogus net neutrality. All takers should be allowed access to poles or underground conduits. This is where neutrality should be enforced, instead of being a choke point."<BR/><BR/>The whole net neutrality thing is little more than a ploy to protect incumbents in the market. They have made big investments and they want to protect their market share, even if it means stifling innovation. Kessler says, "The Internet will only expand based on competitive principles, not socialist diktat. The more we can do to clear a path, the greater our national wealth will be."Scott Hinrichshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11831447472339880148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10424035.post-45232835866123462422008-02-25T08:03:00.000-07:002008-02-25T08:03:00.000-07:00Good point. But net neutrality is not going to fi...Good point. But net neutrality is not going to fix the public-private mess that we have. It will only introduce a new set of problems.Scott Hinrichshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11831447472339880148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10424035.post-10705035870089142202008-02-23T12:52:00.000-07:002008-02-23T12:52:00.000-07:00I was pretty surprised that Sony carried the day i...I was pretty surprised that Sony carried the day in the high-def disc war. The PS3 has been vastly outsold by the XBox360 (which supported HD-DVD) and Sony seems to have more restrictive licensing terms for content producers.<BR/><BR/>As far as Internet services go, the driving argument behind net neutrality is spurred mainly by hidden policies and deceptive marketing. Cable and phone companies have been selling their broadband products as "all-you-can-eat" with no stipulations such as "you can only use X applications". For them to then say "well... maybe it isn't really unlimited like we said it is" or "gee, we don't want you using BitTorrent because it costs too much money" is an egregious breach of contract. (I think the official term is "bait and switch".)<BR/><BR/>If these companies have decided to start restricting usage to reduce costs, fine, but tell us what the terms are. Shutting off users for "using too much bandwidth" without telling them how much they used or even what the limit is? Not cool. Neither is degrading specific applications that can have legit uses. BitTorrent, for instance, is used to distribute patches for World of Warcraft in addition to most major flavors of Linux.<BR/><BR/>Until telecommunications companies are more up-front on these policies, they're going to be endlessly hounded by the net neutrality argument.Jesse Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468928702710912142noreply@blogger.com