Head of Sony from Format War era says new generation will never buy physical media

85mics · 12-04-2008, 10:10 PM

http://www.edge-online.com/news/harr...physical-media

Y'all remember Phil Harrison, former head of Sony and major Blu-ray advocate from the Format War days? The same Phil Harrison that surprisingly left Sony the same month that Toshiba called it quits? Ever wonder why? Well maybe because he's just not a true supporter of physical media and got sick and tired of pretending to like Blu-ray and being Sony's puppet. Maybe he felt disgusted by what his company did during CES 2008 with Warner and everything that the very next month he ups and leaves. Well now he's telling us how he really feels.

BTW, this is not flamebait. I'm not trying to troll. The link is to a brand new article with actual quotes from the former Blu-ray man himself. I will admit that the sentences in italics above are MY opinions however.

kamspy · 12-04-2008, 10:52 PM

He was in the gaming department. Not quite the head of the BDA.

85mics · 12-04-2008, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamspy

He was in the gaming department. Not quite the head of the BDA.

True dat, but the PS3 is really a Blu-ray player for the most part. Plenty of articles exist online where he's insistent on Blu-ray practically being a necessity. He talked about the media in regards to both games and movies. This isn't just BD vs. HD DVD. It's downloads vs. all discs. He's saying they're gonna do 90% digital downloads within 5 years. I think that's a big statement from someone who used to insist on Blu-ray and it's value for the PS3.

iDarren · 12-04-2008, 11:51 PM

Gee surprise surprise - he's a salesman. New products need a new speil.

12-05-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

said that “there’s a generation of kids being born today and probably already alive who I’m pretty confident will never buy a physical media product. They will never buy a DVD, they will never buy a CD, and they will never buy a game in a box.”

The generation born today will start buying in ~15 years, start having its own income in ~ 20 years, start having a good income in ~ 25 - 30 years.

I hope by that time, we'll have something much better than optical media.

iDarren · 12-05-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikopol

The generation born today will start buying in ~15 years, start having its own income in ~ 20 years, start having a good income in ~ 25 - 30 years.

I hope by that time, we'll have something much better than optical media.

in 25 to 30 years from now the Western world could be the new third world, barely able to afford rice

MikeRox · 12-05-2008, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iDarren

Gee surprise surprise - he's a salesman. New products need a new speil.

Actually, Phil Harrison is a very intelligent bloke. He was the one that said that the games industry needed titles like Singstar, Buzz etc to find a new market. Basically, he was the Wii's greatest advocate (back in 1999!) but couldn't get Sony to fully get on board the idea.

He pretty much single handedly made the PS2 the force it was in Europe though. He knows what people want, and it actually scares me that he might be right about this.

iDarren · 12-05-2008, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeRox

Actually, Phil Harrison is a very intelligent bloke. He was the one that said that the games industry needed titles like Singstar, Buzz etc to find a new market. Basically, he was the Wii's greatest advocate (back in 1999!) but couldn't get Sony to fully get on board the idea.

He pretty much single handedly made the PS2 the force it was in Europe though. He knows what people want, and it actually scares me that he might be right about this.

Why be scared, if he's right he's right, if he's wrong he's wrong.

TowerGrove · 12-05-2008, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85mics

True dat, but the PS3 is really a Blu-ray player for the most part. Plenty of articles exist online where he's insistent on Blu-ray practically being a necessity. He talked about the media in regards to both games and movies. This isn't just BD vs. HD DVD. It's downloads vs. all discs. He's saying they're gonna do 90% digital downloads within 5 years. I think that's a big statement from someone who used to insist on Blu-ray and it's value for the PS3.

How well did those download Roku boxes do on Black Friday weekend? Im sure they were a sell out at Wal Mart

. I dont see it (digital downloads) on the list of "HOT" Christmas items, wait a minute Blu Ray is on that list.

Downloads have a long way to go before 90% can happen.

scsa · 12-05-2008, 06:03 AM

Yeah Blu-ray is not going anywhere any time soon I mean nothing in the near future is going to be popular like Blu-ray in terms of movies and downloads aren't going anywhere fast at all I mean not when the cable companies that most use have caps of 250 or a little more every month I mean how many HD movies can you hold on that limit a month when you can buy 100s of Blu-rays or even rent 100's a month with nextflix.

brianh · 12-05-2008, 06:10 AM

Maybe people would start buying blu-ray if they didn't cost $30 a pop.

Nded · 12-05-2008, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scsa

Yeah Blu-ray is not going anywhere any time soon I mean nothing in the near future is going to be popular like Blu-ray in terms of movies and downloads aren't going anywhere fast at all I mean not when the cable companies that most use have caps of 250 or a little more every month I mean how many HD movies can you hold on that limit a month when you can buy 100s of Blu-rays or even rent 100's a month with nextflix.

From what I've gleaned on forum.vudu.com the H.264 format file size for a typical 2 hour long SD movie on Vudu is 4GB, the typical HD movie on Vudu is 8GB, the HDX movies are 12-16GB (+/-). So, lets say you are willing to set aside 2/3 of your 250GB limit to movie downloads (160GB) - that lets you watch 40SD, 20HD, or 12HDX 2 hour long movies. After they are downloaded you can watch them again without using any bandwidth. How many new movies do you watch in a typical month?

Chazz 3 · 12-05-2008, 08:12 AM

I hope it stays the same like now if everything becomes downloads then u need a hard drive and like Nded said above with the space issues. Also what would happen to netflix if everything is downloaded would they still have streaming? Would there prices be as low as now? I doubt it but u never know

sigill · 12-05-2008, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chazz 3

I hope it stays the same like now if everything becomes downloads then u need a hard drive and like Nded said above with the space issues. Also what would happen to netflix if everything is downloaded would they still have streaming? Would there prices be as low as now? I doubt it but u never know

I don't think downloads will be taking over anytime soon. There are too many issues for that too happen. Many people like buying physical media and i dont think downloading will appeal to them.

Chazz 3 · 12-05-2008, 08:34 AM

I hear you i like the streaming over my xbox it is nice and convinent but i like buying the movies as well for the art work and having the disc. I think all this will do is raise prices on hard drives as they will be need the most.

12-04-2008, 10:10 PM	#1
85mics DVD F orum > BDA Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brea, CA Age: 32 Posts: 160	Head of Sony from Format War era says new generation will never buy physical media http://www.edge-online.com/news/harr...physical-media Y'all remember Phil Harrison, former head of Sony and major Blu-ray advocate from the Format War days? The same Phil Harrison that surprisingly left Sony the same month that Toshiba called it quits? Ever wonder why? Well maybe because he's just not a true supporter of physical media and got sick and tired of pretending to like Blu-ray and being Sony's puppet. Maybe he felt disgusted by what his company did during CES 2008 with Warner and everything that the very next month he ups and leaves. Well now he's telling us how he really feels. BTW, this is not flamebait. I'm not trying to troll. The link is to a brand new article with actual quotes from the former Blu-ray man himself. I will admit that the sentences in italics above are MY opinions however. __________________ DVD Forum Purchases: SD DVD: 500+ HD DVD: 300+ BDA Purchases: Blu-ray: 0 33% vs. 67% = dead format but 8% vs. 92% = success!

12-04-2008, 11:51 PM	#4
iDarren Hi-Def Junkie Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 3,227	Gee surprise surprise - he's a salesman. New products need a new speil. __________________ www.bogieonline.com www.mcqueenonline.com

12-05-2008, 08:12 AM	#13
Chazz 3 HD Junky Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 37	I hope it stays the same like now if everything becomes downloads then u need a hard drive and like Nded said above with the space issues. Also what would happen to netflix if everything is downloaded would they still have streaming? Would there prices be as low as now? I doubt it but u never know __________________ Panasonic TC-P46G15 Plasma LG 42" LCD SAMSUNG BD-P1500 XBOX 360 PS3 SLIM 120 GIG HD IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!

12-05-2008, 08:34 AM	#15
Chazz 3 HD Junky Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 37	I hear you i like the streaming over my xbox it is nice and convinent but i like buying the movies as well for the art work and having the disc. I think all this will do is raise prices on hard drives as they will be need the most. __________________ Panasonic TC-P46G15 Plasma LG 42" LCD SAMSUNG BD-P1500 XBOX 360 PS3 SLIM 120 GIG HD IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!

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12-04-2008, 10:52 PM	#2
kamspy Brewers lol Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 21,928	He was in the gaming department. Not quite the head of the BDA.

12-05-2008, 06:03 AM	#10
scsa High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,162	Yeah Blu-ray is not going anywhere any time soon I mean nothing in the near future is going to be popular like Blu-ray in terms of movies and downloads aren't going anywhere fast at all I mean not when the cable companies that most use have caps of 250 or a little more every month I mean how many HD movies can you hold on that limit a month when you can buy 100s of Blu-rays or even rent 100's a month with nextflix.

12-05-2008, 06:10 AM	#11
brianh High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 1,023	Maybe people would start buying blu-ray if they didn't cost $30 a pop.