New formats, same old story?


OK, we continue to be inundated by advice to upgrade to a new digital format. Most say SACD, the rest tell us that DVD-A will be the ticket. My thing is that I would be ready to buy if things were sorted out. They are not yet. It doesn't look any clearer to me than it did a year ago today. Am I blind? Neither has taken precedence. More importantly, neither has had the major influx of software we have been waiting for. A major determinant as to which one wins out in the end. Yes, SOFTWARE. Where is it? Sure, there are some titles out there(how many currently???), but new albums are still more often than not released CD only. The people at the record stores still have not heard of either of the new formats. Yes, I know Sony keeps dangling the influx of new players(even cheap ones) at us, but I am still in the same mindset I was last year. That I don't want to invest in a new player that won't be a REAL step up in terms of CD playback(which would make it worth it) until one of the formats emerges as the future path. And, once the players come, will they be obsoleted by a new twist a couple of years later? As in multichannel - which I am not interested in, or by offering a digital output of the new format's signal. Are my feelings correct, or do I need the way I see things corrected? Thank you.
trelja

Showing 1 response by onhwy61

Rehasing old history...the way I heard it, Beta lost when Panasonic made significant monetary payments to the large SoCal porn distributors to stop making Beta tapes. The home market for Beta quickly went limp. Remember though, Beta did not die, it went on to dominate the pro video arena. Sony made money.

Unlike the video tape past, the audio future will not be determined by behind closed door soloists. Audiophiles and music lovers are right now in a postion to influence which formats survive. In order to exercise that influence we will need to stop standing on the sidelines rationalizing our inactivity and instead join the fray. Buying new products and building a library entails taking risks, but isn't everything worth having worth risking something to get?

To everyone sitting on sidelines, stand and be counted, STAND! (na na na na na na na na na na na).