The triumph of mid-fi

I agree with Vik.

Sony and Phillips are HUGE companies with mega R&D budgets. These companies want to dominate the mass market (where the money is), and even certain high end markets. Just because Sony does not necessarilly make a world class preamp or amp does NOT mean that they could not if they put their mind's/R&D departments to the task.

Heck, Sony is a seriously dominating force in the high end video industry. Do you think it is harder to produce high end video than it is to produce high end audio?

Small or even not so small hi end audio companies can crank out great amps, preamps, speakers, and even digital, and some even make DVD players. However, many of the parts in their CDPs and DVD players could (most likely) very well be made by Sony or Phillips (like the transport). Most companies do not make their own transports and are at the mercy of the huge audio companies (like Sony, Phillips, or Pioneer etc.) for their transports. I have even heard of an audio company who made CDPs shutting down because they were unable to get the transports for their CDPs anymore.

KF

Ozfly, the main problem is that even if most of the smaller and mid sized hi end manufacturers banded together, they really have little insintive in developing a new medium. Nothing compared to the insintive that Sony has... Sony controls all aspects of of music/album production from the creation of albums to sales of those albums to what Lo-fi and Mid-fi America uses for playback. This amazing control is borderline monopoly. Developing new standards that they patent allows them to earn amazing ammounts of money by 1-Allowing others to use the standard for the patent fee, 2-the ability to sell the new standard with their existing catelog of music that they own, 3-the ability to sell the recording equipment needed to record and decode the standard.

#2 (above paragraph) is HUGE, and most hi fi manufacturers know NOTHING of this business. It also allows them to have instant software for a standard that they come up with.

This would be the hurdle that would be insurmountable for hi fi manufacturers to overcome. I do not think it would be that hard to come up with a new digital starndard, the problem would be getting ANYONE to accept it. Why should companies like Sony and Phillips accept a standard that they make no money on?

It is the companies that record the music that will develop new standards, and not the companies that sell the products that play the music.

KF