chesseroo,
If I could predict THAT - then I'd be the next Bill Gates!!!
Audio/video history is full of this sort of thing:
Fortunately we in North America only had 2 major formats competing for video. Europe had 3!
In audio we went thru quadraphonic sound with QS and SQ matrix plus CD-4 discrete records. We had 4 and then 8 track, open reel tape (2 serious sizes), cassettes, elcasettes, two different digital cassette formats... (I could go on, but you get the idea)
After having been (ultimately) burned on the Beta vs VHS thing, I can say without a doubt, that quality is NOT the ultimate issue for competing formats. Marketing, licensing, and profits are the deciding factors (for the manufacturer). Convenience, price, and compatability seem to matter most for the (mass market) consumer.
I read a head to head test several months ago of the two new high end audio formats (I think it was Audio Review magazine - but not sure) Seems there is no clear winner (at least right now) but it looks like more companies are supporting DVD-A with their products. Once again it seems it's Sony (SCAD) against (almost) everybody else. What bothers me most is incompatibility. SACDs won't work on normal CD players.
But ultimately I see it all as a chance to sell more (new and more expensive) hardware AND incorporate very sophisticated anti-copying schemes into the hardware/software. The record companies really HATE those mp3 files ripped from "their" CDs! And companies like Sony and JVC (i.e. in the family of Matsushita/Panasonic/Techniques) are big into both the music business AND hardware manufacturing.
Sigh...... we little people will NEVER win!
Randyman
Last edited by Randyman; 06/19/02 09:39 PM.
