Sony Posts Huge Losses

[budwzr]

I saw this today at Forbes.com. As a Vegas Pro owner, of course I want the parent company to do well, but as a consumer electronics buyer, I don't like the way Sony operates. Ditto for Panasonic.

When HD-DVD and BD were competing, I didn't want BD to win because I knew X264 would get locked out, and that sux.

[yoda313]

First nintendo now sony. Whats next?

[Hoser Rob]

BD isn't their problem. They can't compete with Korean electronics manufacturers.

Sales of both dvd and bd are really flat now. It's so bad that Ron Howard and Jerry Bruckheimer both had movie projects cancelled last summer. Because they didn't think they could make all their money back in theatres, and they don't count on dvd/br sales anymore to make up the difference.

And those are two of the most powerful people in hollywood. Where does that leave indie filmmakers, who have been counting on post theatrical video sales for decades?

[yoda313]

Ron Howard and Jerry Bruckheimer

What was the last movie that Ron Howard put out? I can't think of one.

I know I know the name Bruckheimer (spelling?) but I don't know why. He's one of those action film guys right?

Where does that leave indie filmmakers, who have been counting on post theatrical video sales for decades?

Well if they could ever work out a true reliable revenue stream from it production wise going online is a great way to do it. But the streaming market is pretty fractured and with the upheaval netflix went through recently there isn't a sure bet out there. And of course not everyone has a fast enough internet connection to do streaming.

Heck I have cable internet and I still occasionally get buffering issues - though usually only when doing hd video - standard def is just fine. And hd buffering issues are only sporadic.

The odd thing was when I rented the newest Muppets movie on vudu hd I tried to watch it on my xbox 360 but it kept buffering and wouldn't play smoothly. I switched over to my ps3 and didn't have a single problem.

The really strange part is both are hardwired to the same router (which itself is hardwired directly to the cable modem with a single cable) with a single lan cable each, distance isn't a problem (both use the standard 4' or 6' cable you always get with a new modem or networkable doohicky. The only thing I could think of was I was renting it on the first night it was released (a Tuesday) - maybe the xbox live system was overwhelmed with other Tuesday releases and the ps3 system was ok with it. I'll never know though.

[Hoser Rob]

I can't think of all the Ron Howard or Jerry Bruckheimer movies either ... they're typically dumb, condescending-to-their-audience Hollywood crap ... but they are very big in the industry still, and will be for some time. There are quite a few powerful people in the business who may not be hot with the kids nowadays but what do they know?

Streaming looks pretty promising for smaller movies, but it may be like putting media on the web in general. It's too easy. There's a ton of poorly differentiated crap out there and no one can wade through it all to find the good stuff.

Note that Apple is doing a lot better financially than any of the content creators that provide iTunes stuff. There's more money in aggregation than content production.

That's odd about your xbox/ps3 buffering issue. I don't know the specs of either.

Streaming is going to be huge when the new standards to take advantage of whitespace networking emerge.

[yoda313]

That's odd about your xbox/ps3 buffering issue. I don't know the specs of either.

I think it just might have been a volume issue - not quite a ddos - denial of service - but maybe just because a tuesday night might have buffering issues on a release day. It wasn't the end of the world since I was able to watch it on my ps3 ok.

Streaming is going to be huge when the new standards to take advantage of whitespace networking emerge.

Whitespace networking? Whats that?

I'll google it when I have some time but not right now.

Is that a new subset of all that cloud stuff? Or is this a new infrastructure protocol?

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/knows/

I'm not sure I follow it. Is this a replacement for home wifi? Or is it a new network delivery system instead of that 3g/4g stuff cell phones and laptops/tablets use?

[TreeTops]

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/knows/

That sure wasn't written for the average joe to understand. Lots of gobblygook words. However, it seems (my understanding) that they want to use several nodes (transmitters?) to deliver Wi Fi.

Since I live in the boonies with no transmitters, that's not going to help me one bit.

[budwzr]

"Aggregation", now that's the stickler. H'wood doesn't want to go streaming because only the good movies make money, and only one in ten is good. The rest are meh, or stink.

Aggregators are controllers of eyeballs, and changes the distribution chain to a leaner model, and that means consumers will expect leaner prices. H'wood doesn't want that, but if they hold out, independents will take over the whole industry.

I say screw h'wood, and let everybody in to play!