1d ago

AI computers aren’t selling because users don’t care

pivot-to-ai.com

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AI is going to be this eras Betamax, HD-Dvd, or 3d TV glasses. It doesn't do what was promised and nobody gives a shit.
- Betamax had better image and sound, but was limited by running time and then VHS doubled down with even lower quality to increase how many hours would fit on a tape. VHS was simply more convenient without being that much lower quality for normal tape length.
  HD-DVD was comparable to BluRay and just happened to lose out because the industry won't allow two similar technologies to exist at the same time.
  Neither failed to do what they promised. They were both perfectly fine technologies that lost in a competition that only allows a single winner.
  
  BluRay was slightly better if I recall correctly. With the rise in higher definition televisions, people wanted to max out the quality possible, even if most people (still) can’t tell the difference
  
  Blu-ray also had the advantage of PS3 supporting the format without the need for an external disc drive.
  
  @philycheeze @xkbx yes, I think Microslop's fumble of selling the HD DVD drive only as an external add-on really hindered the format
  
  @philycheeze @xkbx I bought one anyway. 10 years later, mind you :p
  
  They’re not necessarily bad, it’s just an extra barrier to entry.
  
  Blue ray also had the advantage of not having multiple D’s in its name.
  
  That's not why it won, though. It won because the industry wanted zone restrictions, which only Blu-Ray supported. They suck for the user, but allows the industry to stagger releases in different markets. In reality it just means that I can't get discs of most foreign films, because they won't work in my player.
  
  I'm sure that was a factor, but Blu-ray won because the most popular Blu-ray player practically sold itself
  
  It's hard to say what was the final nail in the coffin, but it is true that Blu-Ray went from underdog to outselling HD-DVD around the time the PlayStation 3 came out. I'm not sure how much those early sales numbers matter, though, because I'm sure both were still miniscule compared to DVD.
  When 20th Century Fox dropped support for HD-DVD, they cited superior copy protection as the reason. Lionsgate gave similar sentiment.
  When Warner later announced they were dropping HD-DVD, they did cite customer adoption as the reason for their choice, but they also did it right before CES, so I'm pretty sure there were some backroom deals at play as well.
  I think the biggest impact of the PlayStation 3 was accelerating adoption of Blu-Ray over DVD. Back when DVD came out, VHS remained a major player for years, until the year there was a DVD player so dirt cheap that everyone who didn't already have a player got one for Christmas.
  
  Nah Blu-ray was significantly better, 50gb capacity vs 30gb
  
  The big plus for HD DVD was it was far cheaper to produce, it didn't need massive retooling for manufacturing.
  
  Not just that, space. BluRays have way more space than DVD's. Remember how many 360 games came with multiple discs? Not a single PS3 game did, unless it was a bonus behind the scenes type thing.
  
  Xbox 360 used DVDs for game discs and could play video DVDs. They "supported" HDDVDs - you needed an addon which had a separate optical drive in it. Unsurprisingly this didn't sell well.
  
  Afaik betamax did not have any porn content, which might have contributed to the sale of VHS systems.
- Dude don’t throw Betamax in there, that was a better product than the VHS. AI is just ass.
- I was just about to mention porn and how each new format of the past came down to that very same factor.
  If AI computers were incredible at making AI porn I bet you they'd be selling a lot better haha
- Betamax actually found use in Television broadcast until the switch to HDTV occurred in 2009
  
  No, it didn't.
  
  the later digital variants of beta weren't retired by sony until ~ 2016.
  
  I had no clue that they did digital betamax....
  That would make senes though...
  There was at one point an HDVHS as well it was essentially a 1080P MPEG stream on a VHS tape
- No, I’m sorry. It is very useful and isn’t going away. This threads is either full of Luddites or disingenuous people.

189 comments