Author: blueZhift

Now that HD DVD is dead and Blu-ray lifts its fists in triumph, my first thoughts were about how long it would take HDTVs to come down to a price I could afford, but now I’m not so sure. In my house old tech usually ends up serving in the bedroom until it dies or is replaced by less old tech. Last weekend saw an ancient Sony CD player and a no-name VCR replaced by my original Xbox and a fancy, but still obsolete, Philips VCR. Both of these are now connected to a 17 year old, 13 inch Sharp TV. This TV doesn’t usually get much love, but I was excited to have a way to play DVDs in the bedroom without using my computer. So I put in some Outlaw Star and discovered that the small screen didn’t bother me one bit.

Indeed, upon further thought, the small screen has become not only ubiquitous, but the primary way a lot of people consume video information and entertainment. Playstation Portables, iPods, cell phones, and YouTube all deliver video via the small screen. So why are living room televisions big in the first place? I can guess that originally a larger screen was intended to recreate the movie experience at home. The widescreen format that’s becoming the standard is a further testament to that goal. But it seems that the game has changed and now portability is trumping screen size.

Ten years ago, I would whip out a book to read while waiting for a movie to start, or riding a bus. But now I’m just as likely to pull out my iPod to watch a podcast, and all is well with the world.

The last few weeks have certainly been dramatic in the high definition format battle between Sony Blu-ray and Toshiba HD DVD. But after some high profile defections, HD DVD has made the Engadget Deathwatch. This is all interesting, but honestly I don’t really care. DVD’s work just fine for now and I don’t have an HDTV and no plans to get one in the coming months unless the price drops a lot more, or my current TV bites the dust.

I’m a lot more interested in getting a larger hard drive for my Xbox 360 which I’ve been using alongside the TiVo and in conjunction with my PC to watch shows and music videos from the internet. The disc doesn’t really matter anymore, except writable ones for archival purposes. So while I’m not too wild about all of the shenanigans that surely brought about the demise of HD DVD, it really isn’t very relevant to the way I see my entertainment needs developing in the future. I’ll still get a PS3 at some point, but it will be to play the games, not Blu-ray movies.

IBM says that Lotus Notes for iPhone is not ready yet, but I’m rather surprised that the product is coming at all. Ok, not really too surprised. Many analysts have written that the iPhone is not going to be adopted by businesses for this that and the other reasons. But business people are not immune to hype and cool any more than anyone else. So if traditionally staid IBM is bringing Notes to the platform, then there must be some demand for it, or advantage for them to provide the product. Apple isn’t likely to make any major changes to the iPhone in order to cater to business, but I can only hope that iPhones seeping into the business realm will spark better phones that copy the popular iPhone features (particularly the interface) which would be a good thing for everyone.