FINC 330 Disc + Hws ***Zeek the Geek***

Greg:

1.  During the middle 2000’s, there was a format war that the industry had not seen since the great Beta vs VHS debate. This was Blu-ray vs HD DVD. Blu-ray was backed by Sony, while Toshiba backed HD DVD. They were fighting for supremacy for an industry that was large at the time, but is now becoming obsolete. With the streaming services that are popular (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.), DVD ownership is becoming a thing of the past. It is reported, or estimated that “Toshiba lost almost $1 billion” supporting HD DVD. (McIntyre, D.A 2009) When Toshiba announced their decision to abandon HD DVD, the price of their shares rose 5.7%

 

2.  One of the main reasons that Blu-ray won over HD DVD was Blu-ray was proficient in convincing major film studios to use their format in high definition DVD sales. Sony, themselves, were already doing this, however, when they were able to convince the major players in the industry, that proved to be a major hurdle that HD DVD could not overcome. Another reason Blu-ray won the format war is that they got the world’s largest retailer to only sell their version of the high definition movies. Blu-ray was able to get the suppliers and the stores to only provide and sell their product. They had boxed out their biggest competitor from competing in the market. Finally, another key factor in Blu-ray winning was Sony PlayStation (obviously) using Blu-ray for their gaming console. Their competitors had varied responses. Microsoft with the X-Box included an HD DVD upgrade option. So, it was not incorporated into the model, it was an extra. That hurt sales. PlayStation’s other main competitor, Nintendo, did not use any high definition format. All of these factors, in various degrees, played a role in the format wars of the 2000’s despite HD DVD beating Blu-ray to the market by almost 6 months.

 

McIntyre, D. A. (2009, May 14). The 10 Biggest Tech Failures of the Last Decade. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1898610_1898625_1898629,00.html

Jeren;

Apple Newton

            It took Apple 10 years and more than $100 million dollars to develop Apple Newton. It was on the market for five years before it flopped. The main idea behind this product lied in providing consumers with communication assistant that was called MessagePad. It was a touch-screen device that included a stylus, calendar, notepad, and other information and productivity tools. It enabled users to send notes or messages, print letters, receive and store wireless paging messages (Michigan State University, n.d.). It was first released in 1993 and cost around $700 (Michigan State University, n.d.). The product itself was one of a kind at the time and was still considered as the very first version of the PDA.

There are several reasons why this product did not survive. This device was extremely deficient in performance and use. At 4.5X7.25 inches, it was too large to be considered as a handheld device (Michigan State University, n.d.). It had a very short battery life and was tough to read due to the poor contrast of the screen. Most importantly, the most advertised feature of this device such as handwriting recognition failed to deliver. Apple Company was in the rush to provide a new sensational product, therefore, failing to put sufficient time into fully developing the handwriting recognition technology.

Although, Apple Newton was functionally underdeveloped it was an excellent idea. However, the product was too early for its time. Internet was still in its developing stages, and mobile data did not even exist. People simply did not see how they could incorporate this product in their daily life considering the hefty price tag and company’s marketing efforts failed to improve the demand.

References

Michigan State University. (n.d.). Newton MessagePad. Retrieved June 23, 2016, from https://msu.edu/~luckie/gallery/mp100.htm