Video Asylum

Posted by townsend (A) on February 18, 2008 at 15:25:05

In Reply to: RE: I mentioned this a while back. posted by usafwso on February 18, 2008 at 14:08:31

unfinished, early versions of software, sent out to early adopters for testing, are called "beta" versions. These versions usually have certain "bugs" that need to be worked out before the product is released to the general public.

In that sense, I don't think "beta anything" is a desirable product, or a desirable name. Beta is, after all, the second letter of the Greek alphabet . . . as all "alpha" males and others know.

Blu-ray does sound cool, but to the average consumer, it is opaque. OTOH, HD DVD is transparent and emphasizes continuity with DVD. However, I wonder whether it confused the average consumer. We have all read reviews where someone complained that the HD DVD disc wouldn't play on their (standard) DVD player.