Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on February 19, 2008 at 22:28:01

In Reply to: RE: Just saving the post so it can't be deleted posted by Jack G on February 19, 2008 at 15:19:58

Because I agree with most of what Jazz said.

There have been nutcases on both sides, but my opinion is that the HD DVD side was a bit nuttier. It's really sad when you can't have a discussion or an argument among fellow enthusiasts/professionals without childish insults from the "ignorant" crowd. What's worse is when moderators have a bias/preference (not that that's bad, as everyone is entitled to their opinion), only to blatantly let it show. Why do you think most of the Blu-ray insiders left AVS Forum? Because they didn't get their way? Far from it. The real reason was because Microsoft mercenaries were allowed to run rampant and uncontested, and when corrected, cried "foul" and were given their way like spoiled children who take their ball when the game doesn't go their way.* That's a fact, regardless of who says otherwise. It wasn't like this at first, but the last year and a half was sickening. When someone posts a comment that's blatantly false and the person that corrects them with verifiable proof gets a warning or a suspension from a moderator, things have gotten far beyond "out of control". I recently exchanged some PMs with a current moderator re: the sad state of AVS. He told me that there are many members there who he would like to ban, but basically, his hands were tied. That should give you an idea as to which way the wind blows with the upper management. Neutral? Ya must be jokin', mon!

True story. A little over 2 years ago, I made a comment about lossy vs lossless audio on AVS Forum. A Microsoft employee sent me a PM questioning why I would post what I did and used video compression as the basis for his argument. The problem was that his analogy was faulty and he really didn't know enough about video compression or the bitrates of uncompressed video. After I helped him understand where he was wrong, I asked him some non-A/V related questions. In his subsequent responses, I think he revealed a little too much company info. It's a long story, but the bottom line is that the Microsoft employee "infestation" on A/V message boards (running alongside High Definition optical disc introduction) was a directive from none other than Bill Gates! Watching what was developing on several A/V forums armed with that interesting bit of info, it was no wonder why Blu-ray/HD DVD developed into the mess that was the format war.

* Microsoft, once the closed-door talks with Warner Bros went south: (knowing things weren't going their way) We'll provide VC-1 support only if you promise to supply us with future download content. See, the children did turn out just like their parents. Someone once said that there was a unique "culture" at Redmond. Close. It's actually more like a virus -- ebola.