Blu-Ray Woes

From the beginning I was a blu-ray supporter. I don't say this to brag, mainly because I chose blu-ray because of the companies who were behind it (and you could say one of the companies who supported HD-DVD was one of my main reasons as well). Now, I'm starting to see little things about blu-ray that is causing me to wish I hadn't rushed into it so quickly.

First off, I almost never care about extra features. Only on a few movies I absolutely love do I care to have them. So, most of the blu-ray 2.0 stuff isn't a huge bonus for me. I now that for some people features are part of the experience, but I often times get fidgety to dig through what ended up on the cutting floor or was thrown together by the media teams for the various studios.

Second, I often will get a movie and will want it to watch it with friends but a majority of the time that means my friends will have to always come over to my house. Literally nobody I know has a blu-ray player of any sort. That, to me, is a huge problem, because I can't just take movies to a party or some such a thing because I have a format that nobody else really cares about.

My last major issue has to do with Netflix. Most everyone has heard about raising prices on blu-ray rentals, as they claim that HD clients are used to paying more money for HD, which is a pile of steaming crap. This feels more to me like Netflix is trying to stop the small group of blu-ray users they currently have so they don't have to worry about updating their library so quickly. There have been a few petitions due to Netflix's threats, and I think an outcry is very much needed, otherwise other companies will feel they can squeeze more money and avoid blu-ray updates as well.

I do see blu-ray as having potential, but it will be snuffed if companies like netflix get away with their outrageous price hikes.