Circuit City has a very short window of opportunity to introduce Divx and to grab a strong market-share position since the next generation DVD players, offering rewriteable capabilities, will be introduced in early 1999:
Comline Computer Wire- "Pioneer Electronic expects to have developed a DVD R/W (rewritable) product by the end of 1998. The equipment would have recording capacity of 4.7GB, and it is Pioneer's goal to give it a rewritable capacity of between 3,000 and 4,000 times. The company is aiming to have the DVD R/W become more common as an AV optical disk. JVC, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi have already praised Pioneer's efforts. Pioneer's product is based on DVD-R basic standards and uses additional recording layers with changeable materials, making
the rewritable feature possible. The company is planning on having standards ready by year's end, and is aiming for a product by the end of 1998 or early 1999."
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Rather than being upset about Divx, DVD owners should shift their wrath on Pioneer for making their DVD player's relatively obsolete. Who wants to buy a DVD player today when, in less than a year, you can buy a rerecordble DVD player?
Divx will be less vulnerable to the rerecordable DVD since it's a 'content-driven' device. If you want to watch, on video disk, first and second run and classic films by Paramount, Disney, DreamWorks and a number of other studios, you'll need a Divx player. |
