Category: Business

Toshiba Trying to Sell HD-DVD Machines as Super DVD Players

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By virtue of the depth of the layer in the disk (0.6mm), HD-DVD players can play a standard DVD without an additional lense (Blu-Ray uses a 0.1mm depth with a super hard coating to protect it, which is why it’s more expensive), so standard DVD is pretty much standard on all HD-DVD players, and now Toshiba, following slashing the prices on their player, are attempting to sell their machine as a superior way to play standard DVDs.

“Major initiatives… are designed to spotlight the superior benefits of HD DVD as well as the benefits HD DVD brings to a consumer’s current DVD library by upconverting standard DVDs via the HDMI output to near high-def picture quality,” the company said.

“With DVD upconversion via the HDMI output, HD DVD players instantly make a movie lover’s existing DVD library look better than ever,” it claimed.

Assuming I was wrong in my prediction that HD-DVD would win the format battle, I would say that this was a death rattle, though this might be a good alternative for people with large DVD libraries and large HD screens.

Me, I’ve never been impressed by HD-TV. I only notice the difference on really big screens, or when they are side by side, so my interest is purely of a sporting variety.

John Solomon Comes Home…To the Moonie Times

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John Solomon has been appointed executive editor of the Moonie Washington Times.

As to why this is coming home, Talking Points Memo has the definitive word, “Here’s what one former colleague of Solomon’s said last week: ‘I worked [X] years in the same office as Solomon, sometimes with him. The consensus: he’s lazy, and takes hit jobs handed him on a platter by opps research teams (and anyone will do.) And doesn’t do much to clean it up. I also know one of his fave and frequent sources is Barbara Comstock, former DOJ spxwoman and GOP attack dog.'”

In the Washington Post announcement of this move, he currently works for the Post, Mr. Solomon, ever the complete tool, says, “It’s going to be about being fair and balanced“. Straight out of Fox News.

BTW, if you want a rundown on a few of his misdeeds, Think Progress has the scoop.

Toshiba Cuts Prices on HD-DVD Players

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Some HD-DVD drives are now less than $100, and the newer ones are less than $200.

I don’t think that it’s going to make a whole bunch of difference, and that, to the degree that spinning optical media will be the future of movie distribution, it looks like Sony’s Blu-Ray has won (I got that one wrong).

On the other hand, if you want a deal, and HD-DVD handles existing DVDs quite well, you might want to go shopping.

Well, That Was Quick

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Just this morning, I suggested that Bank of America’s purchase of Countrywide was throwing good money after bad.

It appears that Moody’s Investors Service things the same way, they are considering downgrading B of A.

Barry Ritholtz makes the same point, using Dennis Gartman’s #1 rule of trading:

1. Never, Ever, Ever, Under Any Circumstance, Add to a Losing Position… not ever, not never! Adding to losing positions is trading’s carcinogen; it is trading’s driving while intoxicated. It will lead to ruin

After that initial disastrous buy in at $18-20, BoA is doubling up — at $6 . . .

Maybe I need to change banks.

Bank of America to Buy Countrywide

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Their press release is here.

Bank of America Corporation today announced a definitive agreement to purchase Countrywide Financial Corp. in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $4 billion.

Basically, BoA just bought Countrywide for some magic beans. It’s all funny money, unless, of course, if you are a shareholder, in which case, your stake in BoA is diminished.

Still a losing proposition, I think, particularly since the insolvent Countrywide will place downward pressure on the BoA stock price.

Australia Looking at Procuring Russian Fighters

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I think that this is more gamesmanship than anything else. The Australian militaryreally want the F-22, but it has not been cleared for export, so so they claiming that they are evaluating the MiG-29 and the Su-35.

The Australians are not happy about having the buy the F-35 JSF, because it lacks the agility that they want, and because there are serious scheduling and budget issues.

The new defence minister has meanwhile warned that Canberra will not tolerate further delays or an increase in the cost of the F-35.

Additionally, Australia is making noises about canceling its $5.8 billion purchase of 24 F/A-18 E/F “Superhornets” as a part or reevaluating their defense needs.

My assessment is that they are playing chicken in an attempt to get the US Congress to change the law that prevents F-22 exports, though even with that hurdle taken care of, the development costs of an export version looks to be around $1 billion.

Morons Unclear on Trademark

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The teenage entrepreneur screwing this up I can understand, but the reporter completely screwed the pooch on this one.

A kid makes jewelry called “change rocks”, and Obama has a concert series called “change rocks”.

The kid has no right to do anything with regard to trademark. Quoting the Wiki, “Trademark law is designed to fulfill the public policy objective of consumer protection, by preventing the public from being misled as to the origin or quality of a product or service.”

So if there is no potential consumer confusion, there is no harm, no foul.

Obama can’t sell jewelry, but he could do T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. My guess is that his concern is about his Google ranking, or an attempt at free publicity.

Don’t care, and neither should Obama. Tough luck, kid.

Matthew Saroff’s Hall of Failed Predictions: Exhibit 38,745

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I was certain that, if there were a winner in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars, it would be HD-DVD. ( here, here, here, here, here, and here)

It’s a cheaper tech, and it’s not controlled by Sony.

Well, the New York Times is now reporting that
NBC Universal and Paramount are seriously considering a switch to Blu-Ray.

I’m not wrong yet, but it seems likely that I will be in the next 12-18 months.

Then again, the end of the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars has always seemed to be 12-18 months away.

Xerox is Doomed, Stages of Grief Edition

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It appears Xerox® has unveiled a new logo, thus they are doomed.


For people, there are 5 stages of grief, particularly when one is told that they have a terminal disease:

  1. Denial: The initial stage: “It can’t be happening.”
  2. Anger: “Why me? It’s not fair.”
  3. Bargaining: “Just let me live to see my children graduate.”
  4. Depression: “I’m so sad, why bother with anything?”
  5. Acceptance: “It’s going to be OK.”

(taken verbatim from the Wiki)

Businesses that are are terminal go through similar stages, though there are some differences.

Specifically, there is a “their logo, or their name, or both” stage.

Adventures in Ebay

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I wanted to upgrade my system, but because it’s a Dell with ECC RAM, it’s hard to find the memory, and it costs a lot, so I checked out eBay.

I made the order on December 29, it arrived FedEX ground yesterday, and it works. No muss, no fuss.

It was between $400 and $500 for a gig of RAM from Dell, it was $29.95+ 9.95 s&h for the 1 gig from computersgeeks. Used but a the Dell OEM part

I recommend the seller, but once again, everything Dell does seems to be non standard and a pain to replace.

Warner Brothers Drops HD-DVD

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Well, I made predictions on the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars (see here, here, here, here, and here).

Generally, I’ve either bet against Sony, which is generally a safe bet, or against both, the theory that online distribution will render both formats redundant.

Given my previous record, perhaps you want to buy stock in Sony, because Warner Brothers just dropped HD-DVD as a format. They had been using both.

I stand by my predictions, but my record sucks.

Tata Motors to Purchase Jaguar

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So it appears that Ford will sell Jaguar and Rover to Tata Motors in India.

When I heard about this, I flashed back to the otherwise forgettable movie, Crazy People, in which Dudley Moore plays an advertising man who flips out, and starts writing completely honest ads.

He does one for Jaguar, he does one that goes:

Jaguar… For guys who want handjobs from beautiful women they hardly know (with accompanying “Yes! I want a hand job!” tear off flyers).

Somehow the juxtaposition of Jaguar and Tata leads me to places I should not be going.

Thankfully, a friend helped (thanks Asta), and I can now conclusively say that their next car will be called the…..

Wait for it…..

Wait for it….

The Bodacious Tata!

Wal-Mart Screws the Pooch on Digital Downloads

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So, after less than a year, Wal-Mart is abandoning its digital download service.

Its basic features were:

  • Just as (if not more) expensive as a DVD.
  • A draconian DRM regime which forced you to watch it on your computer and only that computer.
  • It only ran on Windows Machines.
  • No High Def.
    • Which doesn’t mean much to me, but for the technophile early adoptors, it does.
  • The DRM scheme allowed the studios to revoke your rights to the movies that you downloaded with no recourse.

To quote ars technica:

The message here is very clear: draconian DRM and unrealistic pricing are turning consumers away from legitimate retail channels and giving them a big incentive to adopt underground file sharing.

Netscape Browser to Die February 1

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As if it hadn’t really been dead for nearly 10 years now.

It was the first browser I used, and I now use Firefox, which is its bastard child, but I have no sorrow over this news.

While some of their problems were created by Microflaccid’s monopolistic practices, the fact that it was something like three years between Netscape 4.x and Netscape 6.x.

I’ll shed no tears, but instead send you to JWZ’s resignation letter from Netscape Communications.

Jumping Carcharodon megalodon

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Yep, the RIAA is at it again.

This time, they are claiming that copying from a CD to your computer is a copyright violation, so if you want to mix on your iPod, you are SOL:

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.