Hus said: People are morons, no shiet.

Nope. People simply dont care and it has been proven time and time again. Current technology is fine. Improvements are nice but the majority of people could care less since they are satisfied with the current level of quality on TV and so am I. I really dont need to see anything in 1080 res period, end of story. All i want is to make out the main scene and understand the story otherwise the visuals are not that important. Look at it this way, how long have we had XM radio and all these digital radio alternatives? Yet how many have switched over? Yep very few and no one that I know because the radio is good enough for what its meant to do.

My parent have a huge 60in hd tv but the thing is the only reason they got a HD is because you cant even find a normal tube anymore and because they cost about the same now anyway. Otherwise they could care less and they certainly will never pay extra for better quality garbage which is what TV has become for the most part. Now if the upgrade is free then I have no objection to better quality but otherwise I wouldnt pay for it and I have a feeling that many are in the same boat.

 

marc said: Hus said: People are morons, no shiet. Nope. People simply dont care and it has been proven time and time again. Current technology is fine. Improvements are nice but the majority of people could care less since they are satisfied with the current level of quality on TV and so am I. I really dont need to see anything in 1080 res period, end of story. All i want is to make out the main scene and understand the story otherwise the visuals are not that important. Look at it this way, how long have we had XM radio and all these digital radio alternatives? Yet how many have switched over? Yep very few and no one that I know because the radio is good enough for what its meant to do.

OT, but I don't think satellite radio's problem is that people are okay with terrestrial radio. The problem is people would much rather just listen to their brand spanking new iPod where they can choose exactly what they want to hear instead of what some record company paid the station to play repeatedly. My car's CD player can play MP3 files so all I have is a CD visor full of burned CDs filled with MP3s. Radio never gets put on unless I'm traveling with my boyfriend and the yankees' game is on. Neither satellite or terrestrial have enough dedicated programming to the music I want to listen to. XM has a few shows that occasionally play the music I like, but it's certainly not enough for me to pay for it. Before this car, I used my iPod, before my iPod, I used my sony discman. In the 7 or so years I've had my own car, I've never once been a radio listener.

Even if a house hold has a HD TV, they may also still have SD tv in kids room etc for them to play games on.
I agree 100% with TC

I think it's a well known fact that the huge uptake of HDTVs has much more to do with people wanting slim sexy looking plasmas and LCDs than wanting to watch HDTV. And now I don't even think anyone makes plasmas or LCDs that aren't HD ready. So if you want that lovely new TV you are going to be getting HDTV regardless of whether you want it, know what it is, or plan to view high definition.

I know about all the differences yet I watch SD content on a HDTV. There's simply not enough HD content here. We only bought the TV because our old one was on its last legs...

People, think college kids living in dorms with Rammen noodles. These kids, aged 18-22 were a huge part of the console business. These are the kids that leave their doors unlocked, have parties with drunk people in their rooms, and often resoft to using things like grandma's old 11 inch TV.

1) College kids can't afford a $2,000 HDTV

2) College kids don't want something that valuable in a dorm room:
- Theft. People's college rooms are as accessible as a WalMart
- Unknown roommates, your roommate could screw something up with it and not care
- Just anything can happen in a dorm room, drunk people throwing bottles, people tackling each other and falling, airsoft guns, footballs, etc, etc.

double post... :(

It's nice to get a number that is "official" though I don't know how official ATC's report really is. 25% penetration in the U.S. market sounds about right from industry sources I've seen. 1/2 that not actually using it doesn't really surprise me. A lot of people are buying flat LCDs and Plasmas for the size of the picture afforded in such a compact housing. That is certainly what my parents did. They wanted to put their TV over the fireplace and there is no way that is happening with a CRT or Projection TV. I suspect at some point they will hook up HD but haven't as of yet and they don't seem all that motivated to do so.

With that said, it's really a telling bit of data for the near-term future of HD formats -- both blu-ray and HD-DVD. Until that penetration reaches something more like 50% of households IN USE, I can't see the battle moving forward much.

At first I discounted all the people saying HD DVD and Blu-Ray will both go the way of SACD and HD Audio as something else comes along, but it is entirely possible that another format will arrive that is better than both and is affordable before or as HD sets are the norm rather than the exception.