Blu-Ray blues

28/02/2008

So we're told that Sony's Blu-Ray has beaten Toshiba's format in the race to provide the high definition DVD. So who cares ? I remember when we had to choose between VHS and Betamax video recorders. And although VHS won, Beta was the higher quality system - so much so that even today, advertising agencies and TV studios often use Beta-SP tapes for recording and editing. Who can be certain that Blu-Ray is the best choice ?

Soon after we'd all bought VHS video recorders, we were encouraged to trade in our vinyl for CDs. Now, of course, we're abandoning our CDs in favour of downloads for our Ipods. Once again, the irony of all this is that vinyl still sounds better. So much so that I'm thinking of recovering my old albums from my parents' garden shed. Kind of Blue is way cooler with the crackles.

It seems only yesterday that I replaced all my videotapes with DVDs. So I certainly won't be buying a Blu-Ray disc player. Everybody knows that we're living in digital world, where moving parts are almost a thing of the past. Soon we'll be able to download the latest blockbuster movie directly from our Mac Books onto our TV sets. Sony is adept at marketing, but its agency (Fallon was the last to make a Blu-Ray ad) is going to have to haul ass to sell this idea, as a dip into the blogo­sphere will tell them. The technology will undoubtedly make video games sharper than ever. But the next Bond on Blu-Ray ? Forget it. I'm going to buy a record player instead.