KachoMakura said:
Yeah Toshiba and MS are pouring millions of dollars into fucking over HD media. :lol
MS themselves are SUPPORTING HD media through 'managed copy' (you might want to look that up) and Toshiba spent millions developing the damn format. What is wrong with some of you people?
Toshiba has vested interests in the form of DVD.
For whatever reason, they didn't catch the upcoming HD standard back in 2003 so concieved a format to battle with it. However, even as early as 2005, it has become blatantly obvious that they had little to no chance; BD in PS3 and studio support against them. Still, they'd already spent a decent amount of money R&D at that stage; so they might as well make use of HD-DVD.
If they can't make profit from it (and they aren't; when they're selling HD-DVD units at cost or below price... when your major reason for entering into a new market is for higher profit margins; and when you forsake it so easily, then you know something's up), then at least they can use it to help their DVD revenue out.
The longer DVDs stay as the dominant platform, the longer Toshiba recieves revenue from a mature platform. More than enough to offset the losses from their fledgling HD-DVD business.
As for managed copy; you're going to have to clue me in with that. But suffice to say, while HD-DVD succeeding is ok for MS, there's no doubt they're far far more interested in an online HD media portal that's controlled by them. There's far more potential there then there'll ever be in sharing a few technologies with the HD format.
You have to see things from a long term perspective. There's far more potential for both parties than the couple hundred million already poured into the fledling format. It's billions upon billions over the life time of HD media.
Even if HD-DVD has been a losing proposition for Toshiba; it doesn't mean that it can't benefit them still. Indeed, because it can, in its use as a device to obfuscate HD media adoption, they're still sticking to it.