It seems that one in twenty threads on this board (and about one in ten at DVD-Audio) involve a vacuous debate about whether one format or the other is "dead" or succeeding. The debate is vacuous because there is no attempt to define success meaningfully. Let me offer a definition that has some merits and go from there.As a professor of business strategy at a leading business school, I can tell you that the basic rule of thumb we teach students is that a firm or an industry will endure if the value it creates for consumers exceeds the costs of creating that value (at least until something comes along that has a larger value/cost gap.) For those buyers and sellers involved, the market is a success, as they enjoy part of the value that is created.
Does success mean the same thing as size? Well, more people may be enjoying the value in a larger market, but to those reaping the benefits of the smaller market, it makes little difference. For example, the market for fine dining in Chicago is a success, even if way more money is spent at McDonalds. It would be idiotic to claim otherwise. Now on to hi-rez.
I bought into hi-rez because it gives me the greatest opportunity to enjoy classical music. There are already more good recordings available than I have time to listen to, and the gap between what I will consider buying and what I will end up buying keeps growing. If there enough folks like me out there to enable record labels to make a profit and continue to widen that gap, then the format is sustainable. This appears to be the case. Frankly, I don't care if seven hundred bezillion consumers buy into some other format. The SACD format, big or small, is meeting my needs and the needs of dozens of wonderful record labels. That makes it a success.
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Topic - What exactly constitutes "success" for a hi-rez format? (long) - Bayside Bomber 20:41:32 10/01/04 (36)
- there is a great article in wired this month - Replevin 06:40:31 10/04/04 (1)
- I look forward to the article - navman 09:45:54 10/04/04 (0)
- Interesting concept but .......... - John C. - Aussie 15:34:34 10/03/04 (7)
- Strongly agree with your point...except one. - NonA 16:37:52 10/03/04 (6)
- You make that same old jump - jdaniel@jps.net 20:38:01 10/03/04 (5)
- Re: You make that same old jump - NonA 07:07:32 10/04/04 (3)
- Re: You make that same old jump - jdaniel@jps.net 08:26:53 10/04/04 (2)
- Re: You make that same old jump - NonA 09:02:57 10/04/04 (1)
- Re: You make that same old jump - jdaniel@jps.net 14:12:04 10/04/04 (0)
- I have discovered for me tubed equipment can smooth out the stridency of PCM Masters. - Teresa 02:32:20 10/04/04 (0)
- Longevity, i.e. not disappearing from future players, - head_unit 16:51:24 10/02/04 (3)
- I agree. But I don't think it'll be a "disc"... - SE 05:15:06 10/03/04 (2)
- You are definitely on to something here! - Budd 07:08:35 10/03/04 (1)
- I don't know when the SACD patent expires... - SE 09:03:33 10/03/04 (0)
- total domination - tunenut 15:29:21 10/02/04 (1)
- Dividing Pies, not Crumbs...NT. - Budd 15:36:55 10/02/04 (0)
- Profit. [nt] - chris.redmond2@bushinternet.com 11:50:16 10/02/04 (0)
- The short answer... - Jim Treanor 10:50:06 10/02/04 (0)
- OK, let's see if it works... - Eric LeRouge 10:20:44 10/02/04 (0)
- Re: What exactly constitutes "success" for a hi-rez format? (long) - xxyyzz 10:20:31 10/02/04 (0)
- Sales, Quality and SINGLE FORMAT - Budd 09:21:39 10/02/04 (3)
- Has home playback technology been around long enough... - jdaniel@jps.net 15:00:04 10/02/04 (2)
- Single Format for Each Application - Budd 15:31:11 10/02/04 (1)
- multiple formats - tunenut 09:13:18 10/04/04 (0)
- I feel the much the same - Dave Kingsland 05:42:14 10/02/04 (0)
- Re: What exactly constitutes "success" for a hi-rez format? (long) - Bayside Bomber 05:25:54 10/02/04 (1)
- Depends how you define failure and success... - Joel_Waterman 18:28:44 10/02/04 (0)
- remember that dining and discs aren't comparable - chris e. 00:30:51 10/02/04 (0)
- What they don't teach you in business school... - Joel_Waterman 22:09:30 10/01/04 (4)
- you should have gone to school - xxyyzz 10:24:32 10/02/04 (1)
- I think the record biz has changed business models - Joel_Waterman 11:16:20 10/02/04 (0)
- Drive costs down???????????? - JCS 03:06:44 10/02/04 (1)
- Good point, but... - Joel_Waterman 11:13:05 10/02/04 (0)
- Re: What exactly constitutes "success" for a hi-rez format? (long) - jdaniel@jps.net 20:58:45 10/01/04 (0)
- My theory is that if you can find a minimum of 100 SACD titles that you consider indespensible.... - Dalton 20:49:27 10/01/04 (1)
- Hey...that was my number too, but over four years ago... - Chris Garrett 23:47:07 10/01/04 (0)