Vote totals:
Yes:
25%
No:
75%
Neutral:
0%
DEBATE: HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Companies that manufactured and sold HD-DVD players are responsible for ensuring that their customers receive relevant content on the format.
During the format-war between Sony’s Blu-ray and HD-DVD, companies such as Toshiba and Microsoft partnered and engaged in aggressive marketing tactics to sell more and more HD-DVD players. Now, as they have stopped manufacturing the players, availability of content on HD-DVD format has dropped and so they must provide compensation to customers who purchased the HD-DVD players in the first place.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Marketing campaigns for HD-DVD players included promises of ample and sustained content.
HD-DVD manufactureres spear-headed campaigns to make content available on the HD-DVD format (by partnering with studios, artists, etc) in order to attract more customers. Consumers were divided between Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats and those who chose to buy the expensive HD-DVD players trusted the manufacturers’ "promises" of ample and sustained content.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
HD-DVD buyers are clearly the biggest losers in the format war.
Giving up on HD-DVD must have been a difficult decision to make but Toshiba is already moving to cut its losses. The company is reported to be negotiating the sale of factories that produce certain chips for Blu-ray players with Sony. Microsoft is considering a Blu-ray extension for its Xbox 360 console.
They may or may not succeed in cutting their losses but consumers who dished out hard-earned cash for HD-DVD equipment are surely left begging for apologies. Owners of HD-DVD equipment who wish to continue using high-definition content must now buy the equally pricey Blu-ray players.
Adoption of either technology isn’t widespread. Ignoring owners of the PS3, who were buying the games console rather than a blu-ray player, those with either technology are early adopters who are well aware of the risks associated with such products. No promise was made that either format would certainly win the format war, and no buyer was under the impression that their investment would be a sound one. Toshiba et al have no responsibility to pay back their customers.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
A class action lawsuit against HD-DVD manufacturers would be in order.
Manufacturers such as Toshiba simply dropped the baton and progressed to cut their losses, thereby deceiving their customers. This is an issue where corporate responsibility is under question and hence a class-action lawsuit would be in order.
This is simply how the industry works. If you penalised companies for trying out a new technology on the public, companies in the future will be less willing to invest millions – possibly billions – of dollars in R&D, thus stifling creativity, progress, and ultimately the consumer experience. Format wars are a necessary evil in the market, and as noted before, no buyer was under the impression there wasn’t a format war going on.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Beta v. VHS
When video cassettes first came out, they came out in two forms. If someone bought a Beta player in the US, within a few years it was worthless. People should have known from the video issue that they had the choice to wait and see which format won, or they risked losing their investment if they were too eager to purchase one of the players.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Commercial risk should be accepted
Individuals who have invested in HD-DVD products are almost certainly going to lose out. As with all investments, for whatever reason – in this case viewing pleasure, there carries an element of risk and chance. That is the nature of capitalism, and you cannot blame the manufacturers for their inability to predict future events.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Refund, not lawsuit
This is not for the argument as a whole but against the idea of a refund or exchange.
"In the worst case scenario, a consumer will have purchased only equipment required to play HD-DVDs, and given that they were mis-sold the product, they are entitled to a full compensation, or at least exchange"
Where did the mis-selling come in? a customer bought an HD player, it has the abilty to play HD formatted discs, there are HD-DVDs avalable. If they said "can it play blu-ray?" and were told yes, then that would be misselling.
Both the US and UK have laws in place for the mis-selling of produce. In the worst case scenario, a consumer will have purchased only equipment required to play HD-DVDs, and given that they were mis-sold the product, they are entitled to a full compensation, or at least exchange. A lawsuit is opportunistic and unecessary.
HD-DVD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD PROVIDE COMPENSATION TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
I have a Megadrive
Can i get compensation because Sega have stopped making games for it? Also I have a PS-2 can i get some compensation for not being able to get Mario games on it?
I paid my money I made my choice and thats the way the cooky crumbled.
If compensation is granted on this then it opens the gates to all sorts of other nonesense, my local coffee shop closed down because of a starbucks opening up, it owes me compensation because i didnt get a chance to complete my loyalty card.
No actually it doesn’t and the people who bought overpriced ‘cutting edge’ technology before it was proven on the market are just out of luck.
