So Blu-Ray sales just took off, aye?

So the Yahoo! Tech section is reporting the Blu-Ray sales shot through the frickin' roof this Black-Friday. We are talking about both players and media. I am not surprised. What is behind this sudden spike in Blu-Ray? I think collective knowledge has grown. This is at least as important as the recent drops in Blu-Ray player and media prices.

1. Adoption of HDTV is hitting critical mass. Believe it or not, we are just now reaching a cross over point where most households have at least one HDTV. We should have hit this point by the end of 2007, but on-rushing economic turmoil delayed the moment. This cross-over point is critical to Blu-Ray adoption because you cannot enjoy Blu-Ray without an HDTV.
2. The market seems to realize now that DVD is low def (720 X 480 pixels) and that Blu-Ray is high-def (1920 X 1080 pixels). Right up until a few months ago, I have been consistently horrified by how many people were totally ignorant of the basic facts of resolution.
3. The market seems to be learning that streaming media is lower in quality than DVD, not higher in quality than DVD. Streaming media cannot carry the weight of Blu-Ray's jockstrap in terms of quality. Ergo, streaming media is no solution for the HDTV owner, who wants his prize possession to look its absolute best.
4. The market seems to be realizing that On-Demand is not particularly convenient, not cheap in absolute or relative terms, and the quality does not rival Blu-Ray.

Once all of these factors are understood by the market place, you have a large pool of pent-up demand that is ready to snap at a sizable price drop, just like the ones we saw on Black-Friday 2009.

To all you guys who just joined the club: Welcome! You are going to like things here. It is much better than the old world. Martin Scorsese and hundred other film makers have been totally thrilled by how well Blu-Ray presents their work. I think you will be too!