Natural Raw is finally available!

For those of you who've known of my photography projects and work, or who have simply seen some of my photos on Flickr, you can finally get some of it in book form. Natural Raw is finally available on Amazon.com.

Natural Raw is my second photography book, but the first available to the general public. It represents a vision of nature that includes its raw forms and expressions as well as the occasional crude, human contribution. Some of these are dramatic and can even be cruel and violent, and yet, others express a peaceful beauty like no other.

This book attempts to express this raw vision, both through its impactful images and through its accompanying written expressions. It attempts to evoke unexpected feelings and thoughts in the viewer, both contrary and predictable. It is my hope that you will enjoy my varying visions, the ethereal brightness, the daze-inducing, happy and flowery views, the dark void within his visions of smoke, the raw crudeness of consumption, and the dreamy nature of colorblind.

I hope you enjoy it. It's currently available in a huge 12 inch X 12 inch format and in high quality premium paper. You can get it here.

You can also get it in a super economical ebook format through Apple's iTunes iBooks store here.

Guy Code or Why Women Will Never Rule the World

For years I’ve sat through the trials and tribulations of many a girlfriend, patiently listening to their tales of sex, abuse, and betrayal. The stories included their girlfriends, their boyfriend, their significant others, their colleagues, etc. Often the conclusion and solution were the same as it would be for anyone, but more often than not, in their case, there seemed to be a greater reason, a reason that supersedes all others. A reason that with every story became clearer and clearer. THE reason as to why women don’t rule the world today.

Women certainly have the advantage. Men lose capacity when blood rushes to the lower organ. Their capacity to think, to reason, to many a thing is greatly diminished until release. Men are highly aware, both at a conscious and unconscious level, of this great weakness and the advantage it provides to women. It is men who have the penis envy, and they know it. This is why they have taken great precautions in making sure that their limitations don’t become liabilities, and in fact, have used those same limitations to their advantage in turning the tide of power in their favor.

Despite being emotionally stronger and having a greater tolerance to pain and suffering, women don’t rule. Despite wielding true power, the power of sex, the power of procreation, of education, of control, women don’t rule. Why don’t they rule? Why, with all this power and ability, can’t they rule? What happened to all that girl power? Women’s solidarity? Understanding? Unity?

The unfortunate reality is that despite all this talk about unity, there is none. Despite all this solidarity, it ends at the stealing of the boyfriend, at the backstabbing, at the selfishness, at the lack of code, because in the end, only men, chivalrous knights amongst themselves, have and follow a true, unspoken CODE.

Guy’s are one and all, women are one and none

There’s an old joke, which you may or may not have read (It’s recently been doing the rounds on the internet again.). It goes like this:

–A man’s wife didn’t come home one night and the next day she told him she had slept at a friend’s house. The man called her ten best friends and none of them knew about it.
–A woman’s husband didn’t come home one night and the next day he told her he had slept at a friend’s house. The woman called his ten best friends and eight of them confirmed that he had slept over while two claimed that he was still there.

What this joke illustrates is how men truly cover for and take care of each other while most women simply do not. You may or may not have heard men referring to something called “Guy Code” which is a set of rules and guidelines that men tend to follow. They have even been accurately portrayed a number of times in many a book and movie. Two recent film references are:

1. In the movie Old School, during the kid’s birthday party, Luke Wilson’s love interest brings her boyfriend, whom he subsequently catches in the bathroom making out with one of the waitresses. The boyfriend directly references guy code saying that to tell on him is what “chicks do.” Luke Wilson follows this code and holds back from saying anything until he himself is blamed for said crime, releasing him from the obligation.

2. In the movie A Guy Thing, Jason Lee slept with a waitress at his bachelor party and told his fiancee, who found said waitress’ underwear hidden in his toilet’s water tank, that the underwear she found was a gift he was hiding for her birthday. She saw that it was used and proceeded to call the store Jason Lee had claimed to have bought it at. The man who picked up the phone at the shop covered for him, going so far as to even get angry about people putting them back used in the bargain bins and telling her she could return it. When the clerk hangs up, he turns to a lady in line and says, “It’s a guy thing.”

These are just two moments to illustrate what “Guy Code” is. It is the unspoken guide book, rules men follow and understand innately. It’s normally only mentioned or spoken of when a man has violated it or is approaching a violation or is attempting to violate it. It is extremely important for men in general to adhere to this set of rules. It keeps them united and in power. In fact, when a guy breaks “Guy Code,” he will be banned, seen as untrustworthy by other men. That guy will be cast out in some way or another. He won’t be seen the same way again by others who know of his transgression.

Women on the other hand, have a tendency to look after themselves, betraying their best friend if necessary. I’ve seen stolen boyfriends, career advancements, positions, projects, etc. They’ve done this to people they call friends and even best friends. Sadly, this does not help their cause. You’d think that considering their situation of having to live in a man’s world and within a man’s set of rules and limitations, that they would rally to help each other and change the rules in order to gain the equality, respect and power they seem to crave. Unfortunately, I’ve continued to witness the opposite, women bending over for men (even when they’re beating the shit out of them) and betraying their own to gain a man’s favor or their own. This keeps them forever untrustworthy to each other as they follow no code.

You may of course be saying, “Hey! But I’m not like that,” or “not all women are like that,” and you would be right. The exceptions obviously shine above the rule, but seem few and far between in the overall scheme of things. Women, as a group, need to develop something similar to “guy code” and get their shit together in this respect. In the end, they’ll even find allies amongst men and truly reach the equality they seek.

Women’s Worship of their Captor

I was walking down the street and I noticed someone coming towards me in some priest-like, church looking outfit, when I suddenly realized it was a woman in a burqa. It got me thinking that here’s another reason why women will never rule the world: Religion.

Religion is one of men’s greatest tools for keeping women at bay. To begin with, like many things, it’s ruled by men. Second, it promotes the divine thought that women are either less than men or should serve a man, be that man a god, prophet, or worshiper of such god or prophet. They are designed to promote fear and to control man’s own fear of the true power of women by being proactively on the offensive.

Obviously, if you look at the teachings of Jesus or other prophets, it’s not quite the same as what organized religion promotes, so let’s stick to how men have organized themselves into power.

Exhibit A: Catholicism (and other Christian musings)

Catholics claim to follow the new testament and the teachings of Jesus yet continue to be obsessed with the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments and like other controversial big bang groups, the ever fan favorite Genesis, the idea being to keep the focus on women’s ability to corrupt men’s minds. It was a woman who tempted Adam and therefore caused their having to leave paradise. Original sin exists thanks to a woman. Jesus, God’s son and part of their holy trinity (read: God made man) was of course, a man, and therefore, the worship centers around one. Not only are women in many ways promoted as evil creatures that exist simply for procreation purposes, but they aren’t even allowed to participate as equals in anything having to do with church power (read: NO priestesses).

Ironically, it’s often women who are the most devout members of the congregation. They have been brainwashed to not only accept these ideas, but in fact promote them. Other factions of so called Christianity, have taken these even further, dictating what women can and cannot wear, how they can act, what they can and can’t do, and how they should bow and serve their man (read: Men). Of course, if they actually read their own book, they’d see that Jesus actually worshipped women and saw them as equals, but hey, maybe that’s just my own interpretation of it. I’ll be opening my own brand of Christianity next week, at a church near you.

Exhibit B: Islam (particularly those with a more fundamentalist tilt)

Recalling the muslim woman that prompted this part of the article, and keeping with the reasoning of this particular section, it would stand to reason that the islamic group to which that poor woman belongs to have taken it even further by simply hiding women. Of course, this is a religion also ruled by men, except they seem to be more open about the ideas of what, where, how and when women should do this or that. In some cases women are objects of property, worth next to nothing. Even their offspring belongs exclusively to the man. They are seen as too tempting to be even looked at except by a parent, sibling, child or husband.

This is the great fear of women taken to an extreme, covering them up from head to toe with only eyes free to see where they’re going (unless they’re wearing the full beekeeper version in which case even their eyes are covered). A woman’s face is temptation enough for it to be left unchecked and uncovered. Sure enough, it’s true that not every islamic group reaches this extreme (and as in everything there are plenty of exceptions), but they include some elements of it in one way or another. Again, the prophet (a figure of peace, love, and service to God) may have said differently (both men and women should dress modestly in public) but this is the reality, and as with most religions, it is often women themselves who continue to promote this view and inculcate it into their children’s brains.

Exhibit C: Everything else

There are many other religions in the world, and though there are a few that promote a woman’s power or view them as true equals (very few and with but a small group of followers in comparison), most of them tend to keep women down, and make sure that men remain the dominant sex at all times. The saddest thing remains in that women themselves tend to be the most devout of all practitioners and continue to promote this self deprecating view generation after generation. Of course, they speak of solidarity, understanding, and tolerance of their particular religion and culture, but with it they promote tolerance of intolerance and do even greater damage to themselves.

The Great Educator

Saddest of all in looking at this is that it’s women themselves who continue to submit themselves to this inequality and inferiority. In the end, the greatest betrayal of women is towards women, for it’s women who wield the power of change. Should women actually use this power, the world would be in their hands within a single generation.

Women are the Great Educator. They are the ones who have the greatest direct influence upon their children. They are the ones who indoctrinate their kids, both male and female, with this twisted and even slightly misogynistic view. The men hate the women and the women hate themselves.

How many times have we heard a mother say to a boy, “Don’t cry! Women cry! Not boys! Boys don’t cry!” How many times have we heard, “It’s not the same. Your brother is a man, whereas you’re a girl.” “Men can do that.” “It’s ok ‘cause he’s a man.” “Girls shouldn’t do that.” “She looks disgusting doing that.” “She looks like a man.” “It’s terrible for a girl to do that.” “She’s a whore.” “Slut.” Etc. These are just some of the nicer things I’ve heard even young mothers say to their children. These are the ideas those children will have in their heads. They are the ideas they will promote with their thoughts and actions, women’s inferiority ingrained from birth.

The Great Educator has pushed the twisted values of old, the twisted view of religion, the twisted view of themselves, to their own detriment. Feminists can say whatever they want, but even feminists have continued to promote the old archetypes through their Great Educator role, sad as that may be.

A Final Word

I know I’ve focused on the rule and not the exceptions but the exceptions do not rule. So, get it together women. The world is changing fast and the opportunities are better than ever for you to achieve the ever-elusive equality that you long for and that many women before you have fought and suffered for. So go get it, and make sure your children follow in that new line of thought.

You’re not a bitch for being successful. You’re not a slut for having slept with a few men. You’re also not less for having a child or a family. You’re a person, regardless of your marital status. Get it together with honesty, honor, respect, and code, and you will have it all. It’s up to you.

So what do you think? Will women continue to sabotage themselves? Will the fact that more women are educating themselves trump men? My arguments (though at times expressed in a humorous manner) are but a testament to what I’ve seen and continue to see in society through the media, through contact with people, families, men and women. Has yours been a similar experience?


***Author’s note in regards to religion***: The author means no disrespect to any religion through his humorous analysis of the position of women in certain religions of the world. The author respects all religions and everyone’s right to believe and practice their faith as long as it does not result in the detriment of another human being, be it a man, woman, or child. So say we all.


Keywords: women, girl power, feminism, feminist, misogyny, men, male, power, religion, catholic, devout, islam, veil, burqa, educator, great educator, female, guy code, guys, betrayal, code, A guy thing, Old School, repressed, abuse

No men were injured during the writing of this article. Photos and words are copyright©2008 by bFranco. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

One Thursday Night of Winter

1:30 am. Thursday night. Spring had shown it’s face but a few days before, but winter had returned. Still, the sky was clear and the air fresh. A quick glance around revealed no one. The street was free of movement. The city was sound asleep. I crossed the first side street, suspiciously observing for any signs of life. Too many years living in dangerous urban jungles had made me paranoid. Continuing, I could observe that most of the surrounding buildings had gone dark. I arrived at the next side street, which was perpendicular on the right side, but I stayed on the left. I could see the main road at the far end, but all seemed quiet there as well.

Arriving at the next crossroads, I remembered earlier in the day as I went by, I had observed an unusually large pile of fecal matter which I would assume was produced by some enormous creature. Glancing over at the side street on the left side, there it was, right in the center, and despite the fact that someone had actually slipped through the right side, spreading its soft, tanned interior over the asphalt, the multileveled, deep black colored, monument to excrement remained erect maintaining its wonderfully layered, pyramidal shape. The damage had only served to enhance its image by smoothing the right face of the monument.

I finally reached the main intersection where the street connected to the diagonal main. Curiously, each corner harbored a banking institution. My interest was on the opposite side of the oddly shaped intersection. I jumped to the center of the road, seeing as there were nothing but ghosts lining the sidewalks and ectoplasmic images of carriages riding down the road. I hurried over to the cash machine, carefully studying the surrounding area for movement. The machine was encased in a phone booth like, glass structure, its door capable of locking you inside for everyone to see.

I ran inside and slid the latch, locking myself inside. Looking around, I could see that it was safe, but nevertheless, I carefully and hurriedly pulled out my wallet and, after selecting the correct card to use, slipped it into the machine. Less than a minute later, I was pulling the card out, cash in hand, the machine logged out, and waiting for its next customer. After tucking all items safely away, I began my examination of the surrounding area.

Every direction seemed clear, the air silent. Unlocking the latch, I realized that there were what seemed to be vehicle lights illuminating the parked cars right outside the booth. Upon closer examination, I noticed a taxi approaching from the left of my exit. Nothing suspicious there.

I lifted the latch and opened the door, stepping out into the sidewalk. The taxi stopped at the intersection, as another came from the bottom of the main. After carefully following the street signs, they both continued on their way, and I took advantage of the movement by rapidly cutting across the center to retrace my steps back to my point of origin.

As I approached the first intersection, the one where the pyramid stood in the center of the side street, now on the right side instead of the left, I noticed someone was walking down from the main. I slowed my pace in order to be able to examine whoever it was before running into them. They hadn’t noticed me yet. It was an old man, probably around seventy years old, but looking hip in his black leather jacket and black beanie like, wool headgear. You could say he looked like a stereotype thief from about forty years ago, except old and out of shape.

He crossed the street in front of me, casually swinging a boutique shopping bag on his right hand. His awareness was not surprisingly dull as I approached without notice. As he continued I remembered the monument and wondered what would happen since he seemed to be particularly oblivious to his surroundings and was heading straight for the land mine.

I had reached the corner and was beginning to cross behind him. The two were very close now, very close. His mind swam in his own thoughts, for he had yet to notice the gargantuan pyramidal monument, that beautiful onyx structure so carefully laid in his path by a creature with an extremely efficient digestive system and a careless nature. I waited. I had to see. I had to see what would happen. Would he notice? Would he hit it? Worse, step on it? Then again, he would have to practically march in order to straight step on such a large structure.

He continued his approach, and I decided to slowly move in my own direction so as not to be noticed and accidentally startle the unsuspecting victim soon to be covered in soft, black and brown, organic tissue, preventing my witnessing of the event. His feet were getting closer and closer. He did not waver from his path. Here was a man with a purpose, though for the moment, his purpose would be my momentary entertainment from an accidental gag moment.

I had reached the next corner and was ready to continue as he finally reached the structure. For a split second, it seemed he had noticed it and had moved his feet to avoid it, but he hadn’t, straightening his path and beginning his journey over it. His left foot glided smoothly and safely over the monument without damage, and I truly thought he would clear it, safely and surprisingly, without notice. We can thank his right foot for the brilliant rescue of this spectacular moment in the life of this man, a human moment, a personal moment.

His right foot lifted, and as it began its trip around the imaginary arc towards the next step, it slammed straight into the upper front side of the structure, slicing the top off and moving it at speed in the direction of his left foot, slamming into its side and decorating it with a trademark brownish color. He stumbled, digging his foot further into the pyramid, breaking deeper through the black, tough exterior and into the softer, lighter colored tissue. The mound was breaking on all sides and both rolling away and collapsing into the sides of his ankle.

He recovered himself quickly and looked back angrily, as I dashed away attempting to retain my laughter within myself and remain undiscovered. I continued to walk and after a few meters my insides burst into uncontrollable laughter. I thought about how cruel it was to laugh about such an unfortunate accident, and particularly one I myself would have been furious about. I tried to control myself, to no avail. In fact, the more I tried, the further I tumbled into an abyss of hilariousness, my body convulsing and mouth bursting with laughing sounds.

After reaching my point of origin I pondered upon my journey, one final paranoid glance before opening the door, and thought, how curious it was, my city, at 1:30 am on a Thursday night of winter…how curious…indeed.

Localizing: an advertiser’s dream is a consumer’s nightmare

Personalization has forever been the dream of both advertisers and consumers. Those who sell products would love to target those most interested in order to sell more, and consumers love things designed especially for them. Personalization has always made people feel like someone actually cared to cater to them specifically even if it was a computer doing it. That level of personalization has reached new heights with the advent of the internet, where companies simply tailor everything to your tastes, needs, usage, etc. Amazon analyzes what you buy, what you wish for, what you’ve looked at and recommends things accordingly. The whole website seems designed “just for you” every time you visit.

I must admit, I personally love it. It’s quite useful to avoid all those extras and have what you want at your fingertips. When I access my bank account from my bank’s ATM, it’s personalized as well. I have specifically what I want on the menu, which adjusts in accordance to what I’ve accessed the most on it. The cash presets are those I’ve taken out most frequently, saving me time and hassle (not that typing in a number on a keypad is much of a hassle). It’s not something I necessarily needed, but it’s nice to have it either way.

In this personalized nirvana though there are a number of issues (apart from the possible privacy issues with companies or other people knowing too many things about your habits) that I’ve begun to notice, but the main one is one that has been rearing its ugly head all over the web: Localization.

What is it?

Lo•cal•ize [loh-kuh-lahyz]

–verb (used with object)
1. to make local; fix in, or assign or restrict to, a particular place, locality, etc.
–verb (used without object)
2. to gather, collect, or concentrate in one locality.

Localization takes something and tailors it to a particular place or location. This is excellent for advertisers as they are able to target their message to a specific city, state, or country so that it may be more effective and reach a relevant audience. It makes no sense, for example, to advertise air conditioners in Barrow, Alaska, though a flame-thrower and UV lamps might be a perfect fit. If you don’t really travel much or spend much time away from a single home, this works perfectly well and can be quite useful, but for those who travel often, have two homes in different places, it can be a bit annoying. Also, localization is often used to limit access to a certain technology, product or service. It’s also used in price fixing across different countries in order to charge more for a product in a place where they can afford it and lower the price elsewhere, blocking access to the cheaper price (thought to be illegal in some countries). This can be most easily seen in the regional encoding of movies which I’ve mentioned in other articles and comments here, where you can’t play a movie bought in another region. More on that further below.

Let’s begin with Language

Language is another localization which can be quite useful for people from a specific country. We’re used to english localization, and it makes sense considering it’s the most common language spoken throughout the world, after Chinese, of course. Having said that, it wouldn’t necessarily make sense in China (even if so many of them are).

The beauty of the modern internet is that many websites can read your IP and automatically determine where you are, selecting your personal language for you. This can be quite practical as you don’t have to go and look for the little flag or language button to find a language you understand or prefer. But what happens when that’s not the language you speak?

Most websites allow you to change the language, but some of the most important websites do not, or make it quite difficult to do so. As I’ve traveled and lived in numerous places, this has been one of the most annoying things to deal with. It’s a constant battle with the system to try and keep it in my language of choice. Something as popular as MySpace or even Google would be a constant battle, wasting loads of time trying to keep it in a language I can understand, sometimes having to guess where one can even change the language or country. Soldiers particularly struggle with this constantly as they serve in different places throughout the world.

This is where localization turns ugly and becomes a nightmare to users. The internet was supposed to promote this sense of a global village where users from everywhere could communicate with each other, where borders would disappear and products could be more accessible to people from places you could never reach before, and what not. Something called the “World wide web” might sort of have something to do with that thinking, yet if anything this web is entangling communication and destroying it as programmers insert more limits through localization and disabling access to products, services, and content.

If you sell it, they will come. If you don’t, they’ll pirate it.

As access becomes more ubiquitous, it has become more limited. Companies like Google have localized absolutely everything in order to provide the most targeted advertising (or supposedly “personalized” experience), but have also used that to block users to some of their services. Video services have traditionally been a great example (both free and for purchase) like those at NBC, SciFi, and scores of companies throughout the web (anyone from Europe and other parts of the world can attest to not having any movies or TV shows available for purchase or rent online in iTunes or Xbox Live - see my older article iPod - Where’s the Beef?) where you can’t access the content from anywhere except from the U.S. They read your IP and that’s it. You can’t even pay for the content to get it, not even using your U.S. Address, credit card or account.

The only exception to this is iTunes which still allows Americans to access the U.S. store from outside the U.S. and purchase from it as long as you have a valid U.S. address and credit card. You can imagine which service those who find themselves abroad will turn to for their content. Thank you Apple.

It’s not just Americans abroad but english speakers throughout the world that wish to enjoy their content in its original language. If you wish to experience it and wish to pay for it, sorry, but you can’t. I myself have found the Google wall or the SciFi Channel wall or Xbox Live wall when visiting other countries. For some reason content providers still don’t seem to get it. The users are certainly going to get it, and if it’s not sold to them, they’ll simply acquire it by other means (read Piracy). Many people don’t want it in the language of the country they find themselves in, and this even includes many locals of those countries. This market is not only under-served but being excluded altogether and being forced to pay a premium for the content in a language that isn’t necessarily their own (in case of travelers, students or ex-pats). Also, with so much of that same content localized, why isn’t it made available? If you’re showing the episode for free anyway on SciFi.com, why can’t everyone watch it?

I know I’m stressing the media content side, but I’ve also experienced it on the software or services side. It’s understandable that a little store in Birmingham, Alabama can’t serve or has difficulty in selling products to a guy in India, but digital content and services have no limitations except those put upon them by their masters.

The final nightmare

This is the ugly side of localization, which we have experienced for so many years on DVD, and which thanks to Blu-ray’s win over HD-DVD will continue to exist in that physical format. Unfortunately, the practice has moved over to the so called “world wide web” which is less and less world wide every day, as companies continue to bring down the world to just your door and control what you can do and watch or purchase and in what language. What should be a blessing has become a curse. What should be a dream, has become a nightmare.

What do you think? Have you experienced this while traveling, or while living or studying in a different country than your own?


Keywords: localization, customization, personalization, localize, customize, personalize, consumer, DVD, internet, web, websites, language, country, travel

Toshiba declares itself defeated

Toshiba today accepted defeat in the battle for a high-definition DVD replacement. It will logically soon follow that Paramount, Universal and Dreamworks will switch to Blu-ray.

Thank you HD-DVD for your security blanket in your combo discs, and for the economical price of your players and discs. My DVDs look great upscaled in your drive and while you live, the HD-DVD side will look even better. Thank you for being region-free.

Unfortunately, that price fixing practice called regional encoding will now continue thanks to Sony and the blu-ray format. There are less regions, but there are regions all the same. Here's to hoping there'll be a region crack soon, or that governments will follow the lead of other countries and make it illegal to sell region locked players. In the meantime, there's the wonderful DVD format, continuing to be king, with its ease of use, compatibility and everything else. Thank you DVD for being so easy to backup to my computer, and for upscaling so beautifully in my cheap HD-DVD player.

Goodbye HD-DVD. At least you'll live 'till you die.

Hello Blu-ray. I will sing your praises when you finalize your format and stop producing obsolete players. I will also sing your praises once somebody cracks your regional encoding. Then we will be best friends.

HD DVD is Dead, Long Live HD DVD

There's been an epic battle going on, one that not many people even cared about, but epic all the same. To read technology columnists and news outlets, everyone was incredibly interested in this, despite the fact that most people have no idea what an HDTV is, much less that there's a high definition DVD format out there to play on it. They know there's a cool flat panel TV on the market sure, I mean, Bobby Joe has one in his trailer, and it plays DVDs really cool on it, but HD DVD sounds like the same as DVD and Blu-Ray is what they call Billy Ray when he's depressed.

The only truly interested parties are those involved in the battle itself, comparing it to the great battle of Beta vs. VHS which though at first may seem like an accurate depiction, upon close inspection, one finds it couldn’t be further from it. Neither format will conquer thanks to the porn industry as everyone already gets their porn on the internet, and unlike during the original battle, everyone already owns a high quality, digitally restored and remastered version of Beastmaster on DVD (sorry TNT, but it was you who said, “Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Beastmaster!"). Back then, the only way you could watch a movie was in a theater or if the networks or HBO played it on TV. Today, not only does Betty Sue have a DVD player in her trailer, but she owns the full Ernest collector’s edition DVDs. Her husband, second cousin Johnny Lee, even owns, not one but three collector’s edition, digitally restored, Star Wars movies. He just loves that “Chew-bacco" character.

The movie studios, who have already had you buying the same movie on VHS, on DVD, on DVD collector’s edition, on DVD director’s cut, on DVD special super duper collector’s director original cut Blade Runner, and if it wasn’t enough (Ridley Scott should stop ripping us off - yes, I fell for it…I love Blade Runner), on DVD Director’s Final Cut (until the next Final Final definite version cut), want you to buy yet another new format. Most of us have fallen for it at least once, but at least the DVD format made sense. You didn’t have to rewind and fast forward. You could just skip and pause as desired without waiting, and the quality was and still is superb.

Now, the latest craze is High Definition which comes in two main flavors: 1. 720 lines of resolution, progressively displayed (720p), and 2. 1080 lines of resolution interlaced (1080i)…but wait, there’s another version of 1080 but progressively displayed (1080p)…hmm. Some TVs support 1080p, some players don’t and what not, but theoretically, if your signal is a high definition source, and if your TV is bigger than 42 inches, and if you’re standing close enough to it, then you’ll see that Ricky Martin has gone to a dermatologist to fix the craters on his face and that the porn actress suffers from shaving rash. The image is really that good and detailed! So they want you to buy the same movie once more but in one of their new and shiny, high definition enabled, and DVD priced, disc based formats. This means you buy new hardware (more on this below), and replace, ahem, throw away those old, “standard" quality DVD discs. In their new context, “standard" means substandard or in layman’s terms, “shit". Of course, we all know this isn’t true, but through clever marketing, HD DVD’s “The Look and Sound of Perfect" and blu-ray’s “Without blu-ray your HDTV is just a TV" the studios will make us feel our current, high quality, digitally restored and super re-mastered DVD is crap and needs to be upgraded.

The two contenders: HD DVD and blu-ray

As you already know at this point, there are two formats competing for the heavyweight title of the world. They both use the same blue laser technology, but with different implementations. HD DVD was meant to be an upgrade to DVD and is in fact approved by the DVD Forum as the true successor to DVD. It can be produced in the same DVD factory, and therefore is cheaper to manufacture, and those economies can be seen in the extremely accessible pricing. This evolution has its downside in that the amount of storage capacity of HD DVD is 30% less than that of blu-ray, though this has no real bearing on the quality of movies in the format as the space is ample enough and then some. It has nonetheless been used by blu-ray in their marketing to pound on HD DVD.

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Blu-ray was meant to be a state of the art storage technology and 21st century successor to DVD. It’s implementation of the blue laser technology allows it to store more data per layer. On paper, it would seem to be the better format, but it’s filled with drawbacks as a mass market medium and crowned inheritor of DVD. First of all, it’s expensive. If it wasn’t for the fact that Sony included a blu-ray player in every PS3 videogame system, something that has caused it to be much more expensive than competing “next generation" gaming consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo and gravely affected their sales and position in this round of the war for game console dominance, blu-ray players would not be affordable for the consumer (if you think 500 dollars/euros is “affordable"). Sony sells their PS3 at a loss, hoping to make up the money in software sales, allowing them to lower prices and therefore push their high definition format into every home that has a PS3. Second, it’s expensive to manufacture and produce. Third, it’s expensive and complicated to program for. So basically, the main drawback is that it’s expensive, but of course, once adopted by the masses, this should change, right? Well, there’s another problem.

These formats are first and foremost meant to replace DVDs for movies not personal storage and this is where the biggest differences happen. Where HD DVD set their standards early and with a solid vision for the future, blu-ray did exactly the opposite, breeding lots of problems both for producers and consumers. HD DVD players have a certain set of features from day one which blu-ray doesn’t, forcing early adopters to have to buy new players in order to utilize newer released movies and their “upgraded" features in accordance to the version of blu-ray they’re compatible with (1.0/1.1/1.2/etc.). This is terribly expensive and confusing for consumers, which is why HD DVD satisfaction amongst consumers has been much higher than with blu-ray. It also has to do with the complexities of programming the interactive features for blu-ray which uses the Java language versus HD DVDs easy to program but full featured, Microsoft created, HDi system. Simply put, HD DVDs offer a stable and consistent experience for the consumer, and blu-ray discs do not, often crashing and having scores of other idiosyncrasies. Also, because the standard continues to evolve, not all blu-ray movies offer the same quality in compression and sound, which is why earlier discs were often considered of inferior quality to HD DVD despite the formats having equal capacities in this regard.

Today though, apart from the blu-ray versioning fiasco which continues to affect blu-ray hardware (except possibly the Sony PS3), both standards offer the same high definition visuals and sound you would expect from a next generation DVD format albeit at very different price points (400 vs 125 and 30 vs 20). HD DVD should win, and yet, with the recent Warner Bros. announcement, it would seem the exact opposite is going to happen.

HD DVD is better

For the consumer HD DVD has the absolute advantage in its lower pricing, but it has some additional features which make it a better value. Because the format is a true evolution of DVD and is actually created on the same DVD disc, it has limitations as to the maximum amount of storage per layer (15GB per layer versus blu-ray’s 25GB per layer). This limitation is also it’s greatest advantage because it allows what is known as Combo discs which have an HD DVD side and a standard DVD side. You can play the HD DVD side on your HD DVD player and enjoy its amazing 1080p quality and sound while the standard DVD side can be enjoyed in the full DVD quality you’re accustomed to on any DVD player. This gives great value to the consumer by giving them the choice to view the movie in the format that’s available. This is simply not possible with blu-ray.

Another thing is the stability of the chosen interface and feature list. Consumers have been extremely satisfied with the quality and reliability of the format. Their investments are minor as the format is so economical, but they are also assured through a stable platform that is easy to understand and works perfectly from day one.

Finally, there is the fact that all HD DVDs are region free which means that no matter where in the world you purchase your disc, you’ll be able to play it on any HD DVD player. DVDs did not allow this and neither do blu-ray discs (blu-ray has simplified the region locking to a lesser number of regions but is locking nonetheless). Region locking is a movie studio tactic to make sure you pay more for your movies, be it by controlling the release of a movie in theaters and DVD or by charging more in locations that can afford it.

This last offers great value to the consumer but not to the movie studios which is why…

Blu-ray is better

Blu-ray has the clear advantage in terms of movie studio support. Not only does it have Sony’s stable of movies and those it owns from MGM and Columbia, but because of region locking and the false perception of greater piracy security, it has garnered full exclusive support from the majority of hollywood studios. Warner had been the biggest neutral holdout until January of this year, when it announced it would be blu-ray exclusive come May. It has been rumored that Warner was considering going HD DVD exclusive and the rumors include a possible half billion dollar sum to go blu-ray. True or not, the fact of the matter is that come May 2008, the only big studios exclusive to HD DVD will be Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks (excluding Spielberg directed films). This news has caused every news outlet to report their opinion that without Warner, HD DVD is dead and blu-ray has won. It’s certainly given it an almost unfair advantage, but consumers decide wars with their wallets. This one’s not over yet.

The other main reason why blu-ray is better is the storage capacity, allowing for greater features down the line and greater use as a personal storage medium. Again, this is not really an advantage in terms of movies, but has been a main selling point as to the format. In the end, we’re talking about how one might be better for the consumer, and down the line, if adopted in PCs, more storage is better for consumers.

Why both formats suck

Both formats are not without their problems. First, to truly enjoy and see and hear the difference, you really need to invest in a lot of equipment. Perhaps you already have, but then, you have to reinvest in your movie collection as well, which is what the movie studios want. If you haven’t, you need to purchase a high definition television that can at least resolve the 720p resolution, in a size large enough to appreciate that resolution and be close enough to the screen to see the difference. For the sound you need a decent home theater system, and for the format you need the player and movie content.

Another thing is the fact that they are yet another format for you to keep track of. Is the quality over DVD really worth it? With DVD upscaling, is it worth spending the money? Should you really spend on The Beastmaster yet again? With digital distribution, are these formats relevant at all?

This last is the main question a lot of technology columnists have been asking, yet, with bandwidth limits becoming all the rage and astronomical charges for going over the limit established by your service provider, is digital distribution really practical? A lot of companies are betting on the online rental model, but it takes too long to download a movie in high definition and should your limit be exceeded, you may end up paying twice the price of the DVD to rent a film. Ownership is better. You should be able to pay and keep the movies to watch as you wish and when you wish, but again, was DVD really that bad?

DVD upscaling

There’s another development threatening the two new formats: DVD upscaling. What this means is that modern DVD players will take your “standard" definition DVD and through some beautiful hardware and software make your “standard" movie look closer to its high definition equivalent. I mean, it REALLY makes DVD look twice as amazing as it already was.

This is the real killer here as your existing collection can look twice as good with minimal investment. Here again, the price of HD DVD (at a current low of $130.00) is an advantage as the players are so cheap that you can buy them as a DVD upscaler and should the format disappear, it will have cost you pretty much the same as that modern, upscaling DVD player. DVD upscaling has, for many people, made the war irrelevant, and given DVD the life and recognition it deserved.

Has blu-ray won?

Blu-ray has won in the sense that most studios support it, but it hasn’t won in the minds of consumers. The cheapest blu-ray player, the PS3 has not sold anywhere near expectations and is currently running a distant third in the console wars. In high definition gaming, Microsoft is winning with its Xbox 360 and its amazing Xbox Live online gaming service (Nintendo has won the console wars this round overall with the innovative Wii, but its display quality is standard definition and old generation). Microsoft doesn’t include a high definition disc format out of the box so as to make the price more accessible to those who actually want to buy a game machine to play games, but they do have an HD DVD add on for the current price of $179.00 (this price will probably be much lower over the coming months).

The high definition “revolution" is expensive as it is, but blu-ray even more so. It’s not surprising considering Sony’s history. This past holiday season, it was HD DVD players flying off the shelves, not blu-ray. Of course, if there’s no content, there’s no format, which definitely gives blu-ray the advantage, but all this confusion has too many people buying neither. Also, blu-ray has to lower prices and finally standardize on a feature set to gain higher adoption levels. Already you can see scores of people dumping their early and incompatible blu-ray players on craigslist. This needs to be resolved.

HD DVD’s last stand

Toshiba has gotten extremely aggressive with their HD DVD player pricing, particularly after the Warner announcement, so it makes it worth it to pick one up for the free movies and upscaling DVD capabilities if not for the format itself. A number of big releases are still exclusive to HD DVD, including Transformers, American Gangster, The Star Trek movies and series, Shrek, The Bourne Ultimatum and scores of others, so there is still quite a bit of content you can’t get on blu-ray. Also, the region free advantage allows you to buy blu-ray “exclusives" in HD DVD format from Amazon UK and other overseas suppliers and play them in your cheap Toshiba player. This overseas format jumping has been going on from day one, utilizing the different overseas distributors and suppliers to allow release in the competing format. Region free is mandatory in some countries and should be the same across the globe. It really is an advantage for the consumer, and considering this blog is called bNowhere, it is extremely relevant here.

So go out there and celebrate blu-ray’s alleged win by getting your cheap HD DVD player. You’ll be glad you did, and be sure, you’ll come out of the store happy in your thoughts that “HD DVD is dead, long live HD DVD!"

Related links

DVD Forum: www.dvdforum.org
HD DVD: The Look and Sound of Perfect
Blu-ray: Without Blu-ray your HDTV is just a TV
Warner and Blu-ray: The real reason behind the switch
Toshiba’s Super Cheap Player: Amazon changes the price constantly but I have yet to see it over $150.

Keywords: HD DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, DVD, Upscaling, high definition, hdtv, format war