Soapbox

Why so big?

aphex1 — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:47:40 +0000

So, as I’m reading through this months ‘T3′ magazine I see the review for the first Blu-ray player to hit the UK; Samsung’s BD-P1000 that rather ironically costs £1000. To my amusement there is a full page advert on the previous page to advertise it, only to be then shot down on the next page by T3 giving it just 3 stars out of a maximum of 5. This is because it has the ability to output at 1080p which makes it rather expensive and sadly doesn’t impress enough to justify the price all that well.

It then occurred to me while looking at the advert that shows the full scale of the thing that these standalone HD-DVD and Blu-ray players are impressively gargantuan, I mean, really huge. Look at the PlayStation 3; we all know it has Blu-ray playing capabilities of its own but look at its size compared to the Samsung BD-P1000. It’s got to be at least 25% shallower and about a third less in width and still manages incorporates the console itself as well as a PlayStation 2 CPU and GPU to boot. So why so big? It’s not just Samsung either and not just Blu-ray and PlayStation 3. Microsoft’s HD-DVD add on to the Xbox 360 is extremely small and when put next to the console, both together are around 4 times as small as Toshiba’s RD-A1 HD-DVD player. So why does Hi-def have to be ‘hello-big’? Just a little thought I had…

About Soapbox

aphex1 — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:24:20 +0000

I wanted a place to take my writing further by writing about personal interests of mine; technology and media. From time to time you might see me on here ranting about things but I’ll attempt to keep it factual.

Soapbox is the name of this little area; chosen because of its connotations with open speaking in public etc… so you see why I named it this.

Soapbox

aphex1 — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:41:38 +0000

soap·box
n.
1. A carton in which soap is packed.

2. A temporary platform used while making an impromptu or nonofficial public speech.
intr.v. soap·boxed, soap·box·ing, soap·box·es Informal
To engage in impromptu or nonofficial public speaking, often flamboyantly.
Idiom:on (one’s) soapbox
Speaking one’s views passionately or self-importantly.