Future of HD-DVD Interactive Features

[KingofKaty]

I've searched the forums and can't find an answer to a question that has bugged me since the end of the format war.

What happens to the studio support for the HD-DVD interactive features?

I'm assuming that today the HD-DVD player uses its ethernet connection to go out on the web and connect to content placed their by the studios. Will this content be available forever? Is it just frozen in time now where it is or will the studios be updating the content from time to time?

Does HDi go the way of the CueCat?

 

[navychop]

I doubt they know for sure. Maybe MS will try to use the same content with their future downloading service, or some other product. That could keep things going for years.

But there is certainly that chance that the whole tent will be folded up and disappear.

CueCat- now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. And what was the name of that barcode reader system that was used to read in programs from magazines, saving you typing time? What?- You've never typed in a program? Guess I'm dated by the very question.

 

[Tyralak]

I doubt they know for sure. Maybe MS will try to use the same content with their future downloading service, or some other product. That could keep things going for years.

But there is certainly that chance that the whole tent will be folded up and disappear.

CueCat- now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. And what was the name of that barcode reader system that was used to read in programs from magazines, saving you typing time? What?- You've never typed in a program? Guess I'm dated by the very question.

I used to type in programs from Compute!'s Gazette magazine back when the C64 was popular.

 

[dfergie]

I used to type in programs from Compute!'s Gazette magazine back when the C64 was popular.

Same here, 1 typo and program wouldn't run ...

 

[KingofKaty]

I found a CueCat stuffed in the bottom of a box of old cables and other computing stuff a few weeks ago. I was afraid to plug it in.

Checked Peter Torr and Amy Dullard's blogs. Both worked on HDi for Microsoft. No clues as to the future.

Someone at the studios was writing HDi scripts. Maybe the scripts just get left and forgotten on the studio servers like Joe in the movie Idiocracy.

In 50 years maybe someone finds an old Toshiba HD-A30 in the attic with a copy of Transformers . . .

 

[diogen]

What happens to the studio support for the HD-DVD interactive features?

HDi obviously doesn't work on BD.
Possible developments of this technology are discussed in this thread on AVS
Will HDi survive without HD-DVD? - AVS Forum

Diogen.

 

[KingofKaty]

HDi obviously doesn't work on BD.
Possible developments of this technology are discussed in this thread on AVS

Thanks Diogen, that helps but isn't exactly what I was asking. AVS was arguing about BdJ and HDi.

My question was what happens to the HDi scripts and extra features written by the studios for HD-DVD.

What would really be cool is if Universal and Paramount wrote HDi extras and trailers hawking their new Blu-Ray releases!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I actually got a free Microsoft HDi t-shirt at CES this year. I was thinking about that the other day, when I was wearing the shirt. I suspect web stuff will stay online for a while, but like everything online, there are no guarantees.

 

[navychop]

I remember a guy onboard ship was showing us his new C64 disk drive. When he started it up, I made a head call and came back. It was still loading. It was actually slower than tape!

The more I look at HDi, the more I think Rocky's got it pinned. They'll try to use some of the development in other products, but there probably won't be anything new created. Eventually, the studios will drop the existing material, once accesses start to fall.