"Because of the instant feedback mechanism of the Internet, the advantage In Divx's case, Circuit City'sĭecision to preannounce its release created a vacuum of several months ofĬriticism before Divx even hit test markets. Technology companies have become famous for announcing "vaporware" monthsīefore the products are actually released. Internet, and the dearth of popular titles available on the format. Model, the potential privacy implications of hooking a video player to the These sites lambasted the pay-as-you-go business Internet newsgroups and Web sites dedicated to audio and video news madeĭivx their cause celebre. "In theĬonsumer electronics space, everybody has bought into one technology orĪnother that arrived with great fanfare and was then prematurely obsolete." "There was a feeling of being burned once too often," Pine said. These potential customers, who made DVD one of theįastest selling consumer electronics technologies, not only stayed awayįrom Divx, but took to the Internet to warn others. Had lived through the Beta-VHS war and had useless and expensive Betamax Standard] had not been out a year when they came out with a 'yes, but'Ĭircuit City's announcement incensed potential early adopters, many of whom "After two years of warring among the original DVD camps, [the DVD Panasonic, and Toshiba, years to agree on a standard for DVD-ROM players.Īnd just months after they finally hammered out a standard, Circuit CityĪnnounced it was releasing Divx, a proprietary format not compatible with It took the major consumer electronics manufacturers, like Philips, Sony, The Internet was gaining popularity as a grass-roots communications medium. "They were late to market, and rowing upstream from theīeginning," said Ted Pine, an analyst with InfoTech Research.ĭivx's release was also fraught with controversy because it came less thanĪ year after the acrimonious DVD-ROM standards battle, and at a time when Its late release played a part in its demise for a number of VHS," Porter said, noting that Circuit Cityĭid not consider the "point of view of the suffering customers."ĭivx was also a victim of timing, released about a year after DVD hit the The rivalry between Divx and open DVD was often compared to the Beta-VHS war or the lackluster success of Laserdisc-but, in reality, the early death of Divx was more a result of consumers' battle scars from earlier standards battle. The overwhelmingly negative emotional reaction to Divx by consumers and theĭivx was an easy target for consumers frustrated by years of obsolete products from computer and consumer electronics manufacturers. There are valid technological shortcomings to Divx, but they do not explain The difficulty of getting all the movie studios to go in on it with them." Sensitivity of people to having one single standard and under-appreciated "The people who run Circuit City are not complete fools- they just made aīad judgment call," said Jim Porter, of industry newsletter DiskTrend. Partly because of a dearth of hot Divx movie titles, and mainly because ofĪ consumer backlash which can only be compared to the reaction to New Coke. Operations, partly because of a lack of competitively priced players, In a nutshell, Divx is-or was-a pay-per-view variation of DVD introduced Prematurely obsolete technology played a direct role in bringing Divx down, Instead, it was a widely hated platform hounded to its death byĭisgruntled consumers fearful of getting stuck in a Betamax quandary.Ĭynical videophiles and home theatre buffs burned once too often by Yesterday, wasn't just another example of a technology that failed toĬatch on. Divx, which effectively had its plug pulled by Circuit City
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