What DVD players and drives are available?
There is a massive range of DVD hardware available now, with prices ranging from several hundreds of pounds right down to less than £50, available from any large supermarket. Any computer with a DVD drive can play the discs, as can gaming consoles like the Playstation. This means that DVD is an extremely accessible format for delivering a wide range of products.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997, with distribution limited to only 7 major cities for the first 6 months. Players slowly trickled in to other regions around the world. Prices for the first players in 1997 were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. In 2003 players became available for under $50. Six years after the initial launch, close to one thousand models of DVD players were available from over a hundred consumer electronics manufacturers (see 6.2 ). Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. Delivery was initially held up for reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November 1996, followed by U.S. players in March 1997. Now, almost five years after the initial launch, over two hundred models of DVD players are available from dozens of electronics companies. Older DVD players (“first” generation drives) will not recognize DVD-R’s.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997, with distribution limited to only 7 major cities for the first 6 months. Players slowly trickled in to other regions around the world. Prices for the first players in 1997 were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. In 2003 players became available for under $50. Six years after the initial launch, close to one thousand models of DVD players were available from over a hundred consumer electronics manufacturers. Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan.
Some manufacturers originally announced that DVD players would be available as early as the middle of 1996. These predictions were woefully optimistic. Delivery was initially held up for “political” reasons of copy protection demanded by movie studios, but was later delayed by lack of titles. The first players appeared in Japan in November, 1996, followed by U.S. players in March, 1997, with distribution limited to only 7 major cities for the first 6 months. Players slowly trickled in to other regions around the world. Prices for the first players in 1997 were $1000 and up. By the end of 2000, players were available for under $100 at discount retailers. In 2003 players became available for under $50. Six years after the initial launch, close to one thousand models of DVD players were available from over a hundred consumer electronics manufacturers (see 6.2). Fujitsu supposedly released the first DVD-ROM-equipped computer on Nov. 6 in Japan. Toshiba released a DVD-ROM-equipped computer
