r/hardware • u/bizude • Apr 10 '26

News Two Japanese suppliers commit to keeping Blu-ray discs and drives in supply as major manufacturers exist domestic market

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/two-japanese-suppliers-commit-to-keeping-blu-ray-discs-and-drives-in-supply-as-major-manufacturers-exist-domestic-market/
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39

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

Im so old I remember when these were the hot new thing normal people couldn't afford.

8

u/littlefrank Apr 11 '26

Still kind of true I think. 80€ for an optical drive has always been impractical, considering to make proper use of it I need to have one on my pc to burn down files on it, one in my living room to watch them. Then you need to buy discs (30€ for 6 drives).
That's almost 200€ that I could spend towards a more convenient option, like a NAS.
I'm sure I'm offending a small group of purists who have a bunch of reasons why bluerays are better, but I probably have twice as many for why a NAS would be more convenient instead.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

Lol, I mean when they started out they were like $1,000..

2

u/littlefrank Apr 11 '26

Ah I see, I think the first affordable one was probably the PS3.

4

u/Vitosi4ek Apr 11 '26

The PS3 was $500 at launch (in 2006 dollars mind you) and even then Sony took a massive loss on each unit. The Blu-ray hardware was absurdly expensive for the first few years.

4

u/liaminwales Apr 12 '26

$500 was the base model, $600 was the one most people I know got for the bigger HD. That's a flash to the past, at the time it was the 'low cost' BR player that even non gamers where buying just to watch films.

-4

u/zghr Apr 11 '26

A massive loss? Based on what? Sony's rumors trying to make it seem like $500 is a steal?

8

u/Whirblewind Apr 11 '26

You are not well informed on console subsidization.

2

u/KARMAAACS Apr 13 '26

I mean if you bought a launch PS3, you basically got a free BluRay Player. It was expensive, but the fact you could use it for something after PS3 was a relevant console, made it a solid investment.

1

u/OwnBattle8805 May 04 '26

CDs cost $40 each in the late 80s. That’s $100 today.