Free Republic

Cost questions dog Blu-ray DVD's lead By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: November 28, 2005, 4:00 AM PST Because Sony's Blu-ray disc technology appears to be the front-runner in the nasty fight to determine how the DVDs of the future are produced, movie studios and disc manufacturers are beginning to come to terms with the financial realities of the new format--as well as some troubling uncertainties. For more than a year now, a bitter public relations war has been waged between supporters of Blu-ray and a rival Toshiba-backed technology known as HD DVD. Both are high-capacity discs that...

Consumers snap up computers on Black Friday By Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: December 2, 2005, 10:41 AM PT Computer makers can breathe a sigh of relief--people did scoop up a lot of laptops during the holiday shopping extravaganza last week. Sales of personal computers in U.S. retail outlets during Thanksgiving week increased 35 percent over the same week the year before. Overall revenue increased by 11 percent, better than expected, according to research firm Current Analysis. In 2004, computer sales increased by only 7 percent while revenue decreased by 3 percent. Thanksgiving week is a crucial...