Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

I have a co-worker who purchased a HDTV for several thousand dollars but was not actually watching high definition programming. She and her husband were uncertain about how to get HD programming and they did not want to pay the extra monthly fee from their cable provider. Surprisingly, this anecdote is representative of a wider trend.

December and January are typically prime HDTV purchasing months thanks in part to Christmas and the Super Bowl. With HDTVs becoming a mainstream product, one thing has become clear: consumers are confused with the myriad of choices associated with a HDTV purchase.

So what is causing this confusion? Gone are the days when someone can walk into a store and purchase a TV without doing prior research. There are simply too many choices. TVs used to be a simple purchase, but now, with so many competing technologies and services, a trip to a local retailer can be full of acronyms and tech jargon. LCD, plasma, rear projection, and DLP are just some of the terms that can overwhelm the average shopper. A majority of HDTV purchases are from the large box stores like Walmart and Best Buy. Have you ever tried getting help at one of those stores? Good luck. An uneducated consumer with an uneducated salesman is not a good combination.

HDTVs are a mainstream product while high definition content is still immature. Once a new HDTV is purchased, the consumer then has to figure out how to get HD programming. Customers are still having a difficult time understanding that special programming packages, set-top boxes, and / or OTA antennas are required to receive HD content. There almost needs to be a big sign in front of every HDTV at Best Buy that reads “You will need to get a new cable box or satellite receiver.” Throw on top of the existing confusion the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and you have a real mess (I bet if you took a poll, most people think regular DVDs are high definition).

In my opinion, consumer confusion is not suprising as long as there is the choice between standard and high definition formats. When high definition becomes the dominant format for television and digital media, the purchasing experience for the average person should improve.