Nishida Clarifies Sony's Line On Recordable DVD
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 5/21/2001
NEW YORK — Sony Electronics' president/COO Fujio Nishida clarified the company's home recording positions with digital technology at his press roundtable here.
Concerning recordable DVD, Nishida said, "We still don't know which one will [be accepted]. We are working with Philips and Pioneer on DVD+RW and –RW to become the format, rather than DVD-RAM which has compatibility issues with current players."
But he hastened to add, "Still this is not the ultimate solution [because] it would have a small gigabyte memory." Nishida reiterated a long-held Sony position that the ultimate is "blue laser technology … which could record six hours of HD-quality programming." But that product is down the road, since as of now it would be very expensive to produce.
VHS decks, some priced at $100 at retail, will still be the format of choice for home video recording "for the next four or five years," he said. "The length of recording is critical [for recordable DVD]," which will continue to create a market for VHS recording in the foreseeable future.
