Phoenix '97 wrote:If it weren't for "cheap" manufacturers like Princo, would we still be paying a dollar more each for recordable discs, since there would be no low-end competition? I'm leaning towards the current situation with dual layer DVD media as an example.
That isn't true. There is a lot of competition between Prodisc and Optodisc which is the main force behind Ritek dropping their prices. Infodisc was also quite competitive for a while (you know, until they went essentially bankrupt!).
We don't need crap discs to pull the market price down prematurely. All they do is screw up quality control, and force pricing to unrealistic levels, screwing things up for people who care about good discs!
Punch Cards -> Paper Tape -> Tape Drive -> 8" Floppy Diskette -> 5 1/4" Floppy Diskette -> 3 1/2" "Flippy" Diskette -> CD-R -> DVD±R -> BD-R
The Progression of Computer Media