Future formats? (16:9 and/or HD)

J

Juliekins

Cathlete
I'm a Cathe fan and a eletronics nerd...a dangerous combination.

Cathe/SNM, I was wondering about future plans for workout DVD formats. I know that buying new gear is a considerable expense, but do you have plans to eventually start filming in high definition once the format war is won by either HDDVD or Blu-ray? What about a 16: 9 format option?

Understand, I'm not complaining. :) I love your workouts as-is. Just curious about the technical side of things. Besides, if you had all that screen real estate afforded you by the widescreen format, you'd just find a way to torture us with it! Ha!
 
It's really hard to say. HD Tv has not exactly been a huge success and very few people have or are considering buying Blu-ray or HDDVD. I personally feel that the successor to DVD will not be another form of DVD. Instead it will probably be something like your IPOD or very well may be your IPOD that will become the next “New” technology. One of our employees is already using his IPOD to download his favorite Tv shows and has cancelled his cable TV. He then hooks his IPOD up to a TV and watches his shows commercial free.

An IPOD like device would allow producers like us to bypass the duplication process and save a small fortune on shipping. This would be great for us, but the consumer would also benefit by not having to wait to receive their product and the prices they pay could be greatly reduced. Since there would no longer be a “physical” media, consumers could even choose and purchase different segments from different DVDs and have them arranged in any order they like.

But we will have to see where the new technology leads us and who wins. We too love technology and perhaps use it more than any other company in our field, but we never forget that it is our workouts that are the main reason our consumers buy our products – not the technology we use.
 
All the media convergence that's happening right now is pretty exciting stuff. I would *love* something like you're talking about. I'd get online, select the workouts, segments, and premixes I want and they show up in a set top box or portable unit that I can take anywhere. (*sigh* I could get a lot closer to that with Cathe if Dish would carry FitTV...) We're getting there with the iPod and DVRs, but it's not there yet.

Thanks for your reply. It's nice to see that while the workouts are your primary concern, you're up on the latest developments and tuned in to the "bleeding edge" stuff that's out there.
 
I love all this techie stuff, too. The options for the future are super exciting. I love iTunes, but my iPod has changed the way I purchase/play music -- it is one of my favorite toys. I love the possibilities of using this technology for videos/workouts.


Marla
 
Are you thinking of putting some workouts on iTunes? I am a BIG TIME iTunes junkie, both video and audio.
I would definitely enjoy a Cathe-coached run via the iPod. Anything that is "good to go" is good for the iPod.
:)
Can't wait for the new ones!
Amy
 
I'll give you just a little insight to what we have planned and have been working on for quite sometime now. Yes, we're planning on making GYM workouts for MP3 players and we also are planning to produce our own Cathe Podcast Radio shows in which you will be able to call in and talk to Cathe. Webcast shows and tutorials are also in the works. We've already developed a digital delivery network that can handle almost any demand. When we launch our new video clips of the new workouts you will get to see the new network and Cathe Player in action. We think you will find the new clips clarity to be the best you've seen by any fitness company so far. At least we hope so!:)
 
Hey Chris!

WOW!!!!!!!!!! This is just unbelievably great news! :) :) Like Amy, I'm a total iTunes/iPod junkie, and for a long time now I have been jonesing BIG time for Cathe to do her own version of a "Cardio Coach" kind of thing. But you've one-upped that little modest dream of mine with these plans, I see!

As always, you and Cathe are putting Cathe.com at the cutting edge. I'm so admiring of that work ethic, and I can't imagine how much research and work has gone into these plans. You folks are just fantastic!

And by the way, Chris, since almost everything you do is behind the scenes and usually invisible to us, I just want to tell you that all of us in the Educated Crowd (especially us old geezers) know you're hitched right there to the front of the ox cart with Cathe, so to speak (Southern-style ;-)). So a humongous [font size=6][font color=red]((((((((((HUG)))))))))[/font color][/font size] and [font size=6][font color=green]THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO, CHRIS!!!!![/font color][/font size]

http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/sport/sport-smiley-003.gif Kathy S. http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/sport/sport-smiley-001.gif
 
This is awesome news. I LOVE my iPod and figured it was just a matter of time til I would be carrying Cathe around with me! Yipeee-I-Ooooooooo!


http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid8692709
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
>I'll give you just a little insight to what we have planned
>and have been working on for quite sometime now. Yes, we're
>planning on making GYM workouts for MP3 players and we also
>are planning to produce our own Cathe Podcast Radio shows in
>which you will be able to call in and talk to Cathe. Webcast
>shows and tutorials are also in the works. We've already
>developed a digital delivery network that can handle almost
>any demand. When we launch our new video clips of the new
>workouts you will get to see the new network and Cathe Player
>in action. We think you will find the new clips clarity to be
>the best you've seen by any fitness company so far. At least
>we hope so!:)


Anything in the works for MP3 player workouts yet? I would love to hear if anything is in the planning stages? I would love Cathe at the gym!:7
 
RE: Also...

I'm not up on the latest technology, but I was wondering, if you do make it available to download workouts to an IPod to play on your TV, I wonder if the technology would be there for the consumer to create their own custom workouts. Like for instance, would it be possible for me, the consumer, to take lets say one of my favorite cardio segments from the cardio hits DVD (like one segment from Power Max and one segment from step fit), and incorporate it with segments from say Butts and Gutts and then save it? I have been putting together my own workouts, but I have to keep changing the DVD's, then I have to skip to the cool down etc. Maybe you could charge a set fee for each segment that the consumer downloads, but once you download it, you can mix and match and save your favorite premixes.
If the technology is there, would you consider doing this? And if you did make this available, then what would be done about those people who already own all of Cathe's DVD's, (like myself) but want to have the ability to customize my own workouts without paying a second time for the same workout just to download it?
(Does that make sense)
Thanks
Eva
 
RE: Also...

Sorry, I browsed through this too quickly, I guess you already answered my question about the personalized premixes, so I guess my question is, what would you do about the people who already own cathe's DVD's, but want to mix and match their own pre-mixes without having to pay a second time?
Thanks
Eva
 
RE: Also...

We regard digital downloads to be a separate product just as VHS and DVD’s are. We might offer a special deal on future products if you buy both the DVD and the digital download, but it is really impossible to write a script for a canned shopping cart that would know which DVD’s a customer had purchased in the past especially since the customer may have purchased from a distributor. This situation is really similar to when we just started selling DVD’s. Many people didn’t want to switch from VHS to DVD since they had already paid for the workout. Thank goodness many people did purchase the DVD’s and if weren’t for them we could have never afforded to invest the time and money in being one of the first companies to sell fitness DVD’s.
After 1 year of research we have now just hired a team that is working full time on digital downloads for us and I think you will be very pleased when we unveil the finished product.
 
RE: Also...

This is amazing Chris! This might be asking too soon - do you know when digital downloads will be unveiled??? Guesstimating less than a year, 1-2yrs, 3-5yrs, etc???

Thanks for your unbelievable work in this industry. You all are top notch!
 
RE: Also...

We love digital downloads. :) I don't know how you feel about this, SNM, but if for those concerned about already owning the DVDs, it is very easy to convert your DVD media onto your iPod. I am one who will buy whatever you put out there, and I love the variety offered by the premixes. The world will be my oyster when I can choose premixes from several different programs. :) I would think if you offer your previous works on downloadable segments, it would be very easy to make playlists that mix and match from several different workouts.
Variety is the spice of life!!!
 
RE: Also...

So are you saying that it will it be possible to download the DVD's we already own onto an IPOD and then mix and match as many pre-mixes that we want to and then play them on our TV or are you saying that you might create a product to download our Cathe DVD's to mix and match pre-mixes? Is the technology already out there to do this? If so, I'm going to buy and IPOD at the after christmas sales. I heard that the quality isn't that great when you download TV shows onto your IPOD from the computer and watch them on your TV. Is this some of the technology that you are working on? I can't wait, I'm excited to see what comes out. Keep us informed.
Eva
 
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