Anyone into high end home theater has heard of the company Kaleidescape (yes with an "a" not an "o") - for 15 years they have been the only plug and play and legal solution for serving DVD's and Blu-rays from your couch (a problem movie collectors have - where to put the hundreds of discs one buys) - and are now the only solution for downloading 4K movies at bit-for-bit quality on par with UHD Blu Ray.
Their systems range from $4,000 - six figures - and until this weekend there was no news they were in financial trouble.
They were a pioneer, dedicated to uncompromising video quality and had an unparalleled user interface. They existed in a class of one - nobody else could touch their ease of use and their quality - if you had the disposable funds Kaleidescape was a no-brainer for your theater.
Over the weekend they shut their doors. They said they ran out of money developing their new 4K media server and couldn't find a buyer. People are kind of shocked - after 15 years nobody expected them to go "poof" - especially after they had been scoring deal after deal with studios recently for their new 4K download store.
But now they're gone - another purist company delivering a superior product to a world of people who accept mediocrity. Kaleidescape also spent years fighting the movie studios (ICE industry, anyone?) for the right to serve DVD's and Blu-rays from a server - and in the end had to settle with the studios and stop selling DVD servers in return for the right to sell Blu-ray servers.
Pearls before swine?
I was also in Calabasas today on business and saw a number of new Bentleys, Rolls, high end Benzes, etc. As I cruised along the 101 with my hands in my lap I was surrounded on both sides by a Rolls and an AMG Benz sedan. I wondered to myself "But you don't have Autopilot - why are you driving that thing?"
Yet - they are.
Yet - Tesla is offering a $598 / month 24 month lease to move product - product which still exists in a class of one.
I dunno - feeling pessimistic after the shocker of Kaleidescape's demise. I'll snap out of it. . .
Their systems range from $4,000 - six figures - and until this weekend there was no news they were in financial trouble.
They were a pioneer, dedicated to uncompromising video quality and had an unparalleled user interface. They existed in a class of one - nobody else could touch their ease of use and their quality - if you had the disposable funds Kaleidescape was a no-brainer for your theater.
Over the weekend they shut their doors. They said they ran out of money developing their new 4K media server and couldn't find a buyer. People are kind of shocked - after 15 years nobody expected them to go "poof" - especially after they had been scoring deal after deal with studios recently for their new 4K download store.
But now they're gone - another purist company delivering a superior product to a world of people who accept mediocrity. Kaleidescape also spent years fighting the movie studios (ICE industry, anyone?) for the right to serve DVD's and Blu-rays from a server - and in the end had to settle with the studios and stop selling DVD servers in return for the right to sell Blu-ray servers.
Pearls before swine?
I was also in Calabasas today on business and saw a number of new Bentleys, Rolls, high end Benzes, etc. As I cruised along the 101 with my hands in my lap I was surrounded on both sides by a Rolls and an AMG Benz sedan. I wondered to myself "But you don't have Autopilot - why are you driving that thing?"
Yet - they are.
Yet - Tesla is offering a $598 / month 24 month lease to move product - product which still exists in a class of one.
I dunno - feeling pessimistic after the shocker of Kaleidescape's demise. I'll snap out of it. . .