I was just thinking with the talk of DVD-R DL coming soon, if HD-DVD/Blu-ray is also coming soon, and probably writable versions soon after, DL media doesnt have long to do well, with it still costing at least $5 per disc its outside of all practicle uses, with 2 SL DVD-R costing less than $1. I was just wondering if you people thought it will ever do well, or if it has come to late.
Ben 
I originginally felt dual layer with a couple of minutes research have changed my mind
SL is still the better market
DL has no real uses compared to this
Prices in english sterling are
DL Ă‚ÂŁ5.82 per disc from a set of 1
SL Ă‚ÂŁ5.29 Per set of 25
Even if they dropped the price, many DVD burners cant burn (or even read) DL media, and of those that can, very few can do it well, meaning only a pretty specific group of people will buy it.
Ben 
If prices of DL media don’t come down like immediately, DL will be lost. With so many optical drive companies talking about HD or Blu-ray drives coming out at the end of 2005, those who haven’t bought DL burners yet may opt to wait. However, if DL media can quickly get down to $1-$2 it may gain a foothold, if it isn’t too late already.
I would have thought it will take a few years to establish itself, then HD-DVD/Blu-ray will have started.
Im kind of pissed off about HD-DVD/Blu-ray, in the UK DVDs only started to be sold normally (in normal high-street shops) around 1999. VHS lasted ages before it was gone, it was only around 1 year ago we got a DVD player for our TV (I just used the burner in my PC to watch DVDs). I feel when DVD is at its peak and doing so well, it seems a shame to kill it, many people have only just changed from VHS.
Ben
Has DL failed? I think we can’t tell anything about that yet. DL is one of the next steps in way to more capacity on an OD. For now, it seems to be the best next step from DVD-SL. Though the compatibility doesn’t reach 100% yet (not even close I figure), it’s way more compatible than discs that’ll require entirely new devices. As about all hardware manufacturers make drives that are DL compatible, I think that we just have to wait for the media to become affordable. That may take some time though; SL media has been expensive for quite a long time as well.
I’m willing to give DL a fiar chance. As DVD is becoming what VHS was during the 80’s and 90’s, I think that it’s meant to stay for some time. People are investing in somewhat expensive standalone DVD recorders now. They don’t want to throw out those devices in a year or two and get a blueray recorder… they’ll wait and enjoy their devices…
I dont get DL prices… a DVDr cost what 50p each to make? Why the hell does DL disks cost a fiver each? There only 2 singal on 1 disk… so sudnt they cost £1.00?
\\VH////
It certainly seems that media makers are in no rush to bring down prices on DL media. They seem more interested in 16X SL media. But I have a DL burner so, like it or not, I’m in it for the long haul. However, I’ve had the burner for month’s and have only bought 3 discs, so far, because of the price. 
Thats like saying why does a Ferrari cost 20x more than a Ford Mondeo if it only goes twice as fast, hopefully somebody can explain it better
I don´t think they have failed. Remember when DVD startet, how long it took, to come to break even with VHS.
I mean I was always an early adopter and I will also be with blueray. But normal consumer will wait a while until he accepts the new fomat and buys the new devices.
Btw. DL media is really much cheaper than half a year ago (or when did the start to sell?), see here:
http://www.os-mediatrade.de/index.php?cPath=80_60&osCsid=f90435cdef401f0fd585812da61fb6b9
CU
yes, DL media is too expensive. If it comes down in price, quickly, then there is a chance it’ll catch on. Until they’re cheap, no thanks.
At the moment they have yet to decide weather + or - dvd r’s are going to be the standard and when that happens all the new drives are going to revolve around that if DL lowers its prices before then i think it has a chance but if it doesnt do it soon its gone.
The more people use it (even though it exspensive) the more likely everything new will be able to read it.
From a demand perspective, there are two uses for DVD media: data and movie backups. The price will rule for data and the DL has so far failed due to cost. Most DVD backup users are not yet dissatisfied with SL media and so DL has failed to increase demand; again bcause of price. As well, this is a very small percentage of users.
If it does not increase demand because of solving a problem or competing at a lower price it is a failure. I bought my 3500 for its superior SL writing capabilities. I probably will not write to a DL disc before I wear out the drive.
Let’s keep things in perspective here. DL is a fairly new technology and as such, is more expensive. Prices will come down in time, though I don’t think $5 is a bad price for a DL disk, considering the alternative to backing up your DVD collection is to purchase a second original at full retail price. Additionally, I think many individuals are being mislead into thinking that just because Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD are to be released this next year, that these formats will be inexpensively and readily available. If you thought DL media is hard to find and expensive, just wait until the media for Blu-Ray/HD-DVD become available. I saw on some websites that the prices for this media will be something like $20-$30 per disk. Additionally, these devices will not be readily available at a price that people like us “normal Joe’s” can afford.
Something to think about.
Just my 2 cents…
huh??
If you bitset the media and burn it correctly, every drive I own and player too will read them. I do not see that as the issue. Mainly it is just more costly to produce them, thus the higher prices.