Microsoft waiting for more 3D adoption before joining the race

Your post was not the truth. I understand your reasoning behind what you say but that is not reality. The reality is that brand new tech comes out at very high prices and gradually drops down to be more affordable for the average consumer. It has been this way for generations and will continue to be this way.

The business strategy you speak of is actually wrong. They work the rich first, then work their way down to maximize profits. You don't just aim at dead center. There is no product line that I know that hadn't start at a high price. I can bet you that the very first consumer microwaves were only afforded to the rich.

Believe what you want and downvote all you want but that will not change reality.

@3dpenguin

The technology to make an LCD or Plasma TV 3D ready is not all that expensive. Just have the TV set be capable of a 120 Hz refresh rate, have it accept a 120 Hz signal, and have it be capable of syncing with the shuttered glasses . This is a technology that has been maturing in the PC market for a decade. Now that the 3D Blu-Ray standard has been finalized, and there are a bunch of 3D movies out there, I believe that In a couple of years almost every TV on the market (other than the lowest end stuff) will be sold 3D Ready, and many will throw in a couple of pairs of glasses for free. As the older TVs get replaced, 3D will automatically see more market penetration, just like Color TVs eventually replaced Black and White, and HDTV flat panels replaced older SD CRTs. If you buy 3D TV, nobody is initially going to force you select the 3D version of the movie on the same Blu-Ray discs, but over time you will be in the minority.

And your theory balances on 3 things...

1) Companies will release syncing technology for 3D on TVs already supporting 120ghz, not likely to happen, the companies who could do this want to sell TVs.

2) People will accept 3D, people accepted Color and HD once the price was reasonable, but the fact is 3D has come and gone and come again in theaters because people like fads, but fads fade fast because people lose interest in them, and in the case of the resurgent fad the costs are going up for the tickets, TV is not the same as theater, people are not going to plunk down hundreds of dollars for something that they wont get much use out of, and studios are likely not going to support it for 100% of their programing and releases, the product is just too costly.

3) Blu-ray 3D is going to survive, right now Blu-ray has less than a 25% margin adoption rate and isn't increasing very quickly, Blu-ray 3D depends on Blu-ray gaining ground over the next few years and catching up to DVD, which isn't likely going to happen with so many other options for getting movies now, and more coming out every day. Also, considering the fact that Blu-ray Standards are a joke and constantly changing I wouldn't put much of a validity in the quality you can expect from the 3D format.

3D isn't going to catch on with the current technology, people just aren't willing to spend that much money on it. All the equipment that supports it requires that you own a 3D Ready TV, which means the TV has the sync technology built in, these TVs come with 1 pair of flicker/shutter RGB glasses which requires AA Batteries, additional pairs can be bought and they have to be bought for the TV brand you have, and you're looking at $150-$200 a pair. Then you have to buy devices which will output the 3D format. The costs build up for something you aren't going to use on a regular basis. This is also ignoring the formatting they use which is crap in comparison to what can be done with the shutter glasses, its done this way because they are too cheap to use faster shutter speeds so that you don't get frame bleed.

@kenny goo You don't need an "HDMI 1.4" output to do 3D. The 360 as it is can do "true stereoscopic 3D."

I wasn't implying that electronics companies will release updates to old 120 Hz TVs. That will never happen, because there is no money to be made there. What they will do however is make every model in their lineup 3D ready. Right now only the top end models are offering this, but over time features always creep downwards. And 3D Ready is not that expensive for them to implement, and adds another bullet point to the TV making someone think about upgrading. Happened recently with Full HD, and 120 Hz. No reason why 3D Ready will be an exception to this. Once almost all mainstream TVs are 3D ready, everyone will be buying a 3D TV, no additional cost involved, and no choice given. After that it is very enticing to get a $150 pair of glasses to get the most out of your shiny new TV. People have paid $100 for HDMI cables in the past, why should 3D glasses be an exception. And like it or not, Blu Ray is here to stay. Streamed movie quality sucks at current download speeds, and most people prefer owning something they paid for rather than having it be gone. Cable and satellite companies will also likely jump on board and make their set top boxes 3D capable, as there are broadcasts of events like Superbowl that are going to be made in 3D. So over time 3D will slowly start to increase. You may think it to be a fad, but movie ticket sales speak for themselves, and everyone is eager to add this feature to their content, since it does not take anything away from anyone else. I am not going to run out and replace all my equipment, just to get 3D, but when my TV breaks, I will most likely be choosing a 3D ready model over one that is incapable of it.

And a few more things. If 3D is a gimmick and adds nothing new, why is it that movie companies have been trying to implement it for 60 years? I do believe that 3D displays are eventually going to replace 2D displays. The inner geek in me would actually prefer that instead of shuttered glasses, we have emergence of two discreet small screens incorporated in a headset to have a true stereoscopic display without frame bleed. You just feed the 3D signal to it via a wireless connection, and you are good to go. Then there would be no replace the big screen TV to get 3D. I hope someone comes up with this.