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No.234 オリジナル英文

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Washington State Manufacturer Embraces Blu-Ray Technology
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Last year, Erick Hansen of Blu-ray Technologies set up an independent plant in Spokane, Washington, to manufacture disks in two high definition formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD encode data on high-density disks using a violet-blue laser.

But Hansen says Blu-ray disks hold more information, and retrieve it faster.

"We have an analogy that we use at our facility.

We basically say, if you're a banker and you can get your money faster to a client without loss, without any problems, you're basically going to win the loan war.

That's what Blu-ray does and that's what it did, and that's why anybody that really actually understood the technology knew that Blu-ray would be the winner in the end."

Hansen was a pioneer in the DVD business, and still produces DVDs and compact disks.

In the 1990s, he manufactured them outside Los Angeles, but says costs were high, so in 2006 he chose the city of Spokane in Washington State for his new plant.

Costs are much lower there for electrical power and workers' compensation insurance, which covers employees injured on the job.

He also keeps his expenses down by working with the environment and not against it.

The disk-molding machines generate heat, which he says he puts to use.

"We take that excess heat, redirect it to back up into the first, second and third floors of the building, it's a four story building, and heat the rest of our building with the waste energy that we create."

He says new technologies are creating business opportunities for entrepreneurs like him.

And he says as American companies learn to keep their costs down, they can manufacture at home, instead of outsourcing to countries like China.

Manufacturers of Blu-ray disks and equipment must still persuade consumers to invest in high definition television sets and video players.

That battle continues, while new technology such as high-speed digital downloads over the Internet may make even Blu-ray disks obsolete someday.

Mike O'Sullivan, VOA News, Los Angeles
by danueno | 2008-03-19 15:13 | オリジナル英文


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