Blu-ray and HD-DVD are both Dead On Arrival?
Sean Cooper has written an interesting article about the budding new High Definition optical disc formats. He points out very valid arguments why both, HD-DVD and Blu-ray, are doomed to fail. Could it be that we are about to get rid of physical formats all together, and replace them with electronically delivered solutions. The new Xbox Live Movie Rental offers HD material delivered via the Internet and Comcast has already introduced a cable on-demand solution that offers HD video. While Cooper has some valid points, he forgets one thing - the disc is portable and archivable.
The movie studios and electronics manufacturers think—wrongly—these new high-def formats will extend the market for home-entertainment media indefinitely. Both formats will fail, not because consumers are wary of a format war in which they could back the losing team, a la Betamax. Universal players that support both flavors of HD should appear early next year. No, the new formats are doomed because shiny little discs will soon be history. Here are four reasons why.
Internet
Cable on-demand
New formats mean pricey hardware
The rise of the hard drive
Read the article: Slate.com
