The Format War Ends... maybe

So the big news today is that HD-DVD is dead; Blu-Ray won.

While this certainly seems reasonable, I can't help but think of the line in the Zohan Trailer: "They've been fighting for 2000 years; it can't be much longer." I'm thankful that there hasn't been such a battle in the HD world. I'm very happy that, given a little time, even HDV (which is really cool, albeit a pain to work with) is supported by just about everyone.

The quick lesson from this war is that buying new technology is not only expensive, it is also a risk. Think back, if you can, to the days of Lazerdiscs. One of my friends, who seemed to always have the cutting edge of technology, got one. It was wicked cool and very reminiscent of vinyl records, with a need to physically turn them over and everything. No more rewinding, incredible picture, and new and shiny.

Awesome.

...until someone figured out how to do that on a disk the size of a CD. Once DVDs came into being, the Lazerdisc disappeared. A big financial sink for those who jumped on the latest. But, hey, for the few months before DVDs appeared (was it longer than that? Sure didn't feel like it), my friend had the best looking, coolest movies around. That had to have been worth at least a few thousand bucks.

~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor