Some suppliers might like format wars, at least to the extent it allows them to gain some business advantage in licensing streams. Consumers generally lose when they buy devices and software built around the losing standard.
Just days ago Warner Bros. threw its weight behind the Blu-ray standard. Now Daily Variety says Universal's commitment to backing HD DVD exclusively also has ended.
Paramount, one of the few remaining majors to release content in the rival HD DVD format, apparently has an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release content on Blu-ray now that Warner Bros. has decided to back that format exclusively.
Retailers such as Best Buy and Blockbuster Video now will contribute to the Blu-ray trend. If retailers think Blu-ray is the future, they aren't likely to devote much shelf space to HD DVD players or content.
Even Apple will be shipping Macs with Blu-ray drives. So the good news for buyers of DVD players is that it is just about drop-dead safe to go buy a high-definition player.
You can do your own survey. Visit a Blockbuster and compare the space devoted to content in Blu-ray rather than HD DVD.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Almost Safe for Consumers to Buy HD DVDs
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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