browngeek

A few months ago, I was toying with the idea of getting a PS3. Not for its great gaming prowess - my short gaming life was over a while ago (I played the Halo Series, and nothing else) - but for its Blu-Ray player. The PS3 is the best Blu-Ray player on the market for its price (sub $400). Which brings us to the question of who won the HD format wars - Blu-Ray or HD-DVD?

I certainly think that Blu-Ray has a huge lead already, with six of the eight big studios endorsing it. The other two however are HD-DVD exclusive. There are rumors that Apple will announce at the Macworld that the Macs are joining the Blu-Ray camp and that Micro$oft will announce an HD-DVD integrated XBox soon. And there are many other such news that show that, though Blu-Ray has an advantage, the HD format war is far from over.

In fact, it may *never* be over.

And that brings us to the question, should we, the consumers, really care who wins? The more I think about it the more I believe that both these formats are DOA. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are largely only formats to store large files (pun intended). Nothing revolutionary.

The point here is that from VHS to DVD, it was a giant step forward (analog to digital, bigger storage, easy navigation, no need to rewind tapes). From DVD to Blu-Ray/HD-DVD its only a small step (bigger storage). Again, I’m only talking about the media storage and delivery aspects. The high-definition format is definitely here to stay (If you don’t have a HD TV, you suck). But not the above two forms of storage and delivery. The winner of the HD format wars is going to be…ta-da..On-Demand Delivery.

Why? Because from DVD to On-Demand delivery it is a giant step forward (instant delivery, browse and search, no scratched disks, instant gratification). The cable providers already have a huge selection of HD movies and shows available on-demand that are downloaded instantly to your DVR. Some of them (Dish Network, TiVo) allow you to connect to the internet and pick from an even larger collection. And, of course, there is Apple TV that hooks to the iTunes collection (where soon you should be able to rent HD movies). Speaking of renting, Netflix is already offering on-demand movies and soon BlockBuster and others will follow suit. This means no more rental queues, no more lost mail, no more driving to pick movies. Instant gratification, and environment-friendly too!

So, while Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will still be fighting and continue to have their own markets, its the On-Demand delivery that is going to become mainstream.

As for my plans of buying the PS3 - only if the Halo Series moves to Blu-Ray format. Ha!