Blu-Ray Won the Fight, but Not the War

Blu-Ray has vanquished rival HD DVD, and has won the title of lone survivor of the high definition optical disc war. The good news for consumers is, this format switch will not require us to replace our entire video collections like we did when VHS died. Blu-Ray players also play standard DVDs (but not HD DVDs, alas).

It's likely that this will be the very last tangible format switch we will have to endure, as it pertains to videos. As many people are already doing with music (goodbye CDs), video will very likely soon be primarily downloaded via the internet, the cable company, or some combination of the two.

For people who like something to collect, this is bittersweet news. Once we had vinyl LPs with glorious cover art, and sometimes gatefold covers. They were supplanted by cassettes, which shrank the art into insignificance. CDs reversed the trend slightly, being a little larger than cassettes. With movies, we started with LaserDiscs, also a huge 12" wide, with wonderful artwork. The Beta and VHS movies always looked clunky and junky, and wore very easily, then the DVD came along, usually with plastic protectors around the artwork. But all along the way, we had something to hold on to, a tangible thing we paid money for. We still will with Blu-Ray, but how long will it last?

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Digital downloads will be Blu-ray's downfall

With the fall of HD DVD, Blu-ray has assumed the throne as the next format of choice, but its reign will be short-lived.

Blu-ray won't enjoy the same decade-long dominance DVD did after it succeeded VHS. But that's not because there will be other challenger physical disc formats. Rather, instead of buying discs from Amazon, Best Buy or Wal-Mart, people will begin getting their entertainment in the form of digital downloads in larger volumes.

The studios backing Blu-ray already know this. . .

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