HD-DVD Turning Blue from Blu-Ray
February 11th, 2008
According to Reuters (in this article), Netflix has decided to stock only Blu-Ray movies. This is just the latest nail in the HD-DVD camp. Earlier this year Warner decided to jump ship from HD-DVD to the Blu-Ray camp.
This announcement shifted momentum towards an unstoppable course. We reported and this shift back on 4 Jan 08.
Here is what Reuters said:
Online video rental company Netflix Inc said on Monday it would exclusively stock Blu-ray high-definition DVDs after a decision by some the world’s biggest movie studios in favor of the Sony Corp developed format.
Netflix said that with such a clear signal from the industry, it will only buy Blu-ray discs going forward and will phase out stock of HD DVD by about the end of the year.
Feb 11, 2008 - Reuters
Clearly the writing has been on the wall for HD-DVD. The question is, what is the future of Blu-Ray? Apple has supported Blu-Ray publicly. However, they are also pushing for direct download with the AppleTV and iTunes (both for purchase and rental).
My thoughts? While direct-download will ultimately win, at least for the next few years, I think Blu-Ray will become the standard. People like to have a physical disc that they “own” and can sit on a shelf.
Do we need that piece of plastic on a shelf? In the end, no. After all, we’ve been taking pictures for years using nothing but compact flash and SD cards. Which brings us to a future article I am working on: data backup.
Categories: Distribution, News, Technology |
