Rest in Peace, HD-DVD. Toshiba Says Goodbye to Failed Next-Gen Format
Not only is Toshiba effectively saying “bye bye” to HD-DVDÂ by ceasing its production and distribution of the devices next month, it is jumping on the Blu-Ray bandwagon with the rest of the next-gen format family according to Rotten Tomatoes.
 How do you lose when your name is HD-DVD?
HD-DVD and Blu-Ray duked it out for a while, in a 21st Century version of the VHS v. BetaMax war, but Blu-Ray ended up winning over more studios, early adopters, and well, it also had the very “ok” launch of Playstation 3 helping out as well.
While Blu-Ray won the battle and has now declared victory in the war now that HD-DVD is refusing to answer the bell, I still can’t really see myself ever saying “Man, I bought a bunch of Blu-Rays” last night or “I really want to get that on Blu-Ray.” Is that ever going to happen? Or will we “old-timers” (AKA: Everyone over the age of 12) continue to call them DVDs?
What can we expect? Some more price drops on Blu-Ray players now that there can be some real competition in the market. And I expect a baby bump in Playstation 3 sales from people like me who were waiting to see if Blu-Ray was going to win out in the Next-Gen DVD war. Tax return, when you come, Playstation 3, here I come!
I also expect to see a lot of pissed off XBox 360 owners who bought an HD-DVD add-on, now having to buy a Blu-Ray add-on so that they can still be the coolest kid on the block. There will also be many an eBay auction for the next generation DVD format player
with zero bids and a handful of people who think “Dude, I’m getting this thing WAY below retail! Suckas!” that will make a sad face when they hear about this through the grapevine or on the news seconds after they’ve sent payment to some sketchball via PayPal.
Rest in peace, HD-DVD. We hardly knew you. Join your friends 8-Track, BetaMax, Minidisc, Laserdisc, and more in the “Got ‘Til Its Gone” club (Joni Mitchell never lies).
Argh, I hate HD. I want it to die a quick but painful death and be out of my life. I don’t have a desire to see every pockmark on Richard Belzer’s face during “SVU.” I’m with Dorothy Lucey on that one; there is something to be said for the “magic lens” of airbrushed, polished, gloss that used to be.
But I do love the flat screens