Early adaptors have been waiting for this to happen, the end of the high-definition format war. But, after three years of moderate violence and a blue winner we can now make a solid choice. Some broadcasters have been showing images of 'old' people finally buying HD players, since now they know it's save. Others have lost their faith and have a dead format's player standing in their living room, and in Japan many turn back to the shops to change from HD DVD to Blu-ray. The end of a format war brings some emotions, and the end often creates new dangers for the winner...
In Blu-ray's case this isn't true, the dangers have been there the entire time. But now that HD DVD is dead, they finally have the time to focus on the others: the substitutes. These were waiting at the side line, but now show their power. Consumers can order high-definition movies from cable and satellite operators. You can record high-definition on a digital video recorder like TiVo and download lower quality HD films with Apple's iTunes. Apple's competitor in this, Vudu, makes the resistance even stronger.
The Blu-ray Disc Association won the war because publishers and retailers made a choice for the consumer. Warner left Toshiba's format and started a witch hunt at the beginning of this year. One company after another left HD DVD and many movie publishers followed Warner's example. Retailers followed quickly and mainly Wal-Mart, Best-Buy and some online retailers caused the format to throw in the towel.
Blu-ray's newest competitors will not be that easy to take out, since a publisher cannot be a huge factor in this. Secondly these competitors are different in both concept and product. If a consumer likes to download a movie on iTunes, or even better, order a movie through satellite, then this will cost the format some revenue.
What do you think? Will Blu-ray kick ass once again, or will they have a tough time with these parties?
