Netflix drops HD DVD...

[mas0n]

...moves exclusively to Blu-ray. (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36001/118/)

[Cyclonite]

Sigh, I know the war is over. It still pains me every time something like this happens, though.

[Sledgehammer70]

It will just make the switch go faster :) thank God it will be over soon :)

[Snarkasm]

Makes me sad the market didn't get a chance to actually decide for itself.

[airbornflght]

Well, if by 'the market' you mean the consumer then no, not really. But in effect the market did choose. Because sellers are just as much a part of the market as buyers. And I guarantee you that if HD-DVD was doing as well as we all had hoped it would all the companies wouldn't be dumping it like yesterday's news.

[Snarkasm]

But HD-DVD isn't doing as well as it should be because all the companies are dumping it prematurely.

And yes, clearly I meant the consumers. In my opinion, the market did not choose our next format, The BDA and Sony did when they paid off or convinced people to put out only Blu-Ray. Add the sunshine-pumping media attack, and nobody really got an option to judge the competitors based on their relative merits.

[Thrax]

Sony paid their way to victory. The market did not choose what the winner should be. If we look at it <i>objectively</i> -- this is very important -- HD-DVD was a technically superior standard and should have won.

[fatcat]

Sony got even for Beta

[TheGr81]

Mourning the loss...

[Leonardo]

It will just make the switch go faster (grin) thank God it will be over soon (grin)Yes, I'm really tired of hearing about this particular, ridiculous standards war.

[Thrax]

Even so, Leo, once we were entrenched in it -- irritating though it was -- it was worth fighting for the proper technology. It was worth fighting because when the dust settled, people are entitled to the very <i>best</i> product, not a mediocre one.

That's the unfortunate outcome. Love or hate the standards war, you and I and anyone who loves HDTV and high-def just got saddled with the technological <i>loser</i>. It would've been like AMD going out of business when they were trying to launch their Athlon 64, leaving us to dick around with the <i>obviously inferior</i> Pentium 4. People would've bitched then.

[Leonardo]

Yes, I agree, but until the last few months, the price to vote (or fight) was prohibitively expensive for the typical tech consumer.

[mas0n]

It's all over folks. (http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=980)

[airbornflght]

Yeh, that pretty much seals the deal.

You can't be too mad at sony. They simply went with widely accepted practices in promoting their product. They had the money to back both an advertising campaign and the clout to get deals with studios and retailers. The PS3 is also a pretty big deal in that there were already blu ray players floating around. Most people that bought one probably bought it for the video games. But since the BD player was included they started buying BD movies just because. Sony played the game better. I liked HD-DVD better, but no matter how much I bitch and moan it won't change the situation. I thought they were both decent standards from the beginning so it isn't terribly upsetting for me.

[Leonardo]

I think you summed it up simply and succinctly.