Two great forces battling it out for market share, and then one side implodes as independents choose sides. Ultimately, even the biggest backers of the losing side has to acknowledge defeat and pull the plug.
Republicans vs Democrats? The migration of independent voters away from the GOP well, yes that too, but I was actually referring to Blu-ray vs HD-DVD. In some ways it's a parable of sorts.
It all started to go sour for HD-DVD when several big name studios jumped ship, but this past week the big death knell came with news that Netflix was going Blu exclusive. And, Best Buy was going to focus on Blu as well (though HD-DVD would still have some shelving space). Now it seems that Toshiba itself is pulling the plug.
So where does that leave you if you have a HD-DVD player? Well, congratulate yourself, you have a fantastic upscaling DVD player to watch your existing library of regular DVDs on your new HDTV. (If you don't have an HDTV, why did you buy any nextgen DVD format player anyway?)
But actually the pending doom of HDTV is also an opportunity of sorts. If you're like me and you haven't yet bought an HDTV (don't forget to get your digital converter box coupon, btw), then you might consider buying a HD-DVD unit anyway. The prices are low - and getting lower. it's going to be a firesale on the hardware, and offers for free HD-DVD discs galore bundled along. You gain a great DVD player for now and are all set for when you go HDTV later.
What about actually playing Blu-ray though? Well, fear not. Turns out that the PS3 is cheaper, and a better player overall, than most standalones.
All I really care about is watching LOTR anyway.