Can the consumer win in the format war?

For Christmas this year I received an XBox 360 HD DVD Player to go along with my 360, before this gift I'd only taken a passing interest in the format war. Not quite sure what this war is? Well, with more important wars being fought I can understand how you would miss this one. The format war is the battle between HD DVD and Blu-Ray for supremacy in the next generation high-def disc market.

So, after receiving my new HD DVD player I thought I better see if HD DVDs would be around long enough for me to use it. After doing an afternoon of web surfing I had found many articles stating HD DVD was the way to go, but nearly as many articles stating Blu-Ray was king. However, it looked as though HD DVD had a big foothold on taking the crown. Well, they may have won the war for 2006, but for 2007 Blu-Ray is now on the verge of taking over.

Still, no matter what format "wins" does this really mean anything good for the consumer? Probably not. The last time a format was so hyped it was between beta and VHS, and we all know VHS won and held on for over 20 years. Since then, it's gone from VHS, to Laser Disc, to DVD, to who knows. With so much turnover in media formats why should anyone put faith in it being around for more than a year? Especially with new players costing over $600, and most previously purchsed HDTVs won't even give you the full benefit of the format, but that issue is for another day.

So, no matter which format wins in this battle the consumer loses. Sure, we'll get better resolution, sound and features with our High Def dvds, but we'll pay through the nose for it. And, we'll have to pay all over again about two years from now when the next next-gen format comes out.