Has Blu-ray won? HD-DVD R.I.P.? (and souvenir potpourri 2)

It's IT Blogwatch: in which it looks like the HD disc format wars are over, with Blu-ray the victor. Not to mention more souvenir potpourri...

Franklin Paul reports the final nail in the coffin:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to exclusively sell high-definition DVDs in the Blu-ray format, dealing what could be a crippling blow to the rival HD-DVD technology backed by Toshiba Corp. The move by the world's largest retailer, announced Friday, caps a disappointing week for HD-DVD supporters, who also saw consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co. and online video rental company Netflix Inc. defect to the Blu-ray camp. [more]

Ken Fisher is already writing the obituary:

On Friday, rumor spread fast that Toshiba was about to bail on HD DVD, following a string of unhappy news ... in the past two days sources have come out of the woodwork ... [saying] that the HD DVD machine is grinding quickly to a halt ... our source tells us that exit plans for HD DVD were already in the works before the Netflix announcement this past week ... [but] Toshiba and its partners are concerned to show that they have plans that can minimize the financial damage resulting from the shutdown ... An announcement could come as early as Tuesday. [more]

Here's Dean Takahashi, with a perspective:

Blu-ray has won. That’s what everybody is saying ... I find it interesting how this all unfolded. Toshiba backed HD-DVD. Sony backed Blu-ray and put it in the PlayStation 3. The movie studios were split. But Blockbuster moved first and said that Blu-ray was outselling HD-DVD movies, most likely thanks to PS 3 sales growth. Then Warner Bros. announced in January that it would stop making HD-DVD movies and focus exclusively on Blu-ray ... if Toshiba pulls out, a lot of consumers may finally get off the fence and go with Blu-ray. [more]

Triston McIntyre bids adieu:

There’s nothing quite as unpleasant as monitoring the death rattles of a dying technology; HD-DVD has been bed-ridden with a severe case of inadequacy for a while now. Apparently its time to put the old dog to rest ... [and] there’s that little-known competition between Microsoft and Sony in the next-gen console war. Blu-Ray players in PS3s have squelched any competition from the add-on HD-DVD player that is available for the Xbox 360. [more]

But Paul Glazowski doesn't care:

Blu-Ray ... will see its life cycle shorted due to the parallel rise of high-quality digital video downloads, and thus may not offer Sony the quantitative returns necessary to make its investments worthwhile. Which ... is an especially bitter pill for Sony to have to swallow ... digital downloads are likely to proliferate widely in the coming seasons, courtesy of new developments by designers like Apple and Netflix ... downloads will grow in relevance as the allure of a shift from tangible media to the near-immediate convenience of movie downloads for consumer will be difficult to resist. [more]

MG Siegler replies, "Not so fast":

A combination of factors will help Blu-ray be a success over digital downloads for the foreseeable future ... while the digital movie rental services by Apple and Microsoft are very good - they are far from great ... you really can't call this stuff 'HD' content - it is simply not ... While most of the time it was better than regular DVD quality on my HD TV - it was just barely better. Other times, especially during dark scenes, it was noticeably worse than DVD ... [Not] to say that digital distribution won't eventually kill Blu-ray and DVD just as in the music industry it is killing the CD - eventually it will. [more]

John Haller grumbles:

Unfortunately, Blu-Ray is far from ready for general consumer adoption. Profile 2.0 players, the players that actually do everything they are supposed to (and everything that even low-end HD DVD players did), are few and far between ... [and] pretty much universally suck ... Pirates of the Caribbean and Ratatouille take a full 2 minutes just to load on most standalone players ... Sure, I may buy into Blu-Ray eventually. But it looks like it's gonna be a while before it's capable of doing what it should.. [more]

Meanwhile, Conspiracy_Of_Doves knows the true reason:

Am I the only one who doesn't give a damn one way or the other? ... At least Blu-Ray rolls off the tounge easier. And yes, I'm convinced that's at least part of the reason it won. [more]

And finally...

• Souvenir Potpourri 2
  

Buffer overflow:

• John R. Levine: Dot travel continues to head down the tubes
• Justin Mason: A historical DailyWTF moment
• Joel Spolsky : TripIt is awesome
• Larry Osterman: Nifty Win32 tricks: Casting from one interface to another
• Ionut Alex Chitu: Gmail's Humble Beginning

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Eric Lai: Latest Cloudbook availability details
• Eric Lai: Fine print on Starbucks Wi-Fi: buy something every 30 days
• Eric Lai: CloudBook here, but too soon?
• Jaikumar Vijayan: The laptop repair that triggered a sex scandal
• Martin MC Brown: Elgato Systems Turbo 264
• Larry Medina: Continuing the myth that backups and archiving = records management
• Robert L. Mitchell: Why fuel cells can't get started
• Michael R. Farnum: Microsoft exec surprised at XP hack
• David DeJean: Is Microsoft learning how to play the game?
• Preston Gralla: Will Windows 7 track your every move?
• Mark Hall: SaaS: No recession here either
• Douglas Schweitzer: Federal agencies score a good deal on encryption technology
• Shark Tank: Have we forgotten anything?
• Shark Bait: They don't need the internet at night ...

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• SCO zombies climb out of grave (and virtualize-or-die)
• Apple MacBook Air left for dead by rivals? (and OTT-cop)
• Intel antitrust raid in Germany (and Mathieu's book)