As you might have noticed the consumer electronics world is eagerly awaiting the mass introduction (probably later this year – Sony already ships some devices) of the successor of the DVD. But the problem is that the ‘powers that be’ can not decide among each other which format should be leading (unlike with the DVD). The consumer is off course the one to suffer. Off course I was happy when some manufacturers announced they would produce some models that would play both formats. So I decided that when the time will come, I will play it safe and get one of those. But off course I forgot that companies are just out there to screw us consumers over. As such they decided to make sure that in licensing their technology it is forbidden to combine either technology in a machine with the other. Because of this all plans for such devices have been dropped and this will force the consumer to choose between either formats. Great. My MP3 player plays .WMA, MP3, OGG Vorbis etc. etc. but my next-gen DVD won’t be allowed to play more than one format? That is some bullshit.
All I know is that this decision will put a brake on everything because consumers do not like to choose the loosing format (my prediction btw: I think Blu-Ray will win). So unlike the DVD I do not see consumers adopt the next-gen format soon. Too bad for the companies: it is their loss!