Although I can attest that Blu-Ray looks and sounds fantastic when paired with a proper setup, I think Sony was a little short-sighted when it came to fighting the format war. Their fatal flaw seems to be that they believed their sole opponent was HD-DVD, the other physical media-based HD format.

In fact, it's probable that the true winner of the HD format war was the cloud. Most people still don't have Blu-Ray players, and most people will never get them because they can get decent HD content streamed from a variety of sources online, instantly.

HD is a prime example of the law of diminishing returns. There is a point at which most people decide that it looks good enough, and convenience trumps quality beyond that level. Instant access to movies via download from netflix or another channel with HD that is sub-par to Blu-Ray wins in most cases, even with people I know who actually HAVE a Blu-Ray player. As bandwidth increases with the advent of fiber to the curb and other advances in broadband technology, we'll undoubted have the option to stream full 1080p at some point in the not-too-distant future, and that prospect is the death of Blu-Ray.

Also of note: All of the friends I have who committed to this format are a. male, b. self-described audiophiles and c. only have it because they bought a PS3. Sooo....Sony FTW in a battle of negligible importance against Toshiba, and Sony FTL in understanding the marketplace and serving the a broader audience.

I've a feeling DVDs will continue to be the standard until physical media dies out entirely because they are cheap to produce and the audience for them is greater. If that trend holds true, then the extra features that make Blu-Ray special may start to dwindle, and although the head will likely continue to be made available on this format, the long tail may not be worth the cost of production.

I never got past VHS, so obviously I have some catching up to do.

Blue Ray? More like death ray! It has become the industry standard having won the standards battle against HDVD. It would be nice to see a sponsorship by the blue-man group. The discs are also fun to throw like frisbees, but may be dangerous so beware.

Ooo, the winner of the HD format war. I'm still not entirely stiff about it...