I posted just a few days ago comparing the current next generation DVD wars with the Beta versus VHS wars a couple decades ago.

Well a big development in the story was just announced today and it is not good news. The two sides, Blu-ray and HD-DVD have not been able to reach a compromise and agree on a standard format, so both sides will be going ahead with their holiday production plans soon.

This is bad for you because having both formats on the market will slow the adoption of the new technology. (I am not going to buy a new player until I know which one is going to end up being the new standard.)

The DVD format took off very quickly because everyone in the industry agreed on one format. I forget the exact number but the number of DVD players was outselling the number of VCR players after just a few years of being introduced. That kind of cooperation also drops prices very quickly for the consumer.