Why HD-DVDs make me feel old

For those of you who luckily aren't as geeky as I am and who haven't been tracking the story, yesterday Blu-ray finally won the high definition battle.

To summarize: It used to be that home theatre enthusiasts would have to choose between two different technologies when buying high-quality DVDs and DVD players: HD-DVDs (produced by Toshiba) and Blu-ray Discs (produced by Sony).

Both technologies are incredible in terms of image and sound. They're also completely incompatible with each other, as well as with "first generation DVD players" (like mine). It was a competition from the start.

At first it seemed to be pretty fair game. Then slowly, movie studios and retailers began choosing sides. Universal Studios, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Brothers (just to name a few) jumped on the Blu-ray bandwagon. Blockbuster and Wal-Mart followed, with their respective decisions to sell Blu-ray DVDs and players exclusively.

With a monopoly on movie titles and retail support, Blu-ray emerged victorious. Toshiba announced just yesterday that it is pulling the plug on HD-DVD production and marketing. HD-DVDs are now obsolete.

Yikes. It's alarming – and not because 1 million people are now stuck with outdated players. It's alarming because, well... technological obsoletism is a "parents" thing, not a "my generation" thing.

You know what I mean – struggling with a new computer or a new car stereo is usually an open invitation for our parents to talk about how VHS wiped the floor with Betamax, or how the introduction of cassettes stomped out the 8-Track.

Now we have one of those, too! HD-DVDs are our 8-Track!
8-Track!

I guess that even tech history repeats itself sometimes.

Larissa

P.S. Wrinkles. I swear I'm getting wrinkles.

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