Yvette's Inner Geek Blog: High-def Capitalism

The HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format war is on. I didn't really care about it until we got a monster of tv with HD capabilities... and it still was a "maybe someday" luxury in the back of my mind at that point.

Then we got a three-month trial deal for HDTV. OMFG.

Granted, there are only a handful of channels that actually broadcast in HD, and Ben and I have never been huge watchers of the television. We go in spurts (like watching Heroes in drippingly detailed loveliness, and I'm just trying to not think about it until new episodes return on April 23). Last week we signed up for the free two-week trial of Blockbuster's Total Access, their answer to Netflix. They offer some HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs in the plan.

What's a geek to do? History is repeating itself and it's VHS vs. Betamax. It's the freakin' Marvel Civil War, and I'm a freakin' Switzerland who wants to be involved but finding little solace in neutrality. I want to involve myself, but I don't want to choose a side that will end up losing. I remember going to the Perry Public Library around 1986 when they had a small movie selection with both VHS and Beta. My family had just purchased a VHS player and every time we went to the library, I pined for a Beta player so that we could borrow Mary Poppins. Don't worry, I saw it eventually. But what a scarring memory, you know?

So I'm glad that capitalism is stepping in before this thing gets out of hand. HP and LG have both announced DVD players that will work with both formats. They're still in production, though, and I'll probably wait to purchase one until they come down in price and get some of the kinks worked out.

What have we learned from all of this? At least Sony didn't start out this war with a name like Beta, which was clearly destined for second place. Maybe this time they'll pull through.

I'd still prefer a Wii to a PS3, though. And I'd prefer not to wait any longer... but I am. Stupid non-discounted bundles with games I don't really want that are making me wait until I can find one a la carte.