[CopyCat]

Originally Posted by aperio

HD Dvd is dead in the water... Blu-Ray will have a limited life span like everything else. As I've stated before I am absolutely anticipating the day when all media is either a) downloaded directly to a storage device or b) all handled along the lines of on demand (but more like you buy a "lifetime" (so to speak) license to stream media directly to whatever device).

It still amazes me that we are actually purchasing physical media and using stand alone dvd players... that just still seems so outdated to me. I give blu-ray maybe a 8-10 year lifespan before the next great thing comes out and takes over? Anyone know how long ago DVDs 'officially' overtook VHS media? I'm starting to lose track but am guessing it was about 8 or 9 years ago now?

I think your being very optimistic thinking that blu-ray will be around for another 8 to 10 years...
The next technologys are right around the corner, like HVD or Holographic Versatile Disc...
As I understand it, a consortium called Japan's Optware which includes Fuji Film and a number
of others are getting close to having this thing worked out and about ready to run... A HVD disc could
hold as much data as 200 standard DVDs (that's 1 Terrebyte) and it transfers data 40 times
faster than the present speed... There's also 3D optical data storage — one of the next-generation
technology expected to provide TB-capacity discs... Then there's LS-R — a "layer selection"
technology allowing the stacking of very large numbers of DVD-like data layers in a single disc
and there are many more...
There is just so much new technology out there right now that the industry can't keep up...
Its to the point now that its not what is out there, its how long is it going to
take for it to trickle down to us the consumer...