Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

It looks like March is the month that we can start planning to see the next "big thing" in home theater: the high-definition DVD. According to this article, look for titles such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mission Impossible and T2 to be released early on.

Still there is no consensus on which of the two major formats is likely to emerge as the standard. Both HD DVD and Blu-Ray are still being independently developed. I do think I have found a solution to the problem, though.

My first attempt to determine which format to purchase was to use the magic eight ball. I asked the following questions and received the answers indicated:

Will Blu-Ray win? It Is Decidedly So
Will HD DVD win? Yes

This was a bit discouraging, so I decided to ask a more direct question, "Should I choose HD DVD or Blu-Ray?" To this question, I received the response, "Cannot Predict Now," which I assume to mean that the magic eight ball is also still wrestling with the thoughts of having to re-purchase all his favorite movies again in any new format.

After contemplating the problem for a bit longer, I do believe I have found the solution. You see, back in the early days of VHS, we had a similar decision to make between VHS and Sony Beta. My grandma was sold on the Beta format. It was obviously the wrong choice. So, I'll just wait to see what my grandma buys this time around and I'll get the other one. As soon as that happens, I'll let you know.

Love you, grandma!