Blu-Ray Wins, Who Cares... And Hockey?

I don't have High Definition, yet. But I never concerned myself with who would win out in the DVD battle. So Blu-Ray (Sony) is the victor, so what. I see a major difference between this revolution and the VHS/Beta war; the real front is in downloadable media. I have a Zune (Microsoft) and the rest of the world has their Ipod and none of us are missing our CD collections. Remember the weeks you spent clearing the shelves, album by album, ripping all of your music into your hard drive. Now that shelf has been emptied, and you can walk through your hallway without turning your laundry basket sideways. It's all right there in the palm of your hand, or in the back of a closet (I should really try to pawn those things before the market is extinct). Now look over there by the TV. A stack of DVD's. Have you noticed the instability in the real estate market. Why upgrade your house and your interest rate when you can move out all of that clunky packaging. A second, or third, hard drive sure doesn't take up much room. So enjoy it, Blu-Ray, your time in the sun is short.

Downloads are almost all I buy anymore. Ownership is a prison, freedom is no possessions (strange, but I passed on the opportunity to download John Lennon's Imagine). Maybe I'm just getting old and not as easily seduced by the slick marketing campaigns. Maybe I'm just running low on cash in this recessed economy. Still I would much rather buy a new washer and dryer than add to a soon to be obsolete movie library.

I heard that during the writer's strike, when reality shows caught their second wind, that Internet/downloadable media reached it's highest penetration to date. No one is suggesting that John Q. Public would rather watch pug bowling on youtube over an episode of The Office, but you can download any episode of The Office. The television is still king of media and is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. But I have to tell you that pug bowling does make for good viewing while matching socks.

The Low-Def T.V. is headed out, but, fortunately the HD market is mostly standardized in the U.S. LCD, plasma, DLP, it's all compatible with one signal. Any market can divide at any time, but this one appears pretty stable. Besides, there isn't any push to decide on that T.V. for almost a full year, the standard definition signal will face the final test pattern on February 17, 2009. This works out really well for me. While the rest of the world is fighting over Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and the future of downloading... I still have laundry to do. Do you have any idea what the market for washers and dryers is like right now, well I do. If you think digital is confusing, start checking out consumer reports for front loader vs. top loader washers. Were you aware that there are topload DRYERS? High efficiency detergents, drum bellows seals, washing times, washers and dryers that communicate with each other (seriously)... Hey, I'm sorry. Don't walk away. No really, HD man, that is some cool stuff, yeah... Hockey looks good in HD. Eh?

Predictions:

Puckers 4, Snipers 3

Komets 1, Spiders 3

Stickmen 4, Gravediggers 1 (no shut-out Dave)

Warriors 2, Blue Devils 3

Iceholes 1, Patriots 3

Brewzers 1, ATM 6

Take some inspiration, score some goals, have some fun.

bcIII