Sony gets their 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray discs out the door

[Maintank]

I was going to say, HD-DVDs should have a lower price point. The market typically takes care of this kind of situation. If Sony cant get Blu Ray to a price point that is competitive with HD-DVD, I will be surprised if it becomes the medium of choice for HD content.

 

[RobertR1]

Unfotrunately what you can't figure out is that the earlier optical media didn't have flash and portable HDD's to compete with from a pricing standpoint. It'll be a while before BD50 and HD30 re-writeable media and drives come down to DVD-RW price level. Flash and HDD's will continue to fall during this time also and increase in capacity.

We'll all be here to see how it unfolds. The enthusiasts who really care about burning shows are shifting to HTPC's. As they become more popular and easier to use, you'll see an even greater shift away from needing to burn. Will there be a niche? always and that's really who you're seeing fighting for it. Most people simply do not care.

 

[DemoCoder]

The reason why HDD doesn't replace DVD-ROM is because HDDs aren't portable and you don't go and buy an HDD, "burn" data to it, and then mail it to a friend. I have well over a terabyte of RAID storage on my home network, but it does me no good when I need to send 5gb to data to a friend.

Likewise, you're not going to see HDD's packaged in jewel cases for software at Best Buy.

HDD prices, no matter how low compared to packaged media, will never be a replacement for them.

Only broadband+HDD+widespread software delivery over network could replace packaged media.