Well, you don't have to choose between 5-800 dollar comic book readers of incompatible formats either?

I think it's a pretty interesting issue, and I think it boils down to price. What we have now with the internet, or as my 10th grade biology teacher would have said "the world-wide interweb", is a democritization of resources. When it comes to entertainment,especially entertainment in the home, people look for the cheapest option. There's really only a small percentage of people, probably including most of us, that care whether or not they watch movies in HD-DVD or not. The people that do care whether or not they watch a movie in HD-DVD are probably the same people that will buy HD-DVD's. If there's a big disparity in price between hi-def and HD-DVD, it probably will not catch on. But that's just my opinion...

If there's a big disparity in price between hi-def and HD-DVD, it probably will not catch on. But that's just my opinion...

However, if people were purely price sensitive, VHS would outsell DVD. I suspect people also care about things that as of yet are not available with downloads. Chapter menus, decent sound, 5-6.1, extra features, flexible usage ability, lack of planned obsolescence, a way for the average person to watch in the living room, etc. Add that to the fact that downloads don't really cost less unless they cost 100% less, (We'll make no assumptions about Andrew's mentioned media trove) and there will need to be SERIOUS change in download movies.

I dunno, I think the article is right, just overstated. I think the incredibly fast rise in online music sales pokes a hole in your "people want to own the object" theory. And remember, that's a much more established habit: people have been physically owning music recordings for more than 100 years, but owning movies only became possible 25 years ago and only became common with our generation (say, people 35 and under). Part of the reason was the trifecta Apple hit with the iPod - a cool looking device, easy/practical to use, and an very easy and very complete content provider in iTunes.
I was talking about the article at dinner with some buddies last night, and my argument is that it all comes down to speed of adoption: my friend who works in the home-theater industry figures it will take about 2-3 years for really widespread adoption of HD-DVD/BluRay players. If it becomes easy and cheap to download HD movies first (either through a set-top box or to your computer with an easy connection to your good TV), the new discs will go the way of Sony's MiniDisc experiment.

You kids and your new fancy technology. Back in my days, we have picture shows at the playhouse. We go to socialize instead of being holed up at the house like y'all do now. It would have news and cartoons before it.

I can't see or hear very well, so all this hi-def means nothing to me.

Maybe if they can get Matlock on hi-def...

Maaaatlockkkkkk!

Chapter menus...

Ah yes...easy navigation was actually what first attracted me away from VHS and to DVD. All the supplemental materials seemed a little superfluous though cool, and I did like that DVDs took up less space than VHS, but the coolest thing was that I could get to a given scene in seconds instead of minutes.

Well, that's probably easy to fix with downloaded movies too, I guess...who knows. But hey.

As to Pinz'z comments...I can't understand the motivations of people who purchase music. (Or any data, for that matter. It's information! It was meant to be stolen!)