See, some wars are winnable!

It appears that, almost before it started, the 21st Century version of VHS vs Betamax is over.

Just over a year ago, I picked up a newspaper whose headline trumpeted that the success of the so-called “Blu Ray” DVD format was “inevitable”. The name of that venerable publication: The Blu Ray Times.

Potential editorial bias aside, it seems the paper got it right. Blu Ray’s rival, HDD, seems to be dead. The Mitt Romney, if you will, of high definition digital formats. (Except of course that HDD was never Governor of Massachusetts, nor does the HDD, to my knowledge, have waxen, perfect hair. I only compare them because they are both passengers on the S.S. Failboat. And I digress.)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high-definition video, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research), a company source said on Saturday.

Let’s hope Blu Ray is better than VHS. Last time a format war was won, the consumer lost. VHS was brutal. If Wal Mart likes it, though, it must be pretty awesome in an unconditional, unqualified way.

READ ON