Just around the corner is the long-awaited launch of the HD-DVD, one of two competing high-definition formats for the DVD optical disk. The stakes could not be higher for the movie business, less so for the manufacturers, and a hair pulling nightmare for the ones asked to finally pay for it all-the consumers.

I interviewed Mark Knox last week. You will find below my lead-in. Mark has the task of explaining to you as well as the motion picture industry why the Toshiba-backed HD DVD is the right choice.

The current backdrop for this launch ...
The movie business needs a smashing success using a new distribution format to restore expansion and youthful vigor to all parts of the business. They are presently plagued (in good economic times too) by a sagging box office returns and a flat-to-declining packaged goods business. I will not speak of the gamming side of entertainment here for while some ownership is common it is not entirely integrated with the movie culture.

The "collapse" of the box office over the last three years appears more than just a low ebb in a business cycle. Those explaining it away claim that...

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Great interview!

I'm going to wait until the dust settles. And while I'm waiting I'll view recent HD movies on HBO, Showtime, HDnet, Hdnet movies, Universal HD, CBS HD, NBC HD, Fox HD, ABC HD, etc. Of course I'll have to wait for recently released to theater movies, but that's better than spending $500+ for a meager amount of new HD-DVD copy protected, possibly down-rezed content(although my two sets both have HDMI), high priced HD DVD disks(have the studios stated what the cost per disk will be?), and the visual difference between HD-DVD and standard, high quality, upconverted DVD, seems to be slim. Let the Betamax vs. VHS wars begin! I'll be on the sidelines watching and voting with my wallet as Sony and Toshiba go down for the count and the movie studios start to realize that early adopter consumers might just sit this one out.

I have a new HP Digital Entertainment Center that will let me download DVD quality movies and watch them in 30 minutes. An HD movie would take 3 hours. I do not have to go out and spend $40 on a HD DVD disk or even go to the rental store to get it. After downloading it for $4 I have 24 hours to watch it once I click on it. I can leave it on my hardrive and if I want to watch it again later I just pay another $4. The days of buying DVDs and HD DVDs or renting them is going to end very quickly. They are already obsolete!