See, this is what I hate. How can I support a company that KEEPS doing this.
Yes it’s a blog (not really credible), but here are the ramifications and customer complaints regarding this issue.

I loved the PS1, 2, and will probably like the PS3 (when I get a chance to play it), but I do not want to support BR in any way, shape or form due to issues like this. If BR is victorious, I’m quite sure we will see more of this.

When I pay money for a product I’d like the freedom to use it as I please, and I don’t appreciate DRM and other protection measures that can make my media obsolete AFTER I’ve payed for it! I understand that companies need to protect their products and most employ these protection schemes, but Sony in particular needs to start respecting and listening to their customers

"See, this is what I hate. How can I support a company that KEEPS doing this."

Easy - if you don't like the ethical practices of the company, you simply don't support them until the company falls in line with your ethical values. 

Ray007,

Good for you. When you vote with your wallet, companies will notice.

Smart consumers FTW!!!

 actully we can expect the same result as in march.  Deja Vu and Night at the Museum hit on the April 24th - Br exclusives! will drive Br way past hddvd.

 In may hddvd will get slaughtered by the release on Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 only on BR.

 The month isn't over with. The numbers mid-March were similar, and then Casino Royale came out.

 Simply put, there are more Blu-Ray players and more Blu-Ray movies on the way. The only HD-DVD exclusive studio(Universal), doesn't have any big releases in the forseeable future. On the other hand, Blu-Ray has Night At The Museum and Deja Vu next week, Pirates Of the Carribean 1 & 2 next month, Spider-man 3 later this year.....

HD-DVD has DRM too tho...

True.  Practically every company uses DRM, but Sony by far has the worst implementations.

When questioned last year about the root-kit fiasco, the answer was something along the lines of - "the average consumer is too stupid to know what a root-kit is, so why should they even care".  What kind of an answer is that?  When you get caught doing something wrong (illegal), apologise and reassure customers that the problem is being dealt with. An arrogant response is the last thing I want to hear under those circumstances.

Anyhow, sorry if I drifted off-topic, but this seemed like a relevant issue to me in the format wars.

I still wouldn't bet all my money on the victory of Blu Ray over HD DVD as neither format has gotten anykind of decent foothold in the mass markets. As long as the average consumers (read: not a hometheatre hobbyist or some other kind of hifi-freak) have no interest in investing to a new format, neither of them will be able to deliver anykind of final blow to the markets. And of course the Blu Ray sales are up now that there are couple of million Playstation 3s sold worldwide. I would certainly buy some movies to go with the machine, if I were to get one.

But tell me, why do you think Blu Ray has already won the war? As an example the Nintendo Wii is outselling Playstation 3 all the time (except for the PS3 launch weeks) and has sold more than double worldwide. Would you call Wii the winner of the two of them now? And if not, why, and how is the situation anyhow different from the Blu Ray vs. HD DVD? In both situations a certain product is overselling the other.

And yes, I have only HD DVD movies for the time being, as the investment in XBox 360 drive was cheaper than getting the cheapest Blu Ray player, but I also was conscious of the fact that someday I'll probably have to change the format when the war seems to come to and end. Why do I still keep buying HD DVDs? Well that's simple. Even if Blu Ray would win my HD DVDs don't just suddenly *poof* disappear into thin air or stop working. They are there now and work, they will be there and work later on aswell. And with the pricing of the HD formats being what it is here in Finland (average HD DVD price: 27 Euros/36 USD and average Blu Ray price: 35 Euros/47 USD) I can't really convince myself to pick otherwise either. But of course that's mainly our problem up North here.

In addition I'm also slightly suspicious of the possible zeal that Sony might use on the consumers in the form of copy protections and rootkits and whatnot were Blu Ray to win. So far Toshiba hasn't pulled crap like that with DVD that I would have noticed or heard of so somehow, although being as much of bloodsuckers after our money as Sony, Toshiba just feels more of a neutral and customer friendly choise in this matter. In MY opinion.

Edit: Removed one excess word

Edit2: Fixed screwed up paragraphs after the first edit

Edit3: Still the damn paragraphs.. sorree 

"But tell me, why do you think Blu Ray has already won the war? As an example the Nintendo Wii is outselling Playstation 3 all the time (except for the PS3 launch weeks) and has sold more than double worldwide.

Would you call Wii the winner of the two of them now? And if not, why, and how is the situation anyhow different from the Blu Ray vs. HD DVD?

In both situations a certain product is overselling the other."

Good argument, and welcome to the forums...

How many HDDVD/Blu-Ray consumers/users are out there worldwide today compared to those that have/use DVDs?

Does anyone know, or have links to resources that compare both "last-gen" and "next-gen"consumer media formats?

I don't think  either will win or lose; or at least, they are far from reaching the level of ubiquity that DVDs have achieved. Even if one eventually dies, you will still have a small portion of adherents to that format.

Don't believe me? Betamax was superior to VHS, but lost the war - only on the consumer side, though.  Video pre- and post-production was (and probably still is in many countries around the world) done on Betacam, virtually identical to the Betamax (apart from their recording format).