Are you certain that the Blu-ray design specification was established before the HD-DVD standard? There are news snippets about HD-DVD from 2002 and I'm certain there was work on it well before any sort of public announcements...
That said, blue laser technology was around well before "Blu-Ray" was established as a standard. At some point it was just someone's casual observation that Blue Lasers, with their narrower wavelength, would be used in video players in the future.
AOD was the standard before Blu Ray and HD-DVD split and went their separate ways. Who is to say that both Blu and HD aren't both at fault for not working together on one standard?
Avoid revisionist history. Do a little research before you post...
As always, I stand to be corrected, so feel free to step in, but I have been reading about blue laser technology LONG before there even was a name called Blu Ray... Or HD DVD...
I hate trolls.
Systems I currently own: 360, PS3, Wii, DS Lite (2)
Systems I've owned: PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Saturn, 3DO, Genesis, Gamecube, N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GB, C64, Amiga, Atari 2600 and 5200, Sega Game Gear, Vectrex, Intellivision, Pong. Yes, Pong.