The DVD Is Dead

The DVD Journal, one of my favorite online resources, has seen the handwriting on the wall and called it quits:

High-def DVD may offer higher resolution and more interactive features, but it's no more simple to operate than standard DVD. And we all know that usability, not quality, wins the day. Jeffrey Katzenberg (the 'K' in DreamWorks SKG), as reported by Variety, said on a conference call to investors earlier this year "Blu-Ray and HD DVD are a niche business… They're not going to become the next platform. I think for the general consumer, there is not a big enough delta between the standard DVD in terms of where it is today and the next generation." We agree. DVD-Audio and its competitor, Super Audio CD (SACD), have not supplanted Compact Disc sales, even as CD sales — as nearly perfect a mass-media product as has ever been invented — find MP3 downloads denting their margins. Last we checked, hi-resolution audio was consigned to a small shelf in the back of our nearest big-box electronics retailer, while every type of sleeve for every size of iPod was stacked up on the nearest route to the cash registers. Roy Scheider was right, gang. You're gonna need a bigger boat.

So before you run out and buy that HD DVD version of Heroes Season 1, think about the value add compared to being able to watch standard DVDs on your laptop or the ability (now taken away by NBC) to watch it on your iPod. The future is not on a disk. It's on some as yet un-identified portable wireless device with a multi-terabyte flash card for video on demand.