Wednesday 20 February 2008

HD-DVD: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Apologies to my readers for the lack of updates. Uni and job interviews have been kicking my ass. Both of you will be happy to see me back into the swing of things with an update of recent events;


Well, it finally happened; HD-DVD has finally succumbed to the constant pummeling from Blu-Ray. First two major film studios Warner and Paramount went Blu-Ray exclusive. Then Netflix, the US's biggest online rental service said they would stop renting out HD-DVD, not long after Wal-Mart said it would stop selling HD-DVDs in its stores. Now Toshiba has announced it will stop HD-DVD production.

At long. Fucking. Last. At least the bullshit let's-fuck-consumers-over-for-no-reason-other-than-we-can war is done. This is a big boost to Sony because it now almost makes sense to buy a PS3. Almost. That said, I think mainstream HD video is still a good 12-18 months away considering current prices and the fact that it's pointless unless you have an HD TV, which is pointless unless you have an HD television source. If you have no idea what all this means all you need is this: Don't buy an HD-DVD player.


Also in the news recently, in case you literally are living under a rock, Northern Rock has been nationalised by the UK Government. In a nutshell, all long term shareholders are screwed. Unlucky.


Barack Obama has won the Hawaii and Winsconsin caucuses making it 10 straight wins in a row. A black president? After what happened in Deep Impact? America strikes again. Hillary needs to recover quickly or the US will no doubt be in the midst of another 24-style security threat.

As well as this, Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears are still mental, although one of the two is benefitting significantly from this. Meanwhile Kevin Federline is looking like a Machiavellian genius right now.

On an unrelated note I read in Thelondonpaper today that some WAG had joined a racist Facebook group. Sorry what?? How the fuck does that make it to page 5 of a "major" newspaper? Since when is a person's Facebook activity newsworthy? What next? "This just in - Russell Brand has changed his status to I love midgets. More developments after the break..."