Blu-ray is Dead

Writing for ZDNet Robin Harris has announced the death of Blu-ray HD Video Discs.. he says two things killed the original HD strategy:

• First the fight with HD DVD stalled the industry for two years. Initial enthusiasm for high definition video on disk was squandered.
• Second, the advent of low cost up-sampling DVD players dramatically cut the video quality advantage of Blu-ray DVDs. Suddenly, for $100, your average consumer can put good video on their HDTV using standard DVDs. When Blu-ray got started no one dreamed this would happen.Recordable discs don’t play reliably across the range of Blu-ray players - so you can’t do low-volume runs yourself.

He also speaks to the idea that down-loadable HD is just around the corner and that small independent movie producers will not be able to afford the technology. Give the article a read if you want more details. As for me - don't think I'll put a Blu-ray player on my Christmas list :)