Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
Any idea who was buying them? Someone must have been buying them for Sony to bother making them that long.
The betamax survived because people in the business (video and sound editors) had standardized on beta for the higher quality. Sony was supplying them with product long after the retail demand had dried up.

Speaking of HD-DVD's demize, I wouldn't call this a BR victory, either. Yes, I know I was one who posted multiple scenarios that I figured would have changed the outcome, but it does look now like HD-DVD is going to die a slow painful death. Over at CES, the booths and presentations were overwhelmingly in favor of BR. But the other thing that was apparent was that downloadable content is on every manufacturer's agenda now. The fact is the format war lasted so long that it damaged both sides and gave downloaded content a real chance. Here's an article that came out this morning (apologies for the #$%@# ads):

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...8&pageNumber=1

I know that's not what everyone who bought an HD player wants to hear, but I think the widespread interest in downloadable content at CES is pretty damning for HD-DVD as well as BR.