Yesterday the news came out that Toshiba was throwing in the towel in the epic battle of HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray technology. I knew that there were two different kinds of technology, and maybe I'm just simple, but is there really such a huge difference between the two? Having grown up in an era where your VHS collection cost you a fortune and you loved every taped minute of it, I was excited when DVDs came out because they were thinner, cheaper and (when properly used) did not get eaten by a defective player. I was happy to upgrade because this was progress in the right direction. My collection is very respectable by normal people standards (we don't all have Kevin Smith's money or space to buy every release come Tuesday morning), but now, I'm expected to buy a new player and DVDs that cost twice as much because the technology is supposed to be better? Sorry Blu-Ray, I'm not buying it. I love my regular, lovable ol' DVDs, the ones that cost $19.99 or less and that play in every player that currently resides in my house. I have large televisions that used to have HD channels on them and I honestly can't see a difference. Do I really need to see every wrinkle in every crevice of Bea Arther's face? I don't think that I do. Also, I feel that with all these advances in picture quality, some of the mystique of movie-making goes down the drain. Whereas directors could previous hide their strings and flaws behind clever lighting and visual trickery, now Blu-Ray and High Def shine a mega-watt bulb on them, exposing their flaws and technological inadequacies. So, I'm sorry Blu-Ray, in my house and universe, this is a hollow victory. We'll put tape down the middle of the room and you can have your side with whatever technological advances you believe will make the world a better place, and me and my DVDs will stay over here until something smaller, faster, cheaper and more awesome comes knocking on our door. Until then, we're going to build a fort and watch Groundhog's Day, again, on DVD.
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