[mousepod]

I recently bought a HDTV and decided to save a grand by going for 720p over 1080p. I do admit that I am in love with the set (if I wasn't already married...) and I often find myself watching HD versions of things that I would have passed on in SD. I went out and bought a DVD player that upscales SD DVDs with a Faroudja processor so I can at least not lose any quality when watching 'em on a big screen.

However excited I am by the upcoming hi-definition DVDs, I have to remind myself of all of the formats I've seen come and go through the last couple of decades. Anyone remember MiniDiscs? What about the very recent SACDs? When I worked for Island Records, we were pulled into a meeting to hear about Philips' new DCCs. We were told that the amount of money being invested in this technology meant that they were sure to succeed. Right.

Like other posters in this thread - I am thrilled at the idea of a new format that improves upon the existing available one. And I'll probably start buying the media a month or two after it becomes available (and the player prices break the $200 barrier) - but there's no way I'm going to play armchair quarterback and try to predict which format will out. The only thing that's certain is that the experts are almost always wrong.

DIVX, anyone?