This article is written by Mr. Wall.  The article is that of his commentary and opinion alone.  Please respect that.

If you’re the kind of person who is the first in line to buy new technology with little to no regard of it’s longevity in the market place or the price tag then this editorial is not for you. On the other hand, if you’re debating on whether to get Blu-Ray or HD-DVD partially based on the fear that the one you’ll be buying will be the next DiVX player then please read on.
Are you feeling the pressure of marketing and maybe the competition of friends to finally decided on which system to spend that $300 on? Do you cream yourself as you walk into Best Buy and see the difference between standard and high def on that 71″ screen? Does it piss you off that some movies only get released in one format while others only get released on the other?
Here’s a suggestion: WAIT!
Be patient and wait for the battle to end, it doesn’t matter what studio is backing which format, it doesn’t even matter which format is being used for porn (the harbinger of past winners). Things can still change and even more certain: prices will drop.
Remember that first VCR you or your parents bought? The one that loaded from the top and was probably 2 separate units? One unit housed the tape, the other that had the controls? Each one the size of VCR’s in later years. Remember how much that one cost? Wasn’t it something near a grand at the time? How about that first DVD player, the one that was the size of a TiVO and probably ran you about $300-$500, it probably also lacked all the features of a unit you can buy nowadays for under $50.
Better yet, do you still have a Beta or a DiVX player stuffed away somewhere? Items you thought would be a brilliant purchase, now they’re just consumer relics.
Learn from the past, yeah, I hated history while in grade school too but I’ve learned to appreciate it as I’ve figured out that the more I pay attention to past mistakes the less likely I am to repeat them.
Regardless of what the marketing is telling us the technology is still young, by the time all is said and done we will either have a winner or players that can handle both formats (reference 45’s and LP records), and even better, there will be some great price drops!
Plus I’m sure once the dust settles and you’ve purchased your player you’ll be able to enjoy your movies for a whole decade before the next better item comes out… or should I say the next battle between 2 new formats.

-Mr. Wall