Here We Go Again: Video Standards War 2010

Think of the words “standards war,” and unless you’re a standards wonk like m…oh, never mind…you’re likely to think of the battle between the Betamax and VHS video tape formats. That’s because videos are consumer products that just about everyone uses, and therefore the bloodshed in that standards war was not only shed in public view, but the some of the blood that was shed was shed by the public (i.e., those that bought video players supporting Betamax, the losing, but arguably superior, format). Fast forward (pun intended) to the present, and the trademarks “HD DVD and “Blu-ray” may ring a bell–and that’s no coincidence.

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