How long will the Blu-ray disc format last?

In 2002 I blogged about DVDs outselling videocasettes for the first time. In the past six years the standard DVD format has peaked and is in serious decline. Up next is the Blu-ray Disc format but how long will it last?

Videocasettes dominated home video for over 20 years. DVDs were the preferred home video format for just over 6 years. How long will the Blue-ray disc format last?

I’ve invested a lot of money in the standard DVD format and have a great collection of films. I doubt that I’ll upgrade many of these discs to Blu-ray. I think that would be a complete waste of money. Thankfully, Blu-ray players are compatible with standard DVD.

The next 10 years should be interesting in terms of the digital distribution of film. A lot of people think that Blu-ray will be the last disc format. In the future, movies might be sold on flash media or via the web.

I like being able to own a physical disc with liner notes. Having my entire film library on a server seems too risky. I think it will take another generation or two for people to get comfortable with the idea of having all of their digital data on a server or flash memory devices.

For now, I just hope that Blu-ray lasts for more than 6 years before it becomes obsolete.

Posted in Home Theatre at 9:18 PM