Blog: 
Feb
Jan 2008
Where's Lou When You Need Him?
Dec
Nov
The battle over the next generation of home video formats is just now starting.
The contenders, Blu-Ray and HD DVD, seem evenly matched, with about the same number
of titles available, similar unit costs, roughly equivalent picture quality and sales.
They are, of course, totally incompatible. Which one will you choose?
Yes folks, it's another video format war.
According to the New York Times,
most consumers are choosing neither. We are waiting it
out to see how the Columbia / Disney / Fox / Lionsgate / Miramax / Sony
jugglenaut will fare against the Universal / Paramount / Weinstein / Warner Brothers
conglomerate. Nobody wants multiple formats, and apparently the public is tired of betting on one while
the industry sorts out their differences.
A History of Violence
Standards wars are nothing new. Edison and Westinghouse
fought over power distribution;
alternating current won out. The French adopted the
metric system
in 1795, but it still has not gained
worldwide acceptance. Even musicians could not agree on a standard tuning until J.S. Bach proved a
well‑tempered scale
could span all 24 possible key signatures. The story of innovation is almost always filled with multiple
approaches competing head-to-head. It seems like high definition DVDs are doomed to the same fate.
Indeed, two distinct video formats already grappled for market dominance in the recent past. Through the 1970's
and early 1980's, a battle raged between VHS and Betamax. Eventually, the approach with the most titles, the
longer playing time, and the widest compatibility won the war. Sony, the Betamax format, and millions of
consumers lost. Today's HD DVD/Blu-Ray debacle is history repeating itself.
The Missing Chapter
If mass market technologies always struggle between different incompatible standards, why don't we all remember
a vestigial system that lost out to DVDs? Back in 1993, there were two hot contenders in development:
Phillips and Sony were designing the MultiMedia Compact Disc, and Toshiba, JVC, Hitachi and a host of
other players advanced the Super Density disc. The industry was set to replay the video format wars
of the previous decade, when something unbelievable happened. Lou Gerstner, the CEO of IBM, stepped in to
mediate. With Lou acting as matchmaker, the groups set aside their differences and merged their efforts to
produce a single unifying technology. The marketplace was spared another costly standards battle. Home movie
fans around the world owe a debt of thanks to Chairman Lou.
1993: Lou Gerstner brokers a temporary peace (Artist's rendering)
No Lou, No Agreement
The new formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray, were developed independently. But there is no Lou Gerstner today to step
in and save the consumer. We could have used a negotiator and instead we have a conflict. But this time, the
marketplace may have learned a lesson. As Carl Sandberg said, “Sometime they'll give a war and nobody
will come.” Don't choose sides when standards compete. Insist that standards come together.
Further Reading:
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