Continued:

Speculations apart, there are some real and practical problems that could perhaps come in the way of HVD (Holographic Video Disc) becoming common. The first would be the widespread acceptance of the standard. Why should I upgrade to a 300GB disc when my 8.5GB DL DVD works just fine? Everyday users don’t want to write 300GB, but I suspect it will be the corporations with data backup systems, which will require a compact format. Quite possibly, maybe this technology has to get started from the corporate world and then make its way to the consumer market when it’s refined and affordable.

The second reason is - if (or I should say when) Blu-Ray makes its appearance, and users have invested in a Blu-Ray compatible system, it wouldn’t make sense for them to shell out more for another technology.

Finally, the only thing that is making Blu-Ray win over HD DVD is that there are a lot more media companies (read: companies holding copyrights for the content) behind Blu-Ray. The same will hold true for a tussle between BD and HVD. In fact, if none of the media companies support it, we might just see it becoming a data storage solution. That would be a shame, as it’s perhaps one of the first media types that will handle multiple HD movies as if they were tiny inconsequential files.

The pace of evolution in technology is furious. A few weeks ago, we thought physics processing was a couple of years away, and then I found out ASUS can ship expansion cards today if there was game support. Similarly, we all thought holographic storage/technology was something we will only see on Discovery Channel, and now InPhase hopes to launch it next year.

I only hope that poor market timing doesn’t kill the standard and it soon becomes the customary way of sharing data, similar to tapes, CDs and now DVDs.