TVSquad

Do you hear that? That's the sound of "Taps" being played for HDTV players and recorders. Toshiba has announced that, "it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders." Yes, it's true. Just like Beta was phased out in favor of VHS, HDTV has lost in its head to head battle with Blu-ray. As of March 2008, the manufacture of the hardware will cease, and production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games as well. The only exception, said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation are laptops. "[Toshiba] continues to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives."

Greetings, people reading this right now. Here's another collection of news and notes from the world of animation:

First of all, I'm still trying to figure out if the Aqua Teen movie is really going to debut on Adult Swim April 1, close to two weeks before its theatrical debut on April 13. I first noticed it on the schedule, and then started seeing it promoted during the Adult Swim block. If this is indeed a gag of some sort, they're playing it perfectly straight. I guess we shall all know soon enough. It's not as if creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis haven't messed with their viewer's heads before: they were hyping an Aqua Teen movie before they even knew if it was going to be made.

Man, I am so not a technophile. All of this high definition DVD talk just puts me to sleep. On the other hand, I have to stay somewhat aware of new developments so I'm not found crying in my apartment several years from now trying to play a Blu-Ray disc on my standard DVD player.

Right now Blu-Ray and HD DVD are in a race to see which high definition format comes out the victor. Some studios have been releasing content on both forms, while others have stuck to only one or the other. Recently, Warner Bros. said it would introduce the Total HD Disc. This new disc will hold both the HD DVD and Blu-Ray format.

Is it possible that in our desire to forge ahead into the future we'll become so sick of trying to keep up with new ways of viewing the same old stuff that we'll actually just throw everything aside and start listening to transistor radio and attending operas? I'm hanging on to my old Victrola just in case.