After several years of high-definition video format wars it appears Sony and company’s Blu-ray has officialy K.O.’ed Toshiba’s HD DVD format.  According to articles all over the web Toshiba, the manufacturer of the HD DVD format is waiving the white flag and will no longer make or market HD DVD products.   Toshiba quits HD DVD ‘format war’  It’s Official:  Toshiba announces HD DVD surrender

I would personally like to thank the retailers, movie studios and video rental companies for stepping in and taking sides relatively quickly to bring this format war to a close.  While Sony comes out the biggest winner I think the retailers and movie studios got a huge victory here.  The two formats confused the hell out of consumers, split the movie studios, and ultimately made it more difficult for the adoption of next generation high definition video to take off.  Now that the war is over many people that held off on purchaseing either will likely feel more comfortable about taking the leap forward into hi-def movies.  All of this means quicker adoption of the new technology and increased high definition movie sales.

When I got my plasma TV in August I wasn’t even tempted to buy either format because A.) ordinary DVDs still look pretty damn good on a brand new tv  B.) the new formats were too expensive and  C.) it just didn’t makes sense to invest in either format knowing one would eventually flop.  Does this mean I’ll go out and buy a Blu-Ray player?  No.  I’ll wait till the prices come down more.  Maybe around Christmas I’ll be asking for one ; ) 

Last thoughts on this topic.  Since both formats performed essentially the same I’m thinking this battle was won partly because of branding.  Blu-ray doesn’t really mean anything, but it sure sounds cool.  “HD DVD” is simple and intuitive, but I’m guessing the two letters “HD” in front of “DVD” just didn’t give consumers the feeling they were purchasing something better or different than what they currently have.  Finally, Blu-ray is made by Sony which automatically gives it more cache’ than Toshiba.  Now Sony will have to get to work convincing consumers of the benefits of Blu-ray over standard DVD’s.  Both formats use the same size discs, come in the same size boxes and play in players that are the same size.  This won’t be as easy as convincing people to switch from VHS cassettes to DVD discs…         

This is a great concept that could be turned into a phenomenal promotional stunt.  Get a corporate sponsor and slap some branded apparel on these people and you have yourself a great marketing opportunity that is sure to be spread by word of mouth and other viral means.

While scanning the pages of CNNMoney.com I came across a great article that essentially proves the ubiquitous practice of multitasking which many associate with increased productivity in actuality decreases it.

In the Fortune article from 2006 titled “Be smarter at work, slack off” psychologists found in a five year study that “so-called multitasking can actually make people less effective at their jobs.” The reason? “The ‘time cost’ of refocusing your attention (from one task to another) may be only a few seconds with each switch, but the researchers found that, over time, it reduced people’s total efficiency by 20% to 40%.”

If this is correct and most business people multi-task for large chunks of their day it’s no wonder professionals have become accustomed to working far longer than the fabled 40 hour work week. They have to spend extra hours making up for those precious inefficient minutes squandered away each and every day. All of this leaves the work force overtired and overworked and companies left with declining performance.

Read this article and you might just think again about how you work.

That’s the headline of a recent article published by the International Herald Tribune and also run in the New York Times. The article discusses the growth of the domain industry and it’s maturity as venture capitalists and Wall Street investors have thrown their hats into the ring. It also captures that fact that domains are selling for large sums of money which makes the uneducated folk downright mad.

That’s because they missed the boat to the new world where there were millions of acres of land to be claimed and they are now watching that land be sold for tremendous profits. Some people also don’t understand that the internet is just like the real world and domains are like real estate. Most of the the good ones aren’t cheap anymore and people aren’t entitled to the free piece of land of their choice. Those who got in early and those that are well funded are now sitting on large high quality portfolios and making millions.

Read the article to understand what I’m talking about. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/31/technology/domain.php

Most of you know I work for a major player in the domain industry and you will see the company mentioned in this article. Hint, it’s the one based in Waltham, MA that filed to go public on the NASDAQ last year. More on domains and my involvement to come.

It’s no secret Henry Kravis a founder of the Private Equity firm KKR and other Wall Street ballersare making some serious bank.  In fact Kravis makes approximately $51,000 per hour, per day.  While the $450 Million he took home last year doesn’t put him at the top of the heap it’s enough to make him and the practices of some private equity firms prime targets in what is being called “The War on Greed.”  Check out this short film to put it all in perspective.

 ***DP***  Kravis and KKR might not be the best role models, but they certainly show the power of capitalism and make me want to work harder at growing my income.