Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: Knocking each other out?

Among the differences: the Blu-ray format holds 25 gigabytesto 50 gigabytes of data with additional capacity possible to 200 gigabytes. HD-DVD holds 15 gigabytes to 30 gigabytes with a maximum of 60 gigabytes. The content partnerships favor Blu-ray, which has all of the major movie studios, except for Universal Pictures, backing it along with consumer electronics and computer companies LG Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung, Apple and Dell. HD-DVD has Universal Pictures in its corner along with Intel and Toshiba. A few industry players, such as Hewlett-Packard, Paramount and Warner Bros., have pledged support for both formats.
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Storing Digital Data, an Unsolved Problem

"It's a huge challenge: how to store digital files so future generations can access them, from engineering plans to family photos. The documents of our time are being recorded as bits and bytes with no guarantee of readability down the line. And as technologies change, we may find our files frozen in forgotten formats. Popular Mechanics asks: Will an entire era of human history be lost?"

"[US national archivist] Thibodeau hopes to develop a system that preserves any type of document — created on any application and any computing platform, and delivered on any digital media — for as long as the United States remains a republic. Complicating matters further, the archive needs to be searchable. When Thibodeau told the head of a government research lab about his mission, the man replied, 'Your problem is so big, it's probably stupid to try and solve it.'"
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