Over on GadgeTell there is a great post about the format wars, and how the winner, Blu-ray, came out on top, not from the consumer side, but instead from the industry side.

According to an analyst at ABI research the end of the format war was not the true measure of consumer demand when it came to the choice of HD format. The true decision was made by Warner brothers decision to jump ship to Blu-ray. The decision to switch may have been principally decided not by which format the consumers of Warner’s preferred, but by a nearly $120 million payoff from Sony.

While I am happy that the format war is over, I am not happy with how it ended. I expected the two sides to continue to fight for the next year or two, which would have allowed each to become more entrenched in our living rooms and given more time for the internet distribution systems to mature.

Now, we have an issue where consumers were backing one standard, and have to decide what they are going to do now. The online distribution systems haven’t gotten to the point yet where they are really a viable alternative, and so that leaves HD DVD owners the choice to either stick with the equipment and movies they have until the internet video space gets a little further along, or switch over to Blu-ray.

It is a shame that early adopters are going to have to suffer so badly now that Sony has taken the marketplace.