Blu-ray versus Streaming - Current Market

We are seeing many Blu-ray players hit the market, but we are also seeing the move to online media as well. There is an increasing number of devices that do online media and Blu-ray, or other forms of media.

LG just announced they will support YouTube and CinemaNow on all players in 2009. Another online media I didn't mention yet is Amazon's On Demand access. This is similar to pay per view, or you can simply rent your movie. This has more new movies than Netflix Instant Viewing does. The Rukus, a $99 device for viewing Netflix Instant Viewing movies, will start supporting Amazon's movie streaming sometime this year as well.

You don't even need to have a separate box to get tons of movies and TV shows for free. Sites such as Hulu.com and sling.com are now offering free movies and TV shows for viewing. There isn't any signing up or software to install. There also isn't a ton of movies and TV shows available, but for kicking back and killing some time, it's perfect.

Conclusion

Blu-ray isn't a dying technology by any means. It's still growing; it's still a new and expensive technology. Sure, there are advantages to Blu-ray, but there are also things that will keep it from being adopted more quickly.

The high price and the lack of a better technology is clouding Blu-ray's future. In fact, I don't think it's been any more clouded than right now.

Online streaming is looking better and better every day. The problems that have kept it from gaining more market share, such as handling DRM and slower Internet speeds, are quickly getting solved. The market for online streaming is set to explode.