The average mainstream consumer might reject all the required firmware updates

[HDTV1080P]

There is something that is bothering me a little bit about both the HD-DVD and BLU-RAY formats compared to the DVD format. When the DVD format first came out in 1997 most of the DVD players could only have their firmware updated by the factory service center. Then as years went by some companies offered firmware updates for some brands and models of DVD players on a CD-ROM disc. I remember the first generation DVD players would not support DTS audio and there was no firmware to upgrade first generation DVD players. My first DVD player I owned was a DVD-ROM drive in my computer. I then purchased a second generation combo DVD/Laserdisc Pioneer Elite DVL-91 that played DTS audio for DVD’s. My point is I have owned second and third generation Pioneer DVD players for over 7 years and have never needed a firmware update. Every new release DVD still plays without problems on a 7+ year old Pioneer DVD player with the original firmware. Now when using both the HD-DVD or BLU-RAY format from time to time people need firmware updates to play the latest movies. With the DVD format 99% of the time a firmware update is not needed even on second and third generation machines.
For both the HD-DVD and BLU-RAY format to be acceptable to the mainstream consumer both formats need more stability when playing back new releases. The average consumer is going to return the player and/or movie if it does not play. They are not even going to bother with a firmware update. Firmware updates are ideal to add new features to BLU-RAY and HD-DVD players while at the same time improving minor and major bugs. So I am all for firmware updates and I do not mind installing them, but the average consumer that is use to DVD is not going to mess around with connecting the player to the Internet or burning a disc in order to watch the latest movie. Hopefully in the future firmware updates will not be needed when playing most new releases on HD-DVD and BLU-RAY formats, I know of some mainstream consumers that will stick to the DVD format to keep things simple. In the future the ideal setup would be to have every HDTV player that has internet connection to be connected to the Internet and once every month the player should automatically turn on and download the latest firmware. This would make it simple for most people.