Blu-ray has progressed more in 2 years than LaserDisc in a decade

[Grubert]

You probably have read that blog post on Yahoo where they said that Blu-ray was "the next LaserDisc," or in the words of the writer, an "oddball obscurity."

Well I don't have my own blog to rant on this, so you'll excuse me if I place my soapbox here.

For reference, LaserDisc launched (under the name Discovision) in 1978. Blu-ray launched in the US in June 2006.


Hardware penetration

In 1994 (16 years since inception), 1.6% of US households had a LaserDisc player (link).
In 2008 (2 years since inception), 1.7% of US households have a standalone Blu-ray player, and that's not counting PS3s (link)


Software penetration

In 1994, LaserDisc inception-to-date US software sales were 8.3 million (link).
By mid-2008, Blu-ray inception-to date US software sales were over 13 million: 5.7 million in 2006-2007 (link) and 7.37 million in Jan-Jun 2008 (link).

Hence, if hardware and software sales are considered, Blu-ray has already 'succeeded' more than LaserDisc ever did.

______________________

"During its prime, there was something very special about being a laserdisc collector. It was like belonging to an elite club of enthusiasts, each of which feeling that they were among the very few who actually cared about the presentation of movies on video. In my own town of Boston, there was once a store called LaserCraze which issued all of its purchases and rentals in plastic shopping bags with a distinctive orange spiral logo. If you walked down the streets and saw one of those bags you would know that someone else out there shared your feelings, even if you knew nothing else about that person."
-Joshua Zyber, LaserDisc forever