I resent some of the tactics, I think they were shallow and were only used to play the media hype (like all successful hype) but no, I do not want BD to fail.
I don't think it will be as successful as DVD, not because downloads will come and wtfpwn it, but for why I personally think DVD sales are declining... there are just so many other forms of entertainment. As DVD was taking its baby steps it didn't have to compete with on demand, the proliferation of netflix and blockbuster online, satellite radio and whatever else people are doing these days. Now if 'as popular as DVD' is the metric for success, then yes Blu-Ray will be a failure. As the best form of purchasing and playing HD media with full studio support is the metric, then it's already a success and everything from here is gravy. The middle ground would be to outsell DVD for a quarter... the middle ground... which we will probably see in ____________ (enter a figure inflammatory enough for it's own thread here).
I hate that things are not smoother out the gate now that it's 'succeeded' and look forward to seeing things turn around and see the value meet the price (either by increasing the perceived value, or by decreasing the price... its much harder to do the former). Things like BD-Live as reported seem pushed out... hard not to imagine someone testing the functionality and saying 'well, that's good enough'.
Beyond all this, it's exponentially exacerbated by those bathing in the blu-kool-aid, smug and acting as if their stuff doesn't stink. It's good to be a homer, but take off the blinders from time to time and make a conversation out of it please. The HDDVD folks don't help sometimes either, that's for sure, but very few are innocent there
