Wonder what the next great storage solution will look like? Here's a big hint – it will be Blue. More specifically Blu!

The Forum, NEC or Toshiba probably won't concede but it certainly appears that if you want to be at the leading edge in your neighborhood you'll be buying a Blu-Ray burner next year. More than 90 firms have climbed aboard the Sony/Matsushita bandwagon – along with HP, Dell, JVC, Samsung, LG, Pioneer, Philips and 90% of the CE manufacturers.

The association's position – BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) is that it is the right thing to do for content owners and consumers. You believe that then we've got some swampland we want to sell you.

But when the technology hits the street it will be good for the content owner (Sony and all of its content). Don't pull out your credit card just yet though because the initial burners (now selling in Japan) will be about $2000 and discs (25-30GB) will be $35 apiece. Then too you'll also have to buy a new player and so will all your friends.

Translation …expect DVD to be here for years!