Zookster- I doubt that flash could become cheap enough to compete with optical. But there have recently been some major advances along these lines, so maybe one day. By then, some form of post-DVD optical disc will be common- HD-DVD, Blu-ray or maybe even HVD or something else.
I think the "common format/single hi-def disc" ship has sailed. They had their chance. Now, one company will suffer a lot thru failure in the marketplace, or both will suffer thru split sales. Or maybe they have another option.
Let's say the HD-DVD camp is frightened enough by the stakes and the possibility of losing to Blu-ray, and Blu-ray is frightened enough by the early lead of HD-DVD, poor introduction of their boy, and possible uncertainties of multiple layers- that they both sit down and talk for real. If they came out with a single disc, a third hi-def design, how would they handle people that have already "bought in?" Offer replacement players and discs? Stiff them and suffer thru the inevitable lawsuits, of which they are certain to lose at least some? Maybe it would be more likely that they would cross-license and move toward dual players, so they both limit their losses. Then it may not matter much to them if one dominates over the other- they have now stacked the deck so they can't lose. They wouldn't be able to win all the marbles anymore, but they may view it as a good trade off to not risk a major loss.
