In mid-August, Sony began shipping 50gb dual-layer Blu-Ray discs, while Memorex began shipping HD DVD-R discs. The Blu-Ray media retailed for about $48/disc and the HD DVD-R went for about $20.
At close to $1/gb, neither are much of a bargain when you can buy DVD+/-R media for about $.07/gb. Then again, if you need to back up 200gb of World of Warcraft screenshots like somebody I know does, then only needing 2-4 discs instead of swapping about 50 of them might be worth the price premium.
I’d like to think the HD DVD-R and Blu-Ray media prices might eventually come down, but since I think both technologies are very likely going to tank, I don’t have much confidence in that happening anytime soon.
Sources:
Memorex Begins Selling HD DVD Discs. Nate Mook, BetaNews, August 15, 2006.
Sony Shipping 50GB Blu-Ray Discs. Nate Mook, BetaNews, August 15, 2006.