Looks like HD-DVD and BlueRay are the front runners of the next generation (although not compatible with each other.) Video-on-demand is already here (and quite affordable in our area.)

Sit back and enjoy your collection of 480i vids. Wait until things get sorted out. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to keep up. Hell, even the industry can't decide on standards - don't even get started on aspect ratios, refresh rates, up/down sampling, etc.....C