If you’re not up to date on the current status of the HD DVD format war, trust me — you’re not alone. In 2005, when Engadget’s Ryan Block wrote this definitive side-by-side comparison of the two formats, it seemed like I might actually have to pick a side. But now that I have an AppleTV, the whole idea of a DVD format war seems completely meaningless. With more studios and filmmakers embracing online distribution every day, I seems like the HD DVD is destined to become the laserdisc of the late 00s. If you don’t believe me, compare Block’s piece from two years ago with this Engadget story from this weekend, through which we learn that customers are complaining that Sony’s high definition Blu-Ray disks have a tendency to grow some kind of mold which ultimately renders them useless.

So imagine my surprise when, moments after reading the rotting disk story, I scrolled down on my RSS reader and learned that Blockbuster–and, I swear, I’m not making this up–has announced that they will exclusively support Blu-Ray over Toshiba’s competing HD-DVD format in most of its stores. And yes, I triple-checked the date on the story–this decision was announced today. Tack on your own joke about the decaying state of brick-and-mortar, tangible product movie rental right … about … here.

Image of happy family enjoying a surely rot-free home entertainment experience courtesy of Blockbuster.com.