"Early adopters will buy anything"

That's the credo of independent studios rushing to release HD DVD titles onto otherwise-bare store shelves. According to VideoBusiness, many of these companies were able to profit by being first to release on DVD and will take advantage again on Blu-ray and HD DVD.

We're sure this comes as a surprise to all the Toshiba HD-XA1 owners who ran out to get their players specifically for Kenny Rogers: The Journey, but shovelware is an unfortunate side effect of the early-adopter affliction. The big producers may want to wait for costs to come down and for a bigger audience before they risk a large release, leaving indies with the market all to themselves.