How do you reward your customers for helping you get and keep the number one spot in HD media? Render their hardware obsolete, of course. At least, that's the plan if you are the Blu-ray Disc Association, which has the foresight to continue adapting Blu-ray technology to make newer discs unplayable in older players, thus forcing people to buy new players.
With the introduction of BD Profile 2.0, key features are added that make the units more robust. Features like local storage, network connectivity, et cetera - all very good things to have, but things that were initially left out due to cost, so they say. The hardware refresh addresses the issues, but the caveat is that newer media, depending on how it is configured, won't be playable.
Note: This story has been edited for accuracy. Originally we mistakenly quoted Blu-ray Disc Association's spokesman Andy Parsons. His actual take on the matter was a more apologetic 'technology changes, eventually becomes obsolete.' If there is anything further to report on the matter we will follow-up with a new story.