Why no one cares HD DVD lost? Top 5 Reasons  

1. The upscaling technology is excellent for standard definition DVDs so the player still has a purpose and usefulness.  It is not limited to one format of playback like the dead technologies in previous format wars (Betamax, laserdisc, mini disc).
2. The top of the line stand alone upscaling 1080P DVD player is made by Oppo Digital http://www.oppodigital.com/ and currently retails for over $200. HD DVD players were sold for as little as $99 at Walmart $140 at Costco $137 at Amazon.com
3. Anyone who purchased a HD DVD player in the past 6 months received 5 free HD DVDs by mail and up to 3 HD DVD movies at the point of sale if purchased from Best Buy.  With an average cost of 29.99 each, that’s a value of $240 which could easily offset the cost of the HD DVD player itself if the movies were sold on eBay for 60% off retail.
4. The format war took too long and set-top boxes which can stream 1080P through your internet connection are going to be coming to market by early 2009 which hardly leaves enough time for Sony to recover the hefty costs of Blu-ray R&D.  If you remember the reason the PS3 took an extra year to hit market was due to production problems with Blu-ray players.
5. HD DVD died at the end of December so anyone who bought the player and did not sell their movies or realize it was not worth buying any movies besides the greatest movie ever (Transformers), deserves to lose a buck.