So, now that the HD DVD versus Blu-ray is basically considered over, with Blu-ray the winner, it made me wonder how people chose one over another. How do you decide you are going to learn PHP over ASP, WordPress over Movable Type, Windows over Linux? What drives your decisions to chose one format over the other?

I almost have a fear of choosing one. I know a little ASP and PHP, WordPress and Movable Type, Windows and Linux. This means I am definitely no expert, and have always been a huge generalist when it comes to acquiring knowledge. I am always worried that I will chose the wrong format, or the wrong standard, and waste my time and money.

As for picking up knowledge in certain topics, it was mostly because of how easy it was to learn rather than how useful it was. I grew up on Windows, but found out that Linux was the cool geeky thing to learn, as well as being a required course in my college course. I have almost always waited though until whatever format war was complete, or at least properly entrenched into society that it isn’t going to go away for a long time.

Did you get burned by the HD DVD versus Blu-ray war or did you buy both formats or were you like me and chose neither format?