I think you're missing the point of Blu-Ray astraman. Blu-Ray is aimed at high definition content (in the video arena) which standard DVD cannot handle so it isn't a gimmick. If you have a HD TV and a DVD player (even a top range player with progressive output) you'll know that standard DVD looks crap compared to true HD content.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are competeing formats and which will end up the 'Beta Max' of HD content remains to be seen (as with Beta vs VHS, Blue Ray (the Beta of HD disc formats) is the better format, but I'm expecting HD-DVD (the VHS) to flourish due to the commercial support and consumer 'brand' familiarity, ie DVD).
That said both formats are backwards compatible with current DVD and CD formats so the fact that I have £100's of pounds worth of DVDs does not preclude me from upgrading my player to HD-DVD or BluRay as I will still be able to play these discs.
The benefit is that I will also be able to make full use of my HD TV and play back HD content from disc rather than PC
I must admit that I will not buy either format until:- one is the clear format winner or there's a player released that plays both!