I had long assumed that it didn't matter who won because both formats were the same physical form factor. If the ware ended in a draw, players would emerge with both technologies.

So the key was to wait until the war ended or came to a truce with dual players. But there wasn't enough to differentiate the two formats, so the cost of the additional circuitry dictated that one format had to die. In this case, the better, more capable format prevailed. That's not a given. Indeed, it seems the better format loses more often than not. Remember BetaMax, OS/2, and Novell NetWare? It's a very long list.

Don't assume that discs are going away. The necessary broadband is decades away from real ubiquity. And DRM (digital restrictions management) is much easier in physical media than with downloads.