Well, better a choice to buy hd than a choice not to buy at all... It's obvious it's a monopoly, but at least we have options to buy hd. If you can't afford it, it's just unfortunate... But on a marketing point of view, isn't hd targeted for middle and high income class? Cuz these people are most likely the people with hdtvs anyways...

Hopefully based on economies of scale, the price will slide down over a period of time...