Have to disagree on this one...
HD-DVD was just as slow when network interactivity was used, and also HD-DVD initially had a entire Intel Celeron CPU employed to make it seem quick, in addition to a dedicated GPU for video decoding, and expensive SHARC's for DSP work. Blu-ray on that level of hardware would have been damn quick, as it always has been and will be on a PS3, which is probably the only Blu platform (barring a PC) that exceeds those initial HD-DVD players for pure MIPS grunt. And even with HD-DVD's use of hardware I'd be
if I could tell the difference in speed between my HD-E1 and Sony BDP-S300. Universals HD-DVD's with networking drove me up the wall.
So I think much of the speed difference is down really to very different approaches initially at the hardware level.
BD manufacturers went for a method that relied on dedicated chipsets to make the machines viable to them, downside = it was slow, so BD functionality was staged with profiles to increase as chipsets were to get quicker.
HD-DVD went for premium hardware initially to make it seem quick, and worry about integration later, downside = no-one without a vested interest could afford to make the players.
With ALL IT systems initial perception is often key. Once a system is slow, it is always seen as slow even if it improves and infact no longer is. Couple that with the fact that Java comes automatically with a bloatware tag, and BD does have an issue...
However, as the Oppo 83 proved and other models too, with the right hardware there is no excuse for slow
local hardware anymore.
BD-Live will always be slow as it will never catch on enough for anyone to put superfast servers at the other end. The studios get no extra revenue from BD-Live yet to justify the spend. However, even if we turned the world on its head, and were all running HD-DVD, we'd still be complaining for the exact same reason, i.e., no-one is really interested in the online interactive stuff yet as no-one has yet figured out what the killer app is for online. And that is not a technical issue. The studios all wanted something they really had no idea about what they were going to do with it.
Not even Disney, who I think have done more than most to enhance disks in a good way, (and bad if you include the forced trailers, adverts, disclaimers etc) have managed to find that killer must have use for all the interactivity potential.
Also, regardless of eventual platform, once the studios had gotten past the initial move to HD part, they would have bloated the discs to the point of annoyance anyway. Somehow they equate bloatiness to value. HD-DVD simply didn't last long enough to get there.
So whilst Java may not be the slickest or quickest tool out there, it's not to blame for disc slowness. The studios are, and initially the player manufacturers were, however the latter have now sorted their end of it I believe.
The studios are still stumbling around in the dark wondering what to really do with all the new bits and until they hit on the killer app for interactivity, will continue down the more on disc = better value, even if that makes the experience slow and un-enjoyable.
Well, that's my take on it anyway...