The idea of Apple including a read-only Blu-ray drive is preposterous.
I'd love to see a Blu-ray drive, but ONLY one that can burn Blu-ray disks.
Contrary to some people's fantasies, one still needs the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
There are Blu-ray readers that double as DVD/CD burners you know? The question is not whether you need to burn DVDs and CDs, but whether or not you need to burn Blu-rays. I would wager that most people don't need to. Of course adding a Blu-ray reader to the mac pro with no Blu-ray writer available would be stupid.
The same thing as when the iMac added the DVD drive in 1999- current technology and the ability to watch a Blu-ray on your Mac and directly access its special features via the internet. Even if its just a player- add it already. Apple used to call it the "cool factor" in the iMac line. Remember the "Rebirth of Cool" campaign? That was the addition of DVD.
No, "cool" was Apple removing floppy disk drives back in the 90's.
Just let the blu-ray thing sink. Nobody cares. Really. Just look at every market related to blu-ray. Nobody cares! I'd rather have a cheaper iMac. I'd rather have a cpu with .2 more power. I'd rather have 8GB RAM, standard.
Apple's media strategy is all moving on-line like everybody else's. Storage?? ...please
In a manner of speaking, the OS does support it, just not for viewing Blu-ray movies. Final Cut 7, Compressor 3.5 and Toast 10 all support Blu-ray burning.
The OS doesn't support it. Certain programs support burning. Burning does not require OS support, but due to the stupid copyright protection Blu-rays have, OS support is required for playback. Simple program support isn't enough.
I don't think Apple can rely on one single solution. Supporting Blu-Ray is as important as furthering the iTunes on-line digital media solution. There must be some hang up in getting the blu-ray players in the format and size they need to fit their product line. I don't think Apple wants to favor one computer over the other so the wait may be trying to figure out how to upgrade everybody with the BR option at the same time. And as one poster said, being prepared to integrate BR physical media options with iTunes digital media options in a way that makes sense. Those issues could be the hold-up. And I agree, the adoption of BR is very slow; people generally don't see the need to replace their DVD libraries with expensive BR disks and new players, marketing hype not withstanding.
The OS doesn't support it. Certain programs support burning. Burning does not require OS support, but due to the stupid copyright protection Blu-rays have, OS support is required for playback. Simple program support isn't enough.
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
And I agree, the adoption of BR is very slow; people generally don't see the need to replace their DVD libraries with expensive BR disks and new players, marketing hype not withstanding.
Actually, the adoption rate for Blu-ray is progressing faster than DVD did at the same point in it's life cycle. I read it over at http://www.thedigitalbits.com but I don't have the specific link to the article. Will try to find it. And for me at least, it's not about replacing my library. The older movies I have are fine on DVD. However, going forward, I'd much rather have the HD version of the new movies I like. Believe it or not, Blu-ray movies really do look a lot better (provided you have the equipment to realize it's potential). Sorry if I went off-topic.
I think I have a better shot at finding a household with a Blu-ray player than one with a device either in or connected to their TV that'll play back HD movies/files. Only thing I have that will do that (beside my computers) is a PS3.
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple?s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn?t going to be seen on a 13 or 15? display and in the end convenience wins out. With Apple pushing digital video so hard, reports that Blu-ray adoption in PCs are very weak and with this new news about Netflix it doesn?t look like a good bet to expect Blu-ray drives across the Mac line. There simply isn?t a high enough financial benefit for Apple and each passing day it gets smaller.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffharris
Contrary to some people's fantasies, one still needs the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
I?m ?one?, and I don?t need to burn anything. I use HDDs, Flash drives and various internet services to transfer and backup my stuff. Haven?t needed an optical drive in my PC for years now. Granted, I?m ahead of the curve and can?t wait for Apple to nix them from their notebook line altogether. Though i do love watching a good movie on Blu-ray in front of a nice big HDTV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob55
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
Then you can buy any 3rd-party Blu-ray drive to suit your needs. But if you want to watch an authored movie you need to have OS support of AACS.
Blu-ray isn't a media format as much as it's a lockbox of DRM technologies. I'm not really enthused by any attempt to slow down technology because of DRM.
Consumers want to to be able to timeshift their recordings and space shift (viewing on portable media players, other TVs located elsewhere in the home etc). In fact the DVR is showing interesting trends. Televised series are showing more uptake but on a delayed schedule as people record interesting shows and then watch them later.
Flexibility is the key and I don't really see where the iMac getting Blu-ray gives any flexibility beyond simple playback.
It really is a technology that was just too little too late. Sure the numeric numbers are stronger than DVD but unlike VHS acquiescing to DVD we have so many more sources for content now. The pie overall is larger but there's more competition for that pie.
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
Quality isn't really the issue here, not being able to play your media is.
Lets say you buy Blu-rays to watch on your home theater setup at home. Now you want to take your movies with you on the road, but your macbook pro can't play Blu-ray movies, so you have to hope the Blu-ray came with a digital copy (you can't rip Blu-ray movies on a mac either) or you have to re-purchase the movie in a format that can be played on your mac (basically iTunes or DVD).
The moral of the story is that not supporting an industry standard is bad. Blu-ray adoption rates may be slow, but it is still becoming an industry standard. Adoption is picking up, HDTVs are coming down in cost, there are some cheaper Blu-ray movies now and the DVD sections in stores are shrinking and being pushed to the back of the store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple’s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn’t going to be seen on a 13 or 15” display and in the end convenience wins out.
As above, there is nothing convenient about buying the same movie twice. I agree that digital streaming and downloads will eventually win out, but much like CD's physical media is going to stick around for a while. It is better to offer support for that physical media than not.
Quality isn't really the issue here, not being able to play your media is.
Lets say you buy Blu-rays to watch on your home theater setup at home. Now you want to take your movies with you on the road, but your macbook pro can't play Blu-ray movies, so you have to hope the Blu-ray came with a digital copy (you can't rip Blu-ray movies on a mac either) or you have to re-purchase the movie in a format that can be played on your mac (basically iTunes or DVD).
The moral of the story is that not supporting an industry standard is bad. Blu-ray adoption rates may be slow, but it is still becoming an industry standard. Adoption is picking up, HDTVs are coming down in cost, there are some cheaper Blu-ray movies now and the DVD sections in stores are shrinking and being pushed to the back of the store.
You bring up an an interesting point but again the limitations you speak of are designed into the Blu-ray specification. They have managed copy coming to ease some of the space shifting issues but that again will require new hardware.
Apple and other companies pushing streaming and downloads want the media to be portable in that you download it and have use on multiple yet disparate playback devices.
Maybe you want to watch a movie on your Apple TV only to stop it later and transfer it to your Macbook for final viewing. With Blu-ray you're stuck with a physical disk that has been fortified to a ridiculous extent. So you either infest every part of your life with Blu-ray devices (which is what Sony wants you to do) in order to view your content everywhere or you find another solution.
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple’s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn’t going to be seen on a 13 or 15” display and in the end convenience wins out. With Apple pushing digital video so hard, reports that Blu-ray adoption in PCs are very weak and with this new news about Netflix it doesn’t look like a good bet to expect Blu-ray drives across the Mac line. There simply isn’t a high enough financial benefit for Apple and each passing day it gets smaller.
I’m ‘one’, and I don’t need to burn anything. I use HDDs, Flash drives and various internet services to transfer and backup my stuff. Haven’t needed an optical drive in my PC for years now. Granted, I’m ahead of the curve and can’t wait for Apple to nix them from their notebook line altogether. Though i do love watching a good movie on Blu-ray in front of a nice big HDTV.
Then you can buy any 3rd-party Blu-ray drive to suit your needs. But if you want to watch an authored movie you need to have OS support of AACS.
I think the CEO at Netflix is being a bit overly optimistic. Have you seen the quality of Netflix streaming on a 42" or larger screen. It's nothing to write home about. Also, who's watching movies on a 13"-15" screen. I know that is the most common way to watch the streaming content from Netflix, but speaking from personal experience, it's just doesn't cut it. That's why you're starting to see the Netflix feature on a bunch of new set-top devices. People just don't want to watch TV on their laptops.
I was/still am holding out some hope that Apple will do a BR drive (if at least in the MacPro). If not, then that is precisely what I'll have to do, get a 3rd-party drive. But to reiterate, I have 0 need to play back Blu-ray movies or even my own authored discs on the computer. I will test them on home equipment because that is where they will ultimately be played.
In a manner of speaking, the OS does support it, just not for viewing Blu-ray movies. Final Cut 7, Compressor 3.5 and Toast 10 all support Blu-ray burning. And it's really not about watching Blu-ray movies on my Mac. I can do that on my flat panel in my living room. It's about burning BR discs either for content delivery or backup/archival purposes. I can get a 15-pack of 25GB blanks from Amazon and back up 100GB of data for $10 that won't be subject to drive failure.
Having just had a LaCie HDD die on me with all my Time Machine backups, I could not agree with you more. It really is amazing how the fanbots on here will tow the Apple line on something as preposterous as this. The excuse that its not in the OS is pathetic.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business.
What would you expect the CEO of a rental place to say? "Oh I want to continue renting a superior physical format rather than a cheaper digital format!"
I expect we will see those new mobile processors. Along with, perhaps, an "iMac Air" model (like that leaked ad said) which will still have Core 2 Duo / Geforce 9400 until Intel has new dual-core processors next year.
It's difficult to imagine Apple putting a $500 CPU into an iMac, let alone a $1000 CPU. There are powerful enough CPUs in the $300 to $400 range.
In a way, thank AMD for their lack of products for intels high prices. Back in the day when the atlon was out and intel needed 1000mhz more over amd just to compete, intel had cheap prices. Also, if you can build a i7 core hackntosh for $1000-1200, apple should be able to release headless non ecc machines. No reason we need server CPUs and memory on a desktop anyway. Leave them for the servers.
Having just had a LaCie hard drive die on me with all my Time Machine backups, I could not agree with you more. It really is amazing how the fanbots on here will tow the Apple line on something as preposterous as this. The excuse that its not in the OS is pathetic.
This is why I have an optical backup of my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on dual-layered DVD-Rs. A Blu-ray drive, however, would make that process so much easier. Just 1 disk instead of 3 to back up my photos or 4 instead of 12 to back up my iTunes.
This is why I have an optical backup of my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on dual-layered DVD-Rs. A Blu-ray drive, however, would make that process so much easier. Just 1 disk instead of 3 to back up my photos or 4 instead of 12 to back up my iTunes.
I totally agree. Why people think these HDDs are better is ridiculous. Weren't optical discs made to last hundreds of years?
I think the CEO at Netflix is being a bit overly optimistic. Have you seen the quality of Netflix streaming on a 42" or larger screen. It's nothing to write home about. Also, who's watching movies on a 13"-15" screen. I know that is the most common way to watch the streaming content from Netflix, but speaking from personal experience, it's just doesn't cut it. That's why you're staring to see the Netflix feature on a bunch of new set-top devices. People just don't want to watch TV on their laptops.
I was/still am holding out some hope that Apple will do a BR drive (if at least in the MacPro). If not, then that is precisely what I'll have to do, get a 3rd-party drive. But to reiterate, I have 0 need to play back Blu-ray movies or even my own authored discs on the computer. I will test them on home equipment because that is where they will ultimately be played.
And yet Netflix streaming is growing, Hulu is incredibly popular, I hear YouTube has a lot of veiwers and paid for digital rentals and purchases appear to be gaining in popularity. No one is saying that Blu-ray media on a large HDTV isn't great, but don't discount an experience that is "good enough" and convenient.
I watch most of my TV shows on Hulu in 480p. The ones that don't air I watch as torrented AVIs in SD. I could go for the HD versions but th extra wait for the DL is inconvnient and the SD is "good enough". I sinply choose not to wait a year for the entire season to be put on Blu-ray before I watch it. That may work for you, and that is fine, you have your option, but moat people are more likely in my camp, looking for a simple convenient solution. L
PS: If traveling with BRD was such a priority then the uptake on Windows machines would be higher. It's just a popular scenerio in the real world.
You bring up an an interesting point but again the limitations you speak of are designed into the Blu-ray specification. They have managed copy coming to ease some of the space shifting issues but that again will require new hardware.
Apple and other companies pushing streaming and downloads want the media to be portable in that you download it and have use on multiple yet disparate playback devices.
Maybe you want to watch a movie on your Apple TV only to stop it later and transfer it to your Macbook for final viewing. With Blu-ray you're stuck with a physical disk that has been fortified to a ridiculous extent. So you either infest every part of your life with Blu-ray devices (which is what Sony wants you to do) in order to view your content everywhere or you find another solution.
This isn't a Blu-ray vs digital media argument. Blu-ray will continue to exist with digital media. If your only reason for not supporting it is to push your own format, you should re-evaluate what you are doing. I know Apple does things like this all the time, but it doesn't make sense to shun Blu-ray for much longer. You don't see Apple not supporting CDs because they offer mp3s on the iTunes store.
If done right, they could even use Blu-ray to promote the iTunes store.
Step 1: Upgrade the iTunes store/Apple TV to 1080p with pricing lower than Blu-ray
Step 2: Offer Blu-ray as a build to order option
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit
Now with that setup, the average Joe would look at the options and wonder: "why would I pay extra for a Blu-ray drive and extra for the Blu-ray disks when I can just buy it on the iTunes store?" The average Joe doesn't know a thing about bitrates so the quality would be assessed as equal, with the iTunes Store offering the cheaper option. Meanwhile, anyone wanting Blu-ray can get it. Also I'm sure that Apple gets a cut from the digital copies bundled with Blu-rays, and I imagine managed copy will be the same except for the fact that a Blu-ray drive will be required to access it.
Comments
The idea of Apple including a read-only Blu-ray drive is preposterous.
I'd love to see a Blu-ray drive, but ONLY one that can burn Blu-ray disks.
Contrary to some people's fantasies, one still needs the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
There are Blu-ray readers that double as DVD/CD burners you know? The question is not whether you need to burn DVDs and CDs, but whether or not you need to burn Blu-rays. I would wager that most people don't need to. Of course adding a Blu-ray reader to the mac pro with no Blu-ray writer available would be stupid.
The same thing as when the iMac added the DVD drive in 1999- current technology and the ability to watch a Blu-ray on your Mac and directly access its special features via the internet. Even if its just a player- add it already. Apple used to call it the "cool factor" in the iMac line. Remember the "Rebirth of Cool" campaign? That was the addition of DVD.
No, "cool" was Apple removing floppy disk drives back in the 90's.
Just let the blu-ray thing sink. Nobody cares. Really. Just look at every market related to blu-ray. Nobody cares! I'd rather have a cheaper iMac. I'd rather have a cpu with .2 more power. I'd rather have 8GB RAM, standard.
Apple's media strategy is all moving on-line like everybody else's. Storage?? ...please
In a manner of speaking, the OS does support it, just not for viewing Blu-ray movies. Final Cut 7, Compressor 3.5 and Toast 10 all support Blu-ray burning.
The OS doesn't support it. Certain programs support burning. Burning does not require OS support, but due to the stupid copyright protection Blu-rays have, OS support is required for playback. Simple program support isn't enough.
The OS doesn't support it. Certain programs support burning. Burning does not require OS support, but due to the stupid copyright protection Blu-rays have, OS support is required for playback. Simple program support isn't enough.
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
Supporting Blu-Ray is as important as furthering the iTunes on-line digital media solution.
How so?? And, I don't see why the word "iTunes" even need be included in that sentence.
And I agree, the adoption of BR is very slow; people generally don't see the need to replace their DVD libraries with expensive BR disks and new players, marketing hype not withstanding.
Actually, the adoption rate for Blu-ray is progressing faster than DVD did at the same point in it's life cycle. I read it over at http://www.thedigitalbits.com but I don't have the specific link to the article. Will try to find it. And for me at least, it's not about replacing my library. The older movies I have are fine on DVD. However, going forward, I'd much rather have the HD version of the new movies I like. Believe it or not, Blu-ray movies really do look a lot better (provided you have the equipment to realize it's potential). Sorry if I went off-topic.
I think I have a better shot at finding a household with a Blu-ray player than one with a device either in or connected to their TV that'll play back HD movies/files. Only thing I have that will do that (beside my computers) is a PS3.
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple?s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn?t going to be seen on a 13 or 15? display and in the end convenience wins out. With Apple pushing digital video so hard, reports that Blu-ray adoption in PCs are very weak and with this new news about Netflix it doesn?t look like a good bet to expect Blu-ray drives across the Mac line. There simply isn?t a high enough financial benefit for Apple and each passing day it gets smaller.
Contrary to some people's fantasies, one still needs the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
I?m ?one?, and I don?t need to burn anything. I use HDDs, Flash drives and various internet services to transfer and backup my stuff. Haven?t needed an optical drive in my PC for years now. Granted, I?m ahead of the curve and can?t wait for Apple to nix them from their notebook line altogether. Though i do love watching a good movie on Blu-ray in front of a nice big HDTV.
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
Then you can buy any 3rd-party Blu-ray drive to suit your needs. But if you want to watch an authored movie you need to have OS support of AACS.
Consumers want to to be able to timeshift their recordings and space shift (viewing on portable media players, other TVs located elsewhere in the home etc). In fact the DVR is showing interesting trends. Televised series are showing more uptake but on a delayed schedule as people record interesting shows and then watch them later.
http://www.californiachronicle.com/a...s/yb/136439534
Flexibility is the key and I don't really see where the iMac getting Blu-ray gives any flexibility beyond simple playback.
It really is a technology that was just too little too late. Sure the numeric numbers are stronger than DVD but unlike VHS acquiescing to DVD we have so many more sources for content now. The pie overall is larger but there's more competition for that pie.
I see your point, but program support is enough for me. Like I said in another reply, I don't need to watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on a 24" screen.
Quality isn't really the issue here, not being able to play your media is.
Lets say you buy Blu-rays to watch on your home theater setup at home. Now you want to take your movies with you on the road, but your macbook pro can't play Blu-ray movies, so you have to hope the Blu-ray came with a digital copy (you can't rip Blu-ray movies on a mac either) or you have to re-purchase the movie in a format that can be played on your mac (basically iTunes or DVD).
The moral of the story is that not supporting an industry standard is bad. Blu-ray adoption rates may be slow, but it is still becoming an industry standard. Adoption is picking up, HDTVs are coming down in cost, there are some cheaper Blu-ray movies now and the DVD sections in stores are shrinking and being pushed to the back of the store.
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple’s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn’t going to be seen on a 13 or 15” display and in the end convenience wins out.
As above, there is nothing convenient about buying the same movie twice. I agree that digital streaming and downloads will eventually win out, but much like CD's physical media is going to stick around for a while. It is better to offer support for that physical media than not.
Quality isn't really the issue here, not being able to play your media is.
Lets say you buy Blu-rays to watch on your home theater setup at home. Now you want to take your movies with you on the road, but your macbook pro can't play Blu-ray movies, so you have to hope the Blu-ray came with a digital copy (you can't rip Blu-ray movies on a mac either) or you have to re-purchase the movie in a format that can be played on your mac (basically iTunes or DVD).
The moral of the story is that not supporting an industry standard is bad. Blu-ray adoption rates may be slow, but it is still becoming an industry standard. Adoption is picking up, HDTVs are coming down in cost, there are some cheaper Blu-ray movies now and the DVD sections in stores are shrinking and being pushed to the back of the store.
You bring up an an interesting point but again the limitations you speak of are designed into the Blu-ray specification. They have managed copy coming to ease some of the space shifting issues but that again will require new hardware.
Apple and other companies pushing streaming and downloads want the media to be portable in that you download it and have use on multiple yet disparate playback devices.
Maybe you want to watch a movie on your Apple TV only to stop it later and transfer it to your Macbook for final viewing. With Blu-ray you're stuck with a physical disk that has been fortified to a ridiculous extent. So you either infest every part of your life with Blu-ray devices (which is what Sony wants you to do) in order to view your content everywhere or you find another solution.
For the home entertainment system, Blu-ray is great. A Blu-ray appliance and a huge ass HDTV make a perfect combo. Having a Blu-ray player on Apple’s most popular Mac, their notebooks, is pointless for all but those that jerk it to tech specs.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business. Without question, the movies put on Blu-ray look a considerably better than over even HD streaming, but that quality isn’t going to be seen on a 13 or 15” display and in the end convenience wins out. With Apple pushing digital video so hard, reports that Blu-ray adoption in PCs are very weak and with this new news about Netflix it doesn’t look like a good bet to expect Blu-ray drives across the Mac line. There simply isn’t a high enough financial benefit for Apple and each passing day it gets smaller.
I’m ‘one’, and I don’t need to burn anything. I use HDDs, Flash drives and various internet services to transfer and backup my stuff. Haven’t needed an optical drive in my PC for years now. Granted, I’m ahead of the curve and can’t wait for Apple to nix them from their notebook line altogether. Though i do love watching a good movie on Blu-ray in front of a nice big HDTV.
Then you can buy any 3rd-party Blu-ray drive to suit your needs. But if you want to watch an authored movie you need to have OS support of AACS.
I think the CEO at Netflix is being a bit overly optimistic. Have you seen the quality of Netflix streaming on a 42" or larger screen. It's nothing to write home about. Also, who's watching movies on a 13"-15" screen. I know that is the most common way to watch the streaming content from Netflix, but speaking from personal experience, it's just doesn't cut it. That's why you're starting to see the Netflix feature on a bunch of new set-top devices. People just don't want to watch TV on their laptops.
I was/still am holding out some hope that Apple will do a BR drive (if at least in the MacPro). If not, then that is precisely what I'll have to do, get a 3rd-party drive. But to reiterate, I have 0 need to play back Blu-ray movies or even my own authored discs on the computer. I will test them on home equipment because that is where they will ultimately be played.
In a manner of speaking, the OS does support it, just not for viewing Blu-ray movies. Final Cut 7, Compressor 3.5 and Toast 10 all support Blu-ray burning. And it's really not about watching Blu-ray movies on my Mac. I can do that on my flat panel in my living room. It's about burning BR discs either for content delivery or backup/archival purposes. I can get a 15-pack of 25GB blanks from Amazon and back up 100GB of data for $10 that won't be subject to drive failure.
Having just had a LaCie HDD die on me with all my Time Machine backups, I could not agree with you more. It really is amazing how the fanbots on here will tow the Apple line on something as preposterous as this. The excuse that its not in the OS is pathetic.
Note that even CEO of Netflix stated that within 2 years digital streaming will beat out optical media in their business.
What would you expect the CEO of a rental place to say? "Oh I want to continue renting a superior physical format rather than a cheaper digital format!"
It's difficult to imagine Apple putting a $500 CPU into an iMac, let alone a $1000 CPU. There are powerful enough CPUs in the $300 to $400 range.
In a way, thank AMD for their lack of products for intels high prices. Back in the day when the atlon was out and intel needed 1000mhz more over amd just to compete, intel had cheap prices. Also, if you can build a i7 core hackntosh for $1000-1200, apple should be able to release headless non ecc machines. No reason we need server CPUs and memory on a desktop anyway. Leave them for the servers.
Peace.
Having just had a LaCie hard drive die on me with all my Time Machine backups, I could not agree with you more. It really is amazing how the fanbots on here will tow the Apple line on something as preposterous as this. The excuse that its not in the OS is pathetic.
This is why I have an optical backup of my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on dual-layered DVD-Rs. A Blu-ray drive, however, would make that process so much easier. Just 1 disk instead of 3 to back up my photos or 4 instead of 12 to back up my iTunes.
This is why I have an optical backup of my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on dual-layered DVD-Rs. A Blu-ray drive, however, would make that process so much easier. Just 1 disk instead of 3 to back up my photos or 4 instead of 12 to back up my iTunes.
I totally agree. Why people think these HDDs are better is ridiculous. Weren't optical discs made to last hundreds of years?
I think the CEO at Netflix is being a bit overly optimistic. Have you seen the quality of Netflix streaming on a 42" or larger screen. It's nothing to write home about. Also, who's watching movies on a 13"-15" screen. I know that is the most common way to watch the streaming content from Netflix, but speaking from personal experience, it's just doesn't cut it. That's why you're staring to see the Netflix feature on a bunch of new set-top devices. People just don't want to watch TV on their laptops.
I was/still am holding out some hope that Apple will do a BR drive (if at least in the MacPro). If not, then that is precisely what I'll have to do, get a 3rd-party drive. But to reiterate, I have 0 need to play back Blu-ray movies or even my own authored discs on the computer. I will test them on home equipment because that is where they will ultimately be played.
And yet Netflix streaming is growing, Hulu is incredibly popular, I hear YouTube has a lot of veiwers and paid for digital rentals and purchases appear to be gaining in popularity. No one is saying that Blu-ray media on a large HDTV isn't great, but don't discount an experience that is "good enough" and convenient.
I watch most of my TV shows on Hulu in 480p. The ones that don't air I watch as torrented AVIs in SD. I could go for the HD versions but th extra wait for the DL is inconvnient and the SD is "good enough". I sinply choose not to wait a year for the entire season to be put on Blu-ray before I watch it. That may work for you, and that is fine, you have your option, but moat people are more likely in my camp, looking for a simple convenient solution. L
PS: If traveling with BRD was such a priority then the uptake on Windows machines would be higher. It's just a popular scenerio in the real world.
You bring up an an interesting point but again the limitations you speak of are designed into the Blu-ray specification. They have managed copy coming to ease some of the space shifting issues but that again will require new hardware.
Apple and other companies pushing streaming and downloads want the media to be portable in that you download it and have use on multiple yet disparate playback devices.
Maybe you want to watch a movie on your Apple TV only to stop it later and transfer it to your Macbook for final viewing. With Blu-ray you're stuck with a physical disk that has been fortified to a ridiculous extent. So you either infest every part of your life with Blu-ray devices (which is what Sony wants you to do) in order to view your content everywhere or you find another solution.
This isn't a Blu-ray vs digital media argument. Blu-ray will continue to exist with digital media. If your only reason for not supporting it is to push your own format, you should re-evaluate what you are doing. I know Apple does things like this all the time, but it doesn't make sense to shun Blu-ray for much longer. You don't see Apple not supporting CDs because they offer mp3s on the iTunes store.
If done right, they could even use Blu-ray to promote the iTunes store.
Step 1: Upgrade the iTunes store/Apple TV to 1080p with pricing lower than Blu-ray
Step 2: Offer Blu-ray as a build to order option
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit
Now with that setup, the average Joe would look at the options and wonder: "why would I pay extra for a Blu-ray drive and extra for the Blu-ray disks when I can just buy it on the iTunes store?" The average Joe doesn't know a thing about bitrates so the quality would be assessed as equal, with the iTunes Store offering the cheaper option. Meanwhile, anyone wanting Blu-ray can get it. Also I'm sure that Apple gets a cut from the digital copies bundled with Blu-rays, and I imagine managed copy will be the same except for the fact that a Blu-ray drive will be required to access it.