With most affordable Windows laptops having abysmal screen resolution and battery life (some 14 and 15" models still do not exceed 800 lines), what is the point of wasting energy to decompress more pixels than one can see? Just to claim you have joined the dead? Clever marketing indeed.
Do those budget laptops with low-res screens come with BluRay?
So you find that to be convenience option you want, but most people aren?t going to want to spend an excessive amount of money to pay for a Blu-ray player to watch the occasional movie on their notebook.
That may or may not be true (you just made it up, eh?).
But it may well be true that most people would welcome the option to get a BluRay player, whether they end up with one or not.
Your statement seems to depend on the premise that unless "most people" will want it, it should not be an option.
Hm, there is a need to have a backup of this quality output, BDs are sensitive and kids are cruel. As long as the industry does not enable private copies, or offers replacement disks for just postage and handling charges... I will use whatever illegal method is available to me.
Why not just walk into a store and steal a second copy? What is the difference?
I'l bet if you surveyed a random sample of Mac owners, not the fanatics on the boards here, and asked them did the want BR the majority would say yes. I'd say 99% of the Mac Mini crowd would immediately.
I am one of the fanatics, but I do want Blue-Ray! At least give us the option...
I do not own a single pirated movie, software or song. I was talking exclusively about protecting my investment in content I have legally purchased.
.
you have purchased no content. You have purchased hunks of plastic. The content is protected, unless somebody hacks it illegally and makes an illegal infringing copy. You want a second copy? Buy it.
Do those budget laptops with low-res screens come with BluRay?
"Most" of them?
Well, I have seen some that do come with a BD player (not burner) - some of them without playback software, or only a trial version (that let's you view the piracy warning, I assume), but (and this is purely anecdotal, as I do not really look hard for one of those) they seem to be the minority, and it's usually rather thick/fat models having sufficient space for the cheaper 12.5mm modules.
Why not just walk into a store and steal a second copy? What is the difference?
As you certainly understand perfectly well, the difference is that stealing goods is something entirely different than making a backup of something you do own. And yes, if I have paid for a DVD or BD, I do own it, not the rights to the included content, not the right to create derivative works, not the right to use the material for performances, but the right of fair use.
I do not see how this is at all logical. I can tell you that 99.9% of people can not tell the difference between 1080p and 720p in a device that has a 17" screen or smaller. MOST PC's don't even have a screen that can display 1080p, and if they can who cares? The screen is just to small to show the difference. Thats like saying a phone camera with 5mp takes worst pictures than a camera with 8mp. Its not always that easy, the size of the sensor plays a large role in the picture quality. Same for blu-ray. I LOVE my 50" Samsung and the blu-ray attached to it, but I can't tell the difference between my friends HP with blu-ray and my 2010 15" MacBook Pro with a 720p iTunes movie. I know a lot of people with disagree with me, but most people can't tell. And by all means, who cares on a smaller screen, blu-ray was made for home theaters, not laptops. Thus they give you a digital copy for computers.
People always talk about watching movies on the plane. I HAVE watched movies on my computer on a plane, and I have seen other people do it but it is a rarity.
True enough. Laptops are a PITA in coach, and the bigger the laptop, the bigger the pain. And once the doofus in front of you settles into the fully reclined position about 10 minutes into the flight, it's all over. When I got the Gen1 iPod Touch, watching movies on a plane became enjoyable for the first time.
you have purchased no content. You have purchased hunks of plastic. The content is protected, unless somebody hacks it illegally and makes an illegal infringing copy. You want a second copy? Buy it.
I don't watch the hunk of plastic, I watch the content. I promise not to make a copy of the hunk of plastic.
I think most laptops will last three hours ok. This is actually a good angle for MS, as there's no real reason or excuse for the lack of Blu-Ray support for Mac, other than "licensing issues" which means Jobs didn't get his own way and all the pie. His assertion that BR is a dead format is bollocks, as the sales grew way over 100% on last year, some half a billion in revenue.
Anyone who says that there's no difference with that and downloaded or streaming content is also misinformed, as I have Apple TV 2 and a PS3, and the difference is night and day, honestly. That's before you factor in the time it takes to download and getting throttled by your ISP for streaming 30GB films a month. (BT I am looking at you)
Another ridiculous post from the ill informed and misguided - Wow! BR was $500 million in sales last year! Sorry fool but that makes it a minor player in the grand scheme of things. BR is a single feature and is in no way a reason to buy or not buy a particular brand of laptop. BTW, do you even realize that MSFT DOES NOT MAKE computers and therefore has no control over wether or not one comes with BR functionality? DUH! Further, on a laptop screen, the video quality difference is negligible, especially realizing that Macs typically have higher res screens than most laptops in use today. Another big DUH at you...
A quick google search will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the difference between 720p and 1080p is really only tangible on displays larger than 48".
Well, while there is some truth in this, stating it like that is patently false. You need to consider a lot more than the screen size, at least the pixel pitch, the viewing distance and the resolution capabilities of the human eye (which are not constant among different people). E.g. I sit so far away from my TV set, that I can't even tell the difference between upscaled DVDs, 720p and 1080p in most cases (unless the DVD is really crappy) - and it is a 55" model.
Somebody crawling almost into a full HD 17" laptop might indeed see a minor difference in quality. But who would watch a feature film length movie in such a position? From a regular viewing distance, at least 3-4 times the diagonal of the screen, it becomes pretty indistinguishable though.
I travel A LOT and I assure you the last thing I want to do is lug around bluray discs and be popping them into my computer so that I can watch my battery meter go down faster than Enron.
If someone sat beside me on the plane and was thrilled that they could pop in a bluray I'd say "Great. By the way, have you seen my iPad? It holds 12 bluray movies and last 10 hours."
Blu-ray support is not critical yet (maybe desirable for a few) and the licensing terms (not the cost) are ridiculous. Apple will not alter the OS kernel (DVD Player software is not the problem) to adhere to their DRM phantasies and that is a good thing. The industry is already working on BD successors and as soon as they have a new toy at hands, licensing conditions for BD will become less restrictive. This will be early enough to implement it.
What are these "ridiculous" licensing terms? Or are you just going on what Steve claims?
And why wouldn't Apple alter their kernel for support, they have already added HDCP support to the OS
Physical media is a dying tech, bring on the digital files, Its been 3 years now since I've gone out and purchased a physical DVD movie. I probably wont ever go back to brick and mortar stores for movies either.
CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray are all digital, yes they are physical, but you have to physically store that downloaded movie on something as well.
And just because you don't do something, doesn't meant the other 6 billion odd people on the earth do that same thing.
Comments
Meh. I've been ripping our Blu-Rays to disk. It's easy and plays beautifully with Plex.
Apple's problem is their insistence that 720p is 'good enough.' It ain't.
1080p, Steve. 1080p.
The fact is that nobody can see the difference unless they have a TV set which is at a minimum 55 inches. Otherwise, 720p is a retina display.
Hm, if they could just make up their minds once...
http://www.gearlog.com/2010/09/micro...res_blu-ra.php
With most affordable Windows laptops having abysmal screen resolution and battery life (some 14 and 15" models still do not exceed 800 lines), what is the point of wasting energy to decompress more pixels than one can see? Just to claim you have joined the dead? Clever marketing indeed.
Do those budget laptops with low-res screens come with BluRay?
"Most" of them?
The fact is that nobody can see the difference unless they have a TV set which is at a minimum 55 inches. Otherwise, 720p is a retina display.
Not this again.
So you find that to be convenience option you want, but most people aren?t going to want to spend an excessive amount of money to pay for a Blu-ray player to watch the occasional movie on their notebook.
That may or may not be true (you just made it up, eh?).
But it may well be true that most people would welcome the option to get a BluRay player, whether they end up with one or not.
Your statement seems to depend on the premise that unless "most people" will want it, it should not be an option.
Hm, there is a need to have a backup of this quality output, BDs are sensitive and kids are cruel. As long as the industry does not enable private copies, or offers replacement disks for just postage and handling charges... I will use whatever illegal method is available to me.
Why not just walk into a store and steal a second copy? What is the difference?
I'l bet if you surveyed a random sample of Mac owners, not the fanatics on the boards here, and asked them did the want BR the majority would say yes. I'd say 99% of the Mac Mini crowd would immediately.
I am one of the fanatics, but I do want Blue-Ray! At least give us the option...
people saying "Lord Jobs" or "papa jobs"...
How do you feel about "Big Brother Jobs"?
I do not own a single pirated movie, software or song. I was talking exclusively about protecting my investment in content I have legally purchased.
.
you have purchased no content. You have purchased hunks of plastic. The content is protected, unless somebody hacks it illegally and makes an illegal infringing copy. You want a second copy? Buy it.
Do those budget laptops with low-res screens come with BluRay?
"Most" of them?
Well, I have seen some that do come with a BD player (not burner) - some of them without playback software, or only a trial version (that let's you view the piracy warning, I assume), but (and this is purely anecdotal, as I do not really look hard for one of those) they seem to be the minority, and it's usually rather thick/fat models having sufficient space for the cheaper 12.5mm modules.
Why not just walk into a store and steal a second copy? What is the difference?
As you certainly understand perfectly well, the difference is that stealing goods is something entirely different than making a backup of something you do own. And yes, if I have paid for a DVD or BD, I do own it, not the rights to the included content, not the right to create derivative works, not the right to use the material for performances, but the right of fair use.
People always talk about watching movies on the plane. I HAVE watched movies on my computer on a plane, and I have seen other people do it but it is a rarity.
True enough. Laptops are a PITA in coach, and the bigger the laptop, the bigger the pain. And once the doofus in front of you settles into the fully reclined position about 10 minutes into the flight, it's all over. When I got the Gen1 iPod Touch, watching movies on a plane became enjoyable for the first time.
you have purchased no content. You have purchased hunks of plastic. The content is protected, unless somebody hacks it illegally and makes an illegal infringing copy. You want a second copy? Buy it.
I don't watch the hunk of plastic, I watch the content. I promise not to make a copy of the hunk of plastic.
I think most laptops will last three hours ok. This is actually a good angle for MS, as there's no real reason or excuse for the lack of Blu-Ray support for Mac, other than "licensing issues" which means Jobs didn't get his own way and all the pie. His assertion that BR is a dead format is bollocks, as the sales grew way over 100% on last year, some half a billion in revenue.
Anyone who says that there's no difference with that and downloaded or streaming content is also misinformed, as I have Apple TV 2 and a PS3, and the difference is night and day, honestly. That's before you factor in the time it takes to download and getting throttled by your ISP for streaming 30GB films a month. (BT I am looking at you)
Another ridiculous post from the ill informed and misguided - Wow! BR was $500 million in sales last year! Sorry fool but that makes it a minor player in the grand scheme of things. BR is a single feature and is in no way a reason to buy or not buy a particular brand of laptop. BTW, do you even realize that MSFT DOES NOT MAKE computers and therefore has no control over wether or not one comes with BR functionality? DUH! Further, on a laptop screen, the video quality difference is negligible, especially realizing that Macs typically have higher res screens than most laptops in use today. Another big DUH at you...
A quick google search will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the difference between 720p and 1080p is really only tangible on displays larger than 48".
Well, while there is some truth in this, stating it like that is patently false. You need to consider a lot more than the screen size, at least the pixel pitch, the viewing distance and the resolution capabilities of the human eye (which are not constant among different people). E.g. I sit so far away from my TV set, that I can't even tell the difference between upscaled DVDs, 720p and 1080p in most cases (unless the DVD is really crappy) - and it is a 55" model.
Somebody crawling almost into a full HD 17" laptop might indeed see a minor difference in quality. But who would watch a feature film length movie in such a position? From a regular viewing distance, at least 3-4 times the diagonal of the screen, it becomes pretty indistinguishable though.
I travel A LOT and I assure you the last thing I want to do is lug around bluray discs and be popping them into my computer so that I can watch my battery meter go down faster than Enron.
If someone sat beside me on the plane and was thrilled that they could pop in a bluray I'd say "Great. By the way, have you seen my iPad? It holds 12 bluray movies and last 10 hours."
You have a 500GB iPad?
You have a 500GB iPad?
That makes perfect sense¡
Blu-ray support is not critical yet (maybe desirable for a few) and the licensing terms (not the cost) are ridiculous. Apple will not alter the OS kernel (DVD Player software is not the problem) to adhere to their DRM phantasies and that is a good thing. The industry is already working on BD successors and as soon as they have a new toy at hands, licensing conditions for BD will become less restrictive. This will be early enough to implement it.
What are these "ridiculous" licensing terms? Or are you just going on what Steve claims?
And why wouldn't Apple alter their kernel for support, they have already added HDCP support to the OS
Physical media is a dying tech, bring on the digital files, Its been 3 years now since I've gone out and purchased a physical DVD movie. I probably wont ever go back to brick and mortar stores for movies either.
CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray are all digital, yes they are physical, but you have to physically store that downloaded movie on something as well.
And just because you don't do something, doesn't meant the other 6 billion odd people on the earth do that same thing.