Apple's new strategy... extrapolating to other (NEW) DLDs...
HP to rebrand Apple iPods
this is great news for apple....
but they better not fuck it up...
they also should expand this idea to more components... like set top boxes and other peripherals where they can provide a distinct advantage, not only for their platform but for others as well.
the next logical expansion of this is either iChat with iSight or iPhoto with some kind of media device (or one that plugs into the iPod ala the belkin media reader)
but this still leaves out VIDEO content... Apple NEEDS to develop an "iTunes for videos"... something that will organize media files from DVDs to downloaded content such as trailers and music videos...
as soon as it matures in OS X port it to windows, with a DLD (digital lifestyle device read: $$$$) and then re-brand it with other wintel manufactures... (apple and DELL??? shudder... I can't wait to read what AtAT has to say about this
!)
they need to compete on features and price... and not tie it to the macintosh platform...
the idea is to push people to a mac after they see how easy it can be with specially picked applications for windows (AND LINUX!!!/beos/"your OS here")
(on second thought this post might be better suited to general discussion, would a mod please move?)
this is great news for apple....
but they better not fuck it up...
they also should expand this idea to more components... like set top boxes and other peripherals where they can provide a distinct advantage, not only for their platform but for others as well.
the next logical expansion of this is either iChat with iSight or iPhoto with some kind of media device (or one that plugs into the iPod ala the belkin media reader)
but this still leaves out VIDEO content... Apple NEEDS to develop an "iTunes for videos"... something that will organize media files from DVDs to downloaded content such as trailers and music videos...
as soon as it matures in OS X port it to windows, with a DLD (digital lifestyle device read: $$$$) and then re-brand it with other wintel manufactures... (apple and DELL??? shudder... I can't wait to read what AtAT has to say about this
!)they need to compete on features and price... and not tie it to the macintosh platform...
the idea is to push people to a mac after they see how easy it can be with specially picked applications for windows (AND LINUX!!!/beos/"your OS here")
(on second thought this post might be better suited to general discussion, would a mod please move?)
Comments
1.) High-speed connections get more widely deployed (Well they are well on the way)
2.) MP4 becomes more predominant
3.) The MPAA gets the stick out of it's collective butt
4.) Better video delivery systems come into play
I don't think Apple will take a crack at this market. The cable companies will take care of video-on-demand for the home, and I don't see portable video players going anywhere until the video version of the headphone is successfully done.
that kind of thing can happen RIGHT NOW, no bullshit about downloading movies that take forever... I want the DVDs that I personally bought to be with me... why not?
and video on demand is being taken over by the cable companies (for cheap!) but it is still tied to the TV... what if I want to watch the replay of the game on the way up to boston?
I'm not saying that apple should jump in feet first and expect the market(s) to take off... but this is a feature that is being stressed on the wintel side (the video thing anyway) and I think apple can beat them to the punch in other areas (iChat AV, iPhoto DB). So far every "iLife" app has been really productive... even when iPhoto was terribly slow, people still used it because it made sense...
there are 3rd party alternatives... (DVDXCopy, among others) but the integration that apple can bring with the rest of the suite is where the honey lies...
lets say I want to take PulpFiction and remake it in chronological order? well, thats just garage band for video... isn't it? well really DVDs, not video, because that is iMovie...
rather then recording the movie to my DV cam there should be a way to get the content off the disk directly into iMovie...
Originally posted by Big Mac
Unfortunately, what you advocate is apparently illegal, Paul. That's the reason why Apple hasn't touched DVD copying whatsoever. Unlike audio CD content, there's no fair use right attached to DVDs.
then why is DVDXCopy sold in compUSA and other computer stores?
I thought fair use had to do with ALL copyrighted works...
thats why you can make a backup of computer software and even use titles on two computers (laptop and desktop) provided you are the only person using it...
also there is the VCR issue...
I fail to see how DVDs are different other then the fact that they are MUCH bigger and the compression/quality ratio is nowhere near what it is for music...
I don't think that Apple has anything to offer in the CE space besides what they are currently offering. Why would a company go with an Apple solution over a TiVo solution or MS solution? The iPod is a different story. Apple has proved that the iPod is a viable platform and is the portable player to have. HP wanted in on the digital music thing so rather then go with a MS solution and use some crappy music store and worse player, they went to the best. Apple has no clear advantage in any other area.
Originally posted by HOM
Apple has no clear advantage in any other area.
THATS THE POINT
they have no clear advantage BECAUSE THEY ARN'T THERE...
was there a clear advantage for getting into the MP3 space way back when 2+ years ago? Most people didn't think so (of course I had faith and bought one the day they came out
the point is that apple could follow this path with LOTS of other areas...
one example that is halfway there is iChat... with some more work iChat & iSight could be BIG--even if it is just for mac users...
but when/if iChat is ported... look for it to take off... (might not see the re-branding here tho, as the peripheral is tied to a computer...)
also, about DMCA... apple has already convinced the RIAA to yield (even if it only was a little) to their plan(s) and showed them that they have vision... they could extend this "clairvoyance" to the MPAA to allow DVD's to be "ripped" legally...
this would also open the door to a "video Pod" that so many analysts expect apple to make in the near future...
Originally posted by Big Mac
Unfortunately, what you advocate is apparently illegal, Paul. That's the reason why Apple hasn't touched DVD copying whatsoever. Unlike audio CD content, there's no fair use right attached to DVDs.
If this were correct then even playing a DVD movie in a DVD player would be illegal. Instead it's not illegal to decrypt a DVD as long as you're not decrypting it in order to circumvent copy protection. If you use a DVD backup program for your own use that's fine. If you use it with the intention of making copies of your movies to sell them on the street, that's illegal (as well as selling them.)
Quicktime recently added support for the latest cellphone video formats. So it is not far fetched to say that we might see a handheld video conferencing device of some kind.
If you look at Microsoft's mobile media player, I don't see a market for it at this time. Maybe it will look good with goggles that give you a iMax effect.
On a note, the fact that a few companies are dictating terms to the entire industry on the DVD front has forced countries like China to come up with their own enhanced version of DVD (EVD) and make devices to support the same. They don't want to deal with the bullshit and royalties for using DVD technology. MPAA needs to take lessons from RIAA before getting itself screwed over.
Originally posted by Big Mac
HOM put it exactly the right way. Take a look at what happened to the author of DECSS or whatever it's called, a program designed to play DVDs on Linux. As HOM said, the DMCA makes circumventing encryption illegal. Plain audio CDs aren't encrypted, but DVDs are. Where there is encryption, there is no fair use. The MPAA has drawn a line in the sand concerning DVDs. If consumers were smart, we would stop buying them. But we aren't, so we're going to have put up with it.
Ehmm..... a couple of points.
1: The author of DeCSS is called Jon Johansen and he is a citizen of Norway. Consequently he is not subject to the jurisdiction of the DMCA.
2: Had he been under the jurisdiction of the draconian regulations of the DMCA working for the plutocraty of big business he probably wouldn't have been ACQUITTED which he was.
His latest exploit, BTW, is circumvention of the copyprotection in ITMS downloaded songs.
However, even given that, most people own far fewer movies than CDs and watch them far less often than they listen to music. Portable music makes sense in a way that portable movies do not because you can listen to music while getting around; movies command your full attention. Carrying a movie over to a friend's is not that much harder right now than it would be over an iPod. DVDs aren't that big, and unless you're planning a 13-hour Lord of the Rings marathon you only need one.
If there are any visual uses for the iPod, I'd say photos are obvious, and perhaps iMovies (although, again, you can just burn a DVD, which can fit a whole bunch of typical iMovies).
HP's decision to go with the iPod and the iTMS is sending shock waves through the Industry and pumping both HP and Apples stock up by over 5% as we discuss whether it's a good idea for Apple to develop another iGadget or iBox set-top thingy.
How does the HP/Apple announcement relate to this discussion? Well I found an interesting quote from HP at CNN/Money concerning their future plans for an "entertainment hub":
HP also announced plans to start selling this fall what it calls an "entertainment hub" that will include a single, central storage device, as well as a distribution and access point for all music, photo, video and movie collections in the home.
Might this be a device, that, like the iPod and the Xserver RAID, can be used by any operating system? If Apple were to build a device that acted as an "entertainment hub" to be sold to anyone with a TV, wouldn't they want it to be a stand alone device that was platform agnostic? Think of the jump in sales for both the iPod and the iTMS when they fully opened it to Windows users.
To bad the xBox name is already taken.
Originally posted by Amorph
Steve might have a surprising amount of pull as far as relaxing copy protection is concerned: Not only is he demonstrating how it works for music, but he'd also be putting Pixar's content - some of the most sought-after in circulation - on the line. The movie industry might be more willing to listen to him given that he stands to gain or lose at least as much as they do.
Doesn't Disney own the distribution rights to Pixar movies? Steve would have to negotiate to sell movies he owns on a computer platform he runs
Might this be a device, that, like the iPod and the Xserver RAID, can be used by any operating system? If Apple were to build a device that acted as an "entertainment hub" to be sold to anyone with a TV, wouldn't they want it to be a stand alone device that was platform agnostic? Think of the jump in sales for both the iPod and the iTMS when they fully opened it to Windows users.
To bad the xBox name is already taken.
Platform agnostic in the way the iPod is?
An 'iPod' computer that runs a non-PPC version of 'X'? Or an 'X-Lite'? All the iLife. Net surfing. Watch movies. Record tv progs to DVD controlled and scheduled via iCal. iChat. Play games..? A hi-fi even (heh, schedule your Classical music collection to come on the moment you walk through the door...controlled via iCal...). An iBox controlled by a sizeable iPod form factor tablet via a pen and docked when not in use?
ie a reborn cube (iBox) and 'new new' iMac(3) combination? A 'Mac' that goes beyond the PPC 'box' and marks out fresh territory...and Mac ignorance/PC bias... And if Apple were to license a market leading piece of kit with HP like they have the iPod?
The tantalising clues are there when Steve talks boldly about 'X' being platform agnostic and the transition of 'X' being 'complete'.
A device that ties in alot of the repetition of the mass of boxes in our living room?
Could be next on the agenda. I keep thinking that iPod's acceptance by Mac/PC users is telling and something that can be built on by other DLDs...even a 'Mac' computer masquerading as a DVD...an iPod branded computer maybe...
I'd buy a device like that for my room with a 30 inch Apple monitor...
Extrapolation. A vPod (tablet) to go with an iBox?
Thinking about iLife...I feel Apple have yet to make a piece of computer that is the equivalent of it. In the way that the iPod has transcended the typical Mac base. Can Apple create a 'computing' (masuerading as a DLD) entertainment device that anyone can use to view and interact with content created on the Mac?
That's my vibe after HP press release...
Lemon Bon Bon
To bad the xBox name is already taken.
But is xPod?
Lemon Bon Bon
could ilife be setting up a "box" which will control all that content if folks dont want to buy a mac computer? (but would be pursuaded to buy a "macbox"?) in other words we'll sell them a mac by proxy...
I wouldn't read too much into it.
Lemon Bon Bon
Screed