Yesterday Jason Calacanis started to spread an Apple rumor about networked Apple HDTVs. Today Digg's Kevin Rose hits back with a rumor that Blu-ray drives would finally come to Apple Computers.
Kevin Rose said at an event in London that the new MacBooks to be announced on Tuesday will have Blu-ray drives.
Kevin Rose was right about his iPod nano prediction back in August giving this rumor some credibility. On the other hand, at some point Apple needs to bring Blu-ray drives. It is the only HD media disc out there after all and Sony sure is trying to get Apple to adopt Blu-ray.
More details on edible Apple.
One can only hope...then the thread can be moved to "Current Hardware"
Regardless, it has been a long time coming. We'll see,..
Based on Steve's comments today, it does not sound like Blu-Ray in Macs is a revision or even two revisions away. This is a huge mistake IMO, what with a movie like Iron Man selling up to 20% of it's share on Blu-Ray. What happened to the Apple that used to be on the forefront of new technology, instead of "waiting until it takes off" before offering support. And Schiller's stupid comment about how iTunes offers all the best HD movies and tv shows was just aggravating. No Phil, you don't. Nobody wants to buy your shitty 4mbps "HD" video, and your selection is terrible.
Well I think Jobs showed that he wants to support Apple's delivery format. That's ok but the rest of the world likes a HD picture mainly on screens of 50" or better.
I think this will be a mistake and Apple will have BD drives in them 2 years from now ( my prediction ) after everyone else has gone that way.
It's not that I'm down on downloading it's just that in it's present form it has some shortcomings ( portability for one ).
BD on the other hand must keep trying to capture the market as I read recently that a company is planning on marketing music on chips like the memory stick in your camera. If they can do this with music it's only a matter of time before they can do it with HD video. I guess you can imagine : No moving parts, totally rewritable, and very ( almost to ) easy to store.
I think this will be a mistake and Apple will have BD drives in them 2 years from now ( my prediction ) after everyone else has gone that way.
(my prediction)
In two years BluRay will be on its way out.
In fact its growth seems very slow already.
I was a big advocate of DVD. It was dramatically better than VHS. Because it was smaller. Picture quality was better and it was random access. CDs displaced vinyl for the same reasons.
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff.
For video there is a *better* technology emerging, I am using it. Keep all your content as files, sitting on a server. You can browse, play. Halt the first thing. Watch something else. Go back to the same play point. Watch the same library from any computer or streaming box.
No sleeves, no sliding disks into machines. No incredibly tedious menus.
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
Contrary to popular opinion, Apple doesn't have any serious problem with BR's competition with downloads.
Their beef is with the onerous DRM that Blu-Ray requires them to embed deep into the core of Mac OS X.
The same DRM that many of us were saying would be BR's downfall YEARS ago.
Exactly Frank777... I don't see the incredulity in some people. I've said for years that Apple wasn't all that jazzed with Blu-ray (at least with it over HD DVD) but I got the "Apple's on the Blu-ray board). Now look almost a year removed from the demise of HD DVD...Apple appears in no hurry whatsoever to muck up OS X with DRM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carniphage
(my prediction)
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff...
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
C.
I agree. Sometimes I'm playing a DVD and a glitch happens and I get annoyed because I'm growing used to playing video off the HDD and I rarely come across glitches. Physical media is in its 11th hour. I knew Managed Copy wasn't going to happen with BD and HD DVD. I'm still going to buy a BD player but I expect that I'll stop buying movies in about 3 years and move to strictly downloads.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank777
Aside from the points you mention (and which we've discussed before), Blu-Ray now has a newer, bigger problem.
It's not green.
Pressing millions of disks, printing the inserts, plastic containers, shipping across the planet.
Inevitable, largely non-recycled wastage.
When you contrast that with the energy used in downloads, BR's footprint is an environmental catastrophe.
In our current economic and political climate, that's a problem.
I was a big advocate of DVD. It was dramatically better than VHS. Because it was smaller. Picture quality was better and it was random access. CDs displaced vinyl for the same reasons.
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff.
For video there is a *better* technology emerging, I am using it. Keep all your content as files, sitting on a server. You can browse, play. Halt the first thing. Watch something else. Go back to the same play point. Watch the same library from any computer or streaming box.
No sleeves, no sliding disks into machines. No incredibly tedious menus.
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
C.
Good luck downloading a HD movie that you can keep and take over to your friend's house to play ( or even loan to him/her ) without your friend having Apple TV or some other proprietary equipment the same as yours. Emerging is right! there's years worth of stuff to be figured out before hollywood will let you download HD movies, burn it to a disc or other medium, or even send it via the internet so you can share it with your friend the way you can with physical media right now. I mean people aren't likely to go for less convenience than they have now.
Also......
Are your movies on your server HD 1080p? If not they're obsolete. And where did you get them? I'm sure those studios would like to know.
Everytime I ask these questions no one seems to have an answer except " Movie studios will give in if they see the money they can make. Well that's not what they're saying right now or for the foreseeable future. When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now. Just imagine a few million people trying to download an HD movie at the same time!
But you say Apple has people downloading HD movies right now. How many are doing this? What if this was the main accepted format for home video?
Can you download this on to iTunes and take it with you over to your friend's house? Or would you have to download it ( and pay for it ) again over there?
In that scenero you would never truly own the movie like you would with physical media.
You can see the issues here.
I agree the downloading world would be pretty cool but there's a helluva lot of things to be worked out first.
Good luck downloading a HD movie that you can keep and take over to your friend's house to play ( or even loan to him/her ) without your friend having Apple TV or some other proprietary equipment the same as yours. Emerging is right! there's years worth of stuff to be figured out before hollywood will let you download HD movies, burn it to a disc or other medium, or even send it via the internet so you can share it with your friend the way you can with physical media right now. I mean people aren't likely to go for less convenience than they have now.
Good luck taking a BluRay to your friend's house, when the don't have a BluRay player.
If they can play digital content - an 8GB thumb drive is plenty big enough. A pocket hard drive can hold lots of stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac
Also......
Are your movies on your server HD 1080p? If not they're obsolete.
Why? Upscaled DVD looks nice. 720p looks better. 1080p - I can't actually tell the difference unless I sit within 6 feet of my 46" screen. Frankly I find the idea of myself and friends huddled around the TV a little strange.
The science on this is clear. You need a 90" screen (projector) to see the benefit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac
And where did you get them? I'm sure those studios would like to know.
Most of my library is HD TV Shows, which were broadcast freely into the ether. Of course they want to make recording illegal now. My respect for the movie studios is similar to their respect for their customers. But I'd be happy to pay for content in the right way.
I do not want SuperAudio CD. I want my audio on iTunes.
I do not want BluRay. I want my video on digital. They need to figure out that physical media is for the last generation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac
Everytime I ask these questions no one seems to have an answer except " Movie studios will give in if they see the money they can make. Well that's not what they're saying right now or for the foreseeable future. When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now. Just imagine a few million people trying to download an HD movie at the same time!
Somehow I think you are suggesting that getting a 5GB movie electronically is less efficient that driving to the mall and buying a manufactured piece of plastic, wrapped in another bit of plastic and burning more gas driving it back home again. Electronic distribution is good now. And yet in a couple of years will be even better.
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac
Can you download this on to iTunes and take it with you over to your friend's house? Or would you have to download it ( and pay for it ) again over there?
Hey, if it's his house, he can rent the movie!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmac
In that scenero you would never truly own the movie like you would with physical media.
DRM is crap. The market is rejecting it.
BluRay is a great big ball of DRM - you don't own that either. I "own" a 2-300 Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, but apparently I am not allowed to play BOTH region1 and region2 on my computers. You see according to the studios. I don't really own them in that way. When I paid for them, I was only granted certain rights.
You can see the issues here.
BluRay is the answer to the question:, "How do we sell the customers the same movies again?"
But it is the wrong answer and the wrong question.
As consumers of media, our needs are changing. The technology is here and getting better and better. The audience is already here with our credit cards out. We are already watching. We are already buying hardware.
What is needed is content providers to realize what is happening and sell content to this market instead of trying to shove an out-of-date idea at us.
I still think we'll see Blu-ray drives in iMacs and Mac Pros within a year.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple could easily pass on the licensing cost of Blu-ray technology on a per machine basis on their iMac and Mac Pro models.
2) Apple officially supports Blu-ray technology.
3) The next-generation iMacs and Mac Pros will sport GPU's that can easily decode h.264 video, and could easily include circuitry for HDCP support.
4) Unlike the new laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros don't have the power consumption and circuitry size restraints that preclude the use of an internal Blu-ray optical drive.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
6) HD video downloaded through iTMS are still vastly inferior in quality to the HD video found on a real Blu-ray disc.
I still think we'll see Blu-ray drives in iMacs and Mac Pros within a year.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple could easily pass on the licensing cost of Blu-ray technology on a per machine basis on their iMac and Mac Pro models.
2) Apple officially supports Blu-ray technology.
3) The next-generation iMacs and Mac Pros will sport GPU's that can easily decode h.264 video, and could easily include circuitry for HDCP support.
4) Unlike the new laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros don't have the power consumption and circuitry size restraints that preclude the use of an internal Blu-ray optical drive.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
6) HD video downloaded through iTMS are still vastly inferior in quality to the HD video found on a real Blu-ray disc.
I agree on all counts. I'm wondering if the new iMacs that are to be refreshed soon will have internal Blu-ray drives? Hmmm......In all honesty, I don't think they'll get them. I'm thinking the Mac Pros will be the first to debut an interal Blu-ray drive.
I especially agree on 5 & 6. What a load of crap with the caps ISPs are thinking of imposing.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
So you mean that there was no download limit before? Because in Europe we always had such a limit, essentially defeating the purpose of a high speed connection. There are some exceptions of course.
Good luck taking a BluRay to your friend's house, when the don't have a BluRay player.
If they can play digital content - an 8GB thumb drive is plenty big enough. A pocket hard drive can hold lots of stuff.
Why? Upscaled DVD looks nice. 720p looks better. 1080p - I can't actually tell the difference unless I sit within 6 feet of my 46" screen. Frankly I find the idea of myself and friends huddled around the TV a little strange.
The science on this is clear. You need a 90" screen (projector) to see the benefit.
Most of my library is HD TV Shows, which were broadcast freely into the ether. Of course they want to make recording illegal now. My respect for the movie studios is similar to their respect for their customers. But I'd be happy to pay for content in the right way.
I do not want SuperAudio CD. I want my audio on iTunes.
I do not want BluRay. I want my video on digital. They need to figure out that physical media is for the last generation.
Somehow I think you are suggesting that getting a 5GB movie electronically is less efficient that driving to the mall and buying a manufactured piece of plastic, wrapped in another bit of plastic and burning more gas driving it back home again. Electronic distribution is good now. And yet in a couple of years will be even better.
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
Hey, if it's his house, he can rent the movie!
DRM is crap. The market is rejecting it.
BluRay is a great big ball of DRM - you don't own that either. I "own" a 2-300 Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, but apparently I am not allowed to play BOTH region1 and region2 on my computers. You see according to the studios. I don't really own them in that way. When I paid for them, I was only granted certain rights.
You can see the issues here.
BluRay is the answer to the question:, "How do we sell the customers the same movies again?"
But it is the wrong answer and the wrong question.
As consumers of media, our needs are changing. The technology is here and getting better and better. The audience is already here with our credit cards out. We are already watching. We are already buying hardware.
What is needed is content providers to realize what is happening and sell content to this market instead of trying to shove an out-of-date idea at us.
C.
Ok you didn't answer the bandwith problem. Everyone say downloading the newest HD movie all at once will be a problem. You were talking as if this will be the primary way people view video in the future and the internet just doesn't have the infrastructure for this kind of traffic currently.
Also my friend is much more likely to have a BR player than he is to have a Apple TV device that he can play this on his new Big screen. Saying " he can rent " this isn't an answer. Renting isn't an answer either. Some people like to own the movie and watch it when they want without paying for it again and again.
Movie studios show no sign of giving in anytime soon. So if you would like I'll listen to your counter areguments but so far I haven't heard you come up with answers to support your contention.
Quote:
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
How do you run this to a bigger screen than you can find on a computer? You know. Something everyone would have. Which isn't Apple TV. I'm not down on that it's just you have to supply justification for your argument. Expecting everyone will adopt Apple TV isn't a reasonable argument until more people are buying into it.
Without listing ways around this stuff a totally downloading future remains a long time off and for right now a pipe dream.
Ok you didn't answer the bandwith problem. Everyone say downloading the newest HD movie all at once will be a problem. You were talking as if this will be the primary way people view video in the future and the internet just doesn't have the infrastructure for this kind of traffic currently.
Downloads will be the primary way of getting movies in the near future.
I remember bandwidth being an issue when we had 2400, 9600 and 14400 modems.
Modems and connections eventually got fast enough to decimate the entire music industry.
Video will be no different. It will take time, but certainly not more than a decade.
When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now.
this would be the same web that had 4 deep sea cables cut recently, and we hardly noticed a blip after about a week, because data was re-routed.
tell me, have those cables been fixed/re-laid yet?
the movie download FUD you are spouting is the same churn of crap that the music studios spewed 5-10 years ago.. oh noes the intertubes won't be able to cope.
Gee 5-10 years eh? you think we might lay some more cable by then?
theres this place on the intertubes called the iTunes music store, you may have heard of it, its up and running, along with countless other websites, all saturating the wires with noughts and ones.
the world is still turning.
go back to your cave.
it will be dark soon, and you might want to light the fire to keep the Fear away.
Comments
http://www.i4u.com/article20821.html
Yesterday Jason Calacanis started to spread an Apple rumor about networked Apple HDTVs. Today Digg's Kevin Rose hits back with a rumor that Blu-ray drives would finally come to Apple Computers.
Kevin Rose said at an event in London that the new MacBooks to be announced on Tuesday will have Blu-ray drives.
Kevin Rose was right about his iPod nano prediction back in August giving this rumor some credibility. On the other hand, at some point Apple needs to bring Blu-ray drives. It is the only HD media disc out there after all and Sony sure is trying to get Apple to adopt Blu-ray.
More details on edible Apple.
One can only hope...then the thread can be moved to "Current Hardware"
Regardless, it has been a long time coming. We'll see,..
I think this will be a mistake and Apple will have BD drives in them 2 years from now ( my prediction ) after everyone else has gone that way.
It's not that I'm down on downloading it's just that in it's present form it has some shortcomings ( portability for one ).
BD on the other hand must keep trying to capture the market as I read recently that a company is planning on marketing music on chips like the memory stick in your camera. If they can do this with music it's only a matter of time before they can do it with HD video. I guess you can imagine : No moving parts, totally rewritable, and very ( almost to ) easy to store.
Their beef is with the onerous DRM that Blu-Ray requires them to embed deep into the core of Mac OS X.
The same DRM that many of us were saying would be BR's downfall YEARS ago.
I think this will be a mistake and Apple will have BD drives in them 2 years from now ( my prediction ) after everyone else has gone that way.
(my prediction)
In two years BluRay will be on its way out.
In fact its growth seems very slow already.
I was a big advocate of DVD. It was dramatically better than VHS. Because it was smaller. Picture quality was better and it was random access. CDs displaced vinyl for the same reasons.
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff.
For video there is a *better* technology emerging, I am using it. Keep all your content as files, sitting on a server. You can browse, play. Halt the first thing. Watch something else. Go back to the same play point. Watch the same library from any computer or streaming box.
No sleeves, no sliding disks into machines. No incredibly tedious menus.
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
C.
It's not green.
Pressing millions of disks, printing the inserts, plastic containers, shipping across the planet.
Inevitable, largely non-recycled wastage.
When you contrast that with the energy used in downloads, BR's footprint is an environmental catastrophe.
In our current economic and political climate, that's a problem.
Contrary to popular opinion, Apple doesn't have any serious problem with BR's competition with downloads.
Their beef is with the onerous DRM that Blu-Ray requires them to embed deep into the core of Mac OS X.
The same DRM that many of us were saying would be BR's downfall YEARS ago.
Exactly Frank777... I don't see the incredulity in some people. I've said for years that Apple wasn't all that jazzed with Blu-ray (at least with it over HD DVD) but I got the "Apple's on the Blu-ray board). Now look almost a year removed from the demise of HD DVD...Apple appears in no hurry whatsoever to muck up OS X with DRM
(my prediction)
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff...
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
C.
I agree. Sometimes I'm playing a DVD and a glitch happens and I get annoyed because I'm growing used to playing video off the HDD and I rarely come across glitches. Physical media is in its 11th hour. I knew Managed Copy wasn't going to happen with BD and HD DVD. I'm still going to buy a BD player but I expect that I'll stop buying movies in about 3 years and move to strictly downloads.
Aside from the points you mention (and which we've discussed before), Blu-Ray now has a newer, bigger problem.
It's not green.
Pressing millions of disks, printing the inserts, plastic containers, shipping across the planet.
Inevitable, largely non-recycled wastage.
When you contrast that with the energy used in downloads, BR's footprint is an environmental catastrophe.
In our current economic and political climate, that's a problem.
Look at the inroads that DIVX is making
http://gizmodo.com/5063056/warner-br...divx-downloads
And in the next few years we're going to see the nextgen of codecs hit. Perhaps
h.265 or some sort of wavelet compression. Tomorrow we're going to see
1080p quality encapulated in the datarates of today's 720p videos.
If Apple doesn't go to Blu-ray I don't really care. The BDA has pretty much screwed themselves.
murch, you're still sounding like sour-grapes regarding BD.
(my prediction)
In two years BluRay will be on its way out.
In fact its growth seems very slow already.
I was a big advocate of DVD. It was dramatically better than VHS. Because it was smaller. Picture quality was better and it was random access. CDs displaced vinyl for the same reasons.
But Sony did not succeed in displacing CDs with SACD, or Minidisk or anything else.
CDs have been displaced by the iPod & iTunes. Not because the quality is better. But because it makes it easier to get at your stuff.
For video there is a *better* technology emerging, I am using it. Keep all your content as files, sitting on a server. You can browse, play. Halt the first thing. Watch something else. Go back to the same play point. Watch the same library from any computer or streaming box.
No sleeves, no sliding disks into machines. No incredibly tedious menus.
Using a DVD now feels incredibly clunky in comparison. As old-fashioned as lowering a needle onto a record.
Good luck with Blu Ray, but the future of media is not in physical disks.
C.
Good luck downloading a HD movie that you can keep and take over to your friend's house to play ( or even loan to him/her ) without your friend having Apple TV or some other proprietary equipment the same as yours. Emerging is right! there's years worth of stuff to be figured out before hollywood will let you download HD movies, burn it to a disc or other medium, or even send it via the internet so you can share it with your friend the way you can with physical media right now. I mean people aren't likely to go for less convenience than they have now.
Also......
Are your movies on your server HD 1080p? If not they're obsolete. And where did you get them? I'm sure those studios would like to know.
Everytime I ask these questions no one seems to have an answer except " Movie studios will give in if they see the money they can make. Well that's not what they're saying right now or for the foreseeable future. When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now. Just imagine a few million people trying to download an HD movie at the same time!
But you say Apple has people downloading HD movies right now. How many are doing this? What if this was the main accepted format for home video?
Can you download this on to iTunes and take it with you over to your friend's house? Or would you have to download it ( and pay for it ) again over there?
In that scenero you would never truly own the movie like you would with physical media.
You can see the issues here.
I agree the downloading world would be pretty cool but there's a helluva lot of things to be worked out first.
Years worth.
http://www.mcetech.com/blu-ray/
Good luck downloading a HD movie that you can keep and take over to your friend's house to play ( or even loan to him/her ) without your friend having Apple TV or some other proprietary equipment the same as yours. Emerging is right! there's years worth of stuff to be figured out before hollywood will let you download HD movies, burn it to a disc or other medium, or even send it via the internet so you can share it with your friend the way you can with physical media right now. I mean people aren't likely to go for less convenience than they have now.
Good luck taking a BluRay to your friend's house, when the don't have a BluRay player.
If they can play digital content - an 8GB thumb drive is plenty big enough. A pocket hard drive can hold lots of stuff.
Also......
Are your movies on your server HD 1080p? If not they're obsolete.
Why? Upscaled DVD looks nice. 720p looks better. 1080p - I can't actually tell the difference unless I sit within 6 feet of my 46" screen. Frankly I find the idea of myself and friends huddled around the TV a little strange.
The science on this is clear. You need a 90" screen (projector) to see the benefit.
And where did you get them? I'm sure those studios would like to know.
Most of my library is HD TV Shows, which were broadcast freely into the ether. Of course they want to make recording illegal now. My respect for the movie studios is similar to their respect for their customers. But I'd be happy to pay for content in the right way.
I do not want SuperAudio CD. I want my audio on iTunes.
I do not want BluRay. I want my video on digital. They need to figure out that physical media is for the last generation.
Everytime I ask these questions no one seems to have an answer except " Movie studios will give in if they see the money they can make. Well that's not what they're saying right now or for the foreseeable future. When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now. Just imagine a few million people trying to download an HD movie at the same time!
Somehow I think you are suggesting that getting a 5GB movie electronically is less efficient that driving to the mall and buying a manufactured piece of plastic, wrapped in another bit of plastic and burning more gas driving it back home again. Electronic distribution is good now. And yet in a couple of years will be even better.
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
Can you download this on to iTunes and take it with you over to your friend's house? Or would you have to download it ( and pay for it ) again over there?
Hey, if it's his house, he can rent the movie!
In that scenero you would never truly own the movie like you would with physical media.
DRM is crap. The market is rejecting it.
BluRay is a great big ball of DRM - you don't own that either. I "own" a 2-300 Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, but apparently I am not allowed to play BOTH region1 and region2 on my computers. You see according to the studios. I don't really own them in that way. When I paid for them, I was only granted certain rights.
You can see the issues here.
BluRay is the answer to the question:, "How do we sell the customers the same movies again?"
But it is the wrong answer and the wrong question.
As consumers of media, our needs are changing. The technology is here and getting better and better. The audience is already here with our credit cards out. We are already watching. We are already buying hardware.
What is needed is content providers to realize what is happening and sell content to this market instead of trying to shove an out-of-date idea at us.
C.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple could easily pass on the licensing cost of Blu-ray technology on a per machine basis on their iMac and Mac Pro models.
2) Apple officially supports Blu-ray technology.
3) The next-generation iMacs and Mac Pros will sport GPU's that can easily decode h.264 video, and could easily include circuitry for HDCP support.
4) Unlike the new laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros don't have the power consumption and circuitry size restraints that preclude the use of an internal Blu-ray optical drive.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
6) HD video downloaded through iTMS are still vastly inferior in quality to the HD video found on a real Blu-ray disc.
I still think we'll see Blu-ray drives in iMacs and Mac Pros within a year.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple could easily pass on the licensing cost of Blu-ray technology on a per machine basis on their iMac and Mac Pro models.
2) Apple officially supports Blu-ray technology.
3) The next-generation iMacs and Mac Pros will sport GPU's that can easily decode h.264 video, and could easily include circuitry for HDCP support.
4) Unlike the new laptops, iMacs and Mac Pros don't have the power consumption and circuitry size restraints that preclude the use of an internal Blu-ray optical drive.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
6) HD video downloaded through iTMS are still vastly inferior in quality to the HD video found on a real Blu-ray disc.
I agree on all counts. I'm wondering if the new iMacs that are to be refreshed soon will have internal Blu-ray drives? Hmmm......In all honesty, I don't think they'll get them. I'm thinking the Mac Pros will be the first to debut an interal Blu-ray drive.
I especially agree on 5 & 6. What a load of crap with the caps ISPs are thinking of imposing.
I agree on all counts.
Hopefully it will be anyday now. You've been agreeing on all those points for three years!
Hopefully it will be anyday now. You've been agreeing on all those points for three years!
Good gosh I hope so. Indeed, it has been a while. Hopefully Apple will be ready soon.
5) Because Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download caps, that could hurt sales of HD videos through the iTunes Music Store.
So you mean that there was no download limit before? Because in Europe we always had such a limit, essentially defeating the purpose of a high speed connection. There are some exceptions of course.
Good luck taking a BluRay to your friend's house, when the don't have a BluRay player.
If they can play digital content - an 8GB thumb drive is plenty big enough. A pocket hard drive can hold lots of stuff.
Why? Upscaled DVD looks nice. 720p looks better. 1080p - I can't actually tell the difference unless I sit within 6 feet of my 46" screen. Frankly I find the idea of myself and friends huddled around the TV a little strange.
The science on this is clear. You need a 90" screen (projector) to see the benefit.
Most of my library is HD TV Shows, which were broadcast freely into the ether. Of course they want to make recording illegal now. My respect for the movie studios is similar to their respect for their customers. But I'd be happy to pay for content in the right way.
I do not want SuperAudio CD. I want my audio on iTunes.
I do not want BluRay. I want my video on digital. They need to figure out that physical media is for the last generation.
Somehow I think you are suggesting that getting a 5GB movie electronically is less efficient that driving to the mall and buying a manufactured piece of plastic, wrapped in another bit of plastic and burning more gas driving it back home again. Electronic distribution is good now. And yet in a couple of years will be even better.
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
Hey, if it's his house, he can rent the movie!
DRM is crap. The market is rejecting it.
BluRay is a great big ball of DRM - you don't own that either. I "own" a 2-300 Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs, but apparently I am not allowed to play BOTH region1 and region2 on my computers. You see according to the studios. I don't really own them in that way. When I paid for them, I was only granted certain rights.
You can see the issues here.
BluRay is the answer to the question:, "How do we sell the customers the same movies again?"
But it is the wrong answer and the wrong question.
As consumers of media, our needs are changing. The technology is here and getting better and better. The audience is already here with our credit cards out. We are already watching. We are already buying hardware.
What is needed is content providers to realize what is happening and sell content to this market instead of trying to shove an out-of-date idea at us.
C.
Ok you didn't answer the bandwith problem. Everyone say downloading the newest HD movie all at once will be a problem. You were talking as if this will be the primary way people view video in the future and the internet just doesn't have the infrastructure for this kind of traffic currently.
Also my friend is much more likely to have a BR player than he is to have a Apple TV device that he can play this on his new Big screen. Saying " he can rent " this isn't an answer. Renting isn't an answer either. Some people like to own the movie and watch it when they want without paying for it again and again.
Movie studios show no sign of giving in anytime soon. So if you would like I'll listen to your counter areguments but so far I haven't heard you come up with answers to support your contention.
If we look at Apple's HD TV rental. I can press RENT - and have the movie ready to play faster than finding a DVD and navigating the STUPID MENUS.
How do you run this to a bigger screen than you can find on a computer? You know. Something everyone would have. Which isn't Apple TV. I'm not down on that it's just you have to supply justification for your argument. Expecting everyone will adopt Apple TV isn't a reasonable argument until more people are buying into it.
Without listing ways around this stuff a totally downloading future remains a long time off and for right now a pipe dream.
Ok you didn't answer the bandwith problem. Everyone say downloading the newest HD movie all at once will be a problem. You were talking as if this will be the primary way people view video in the future and the internet just doesn't have the infrastructure for this kind of traffic currently.
Downloads will be the primary way of getting movies in the near future.
I remember bandwidth being an issue when we had 2400, 9600 and 14400 modems.
Modems and connections eventually got fast enough to decimate the entire music industry.
Video will be no different. It will take time, but certainly not more than a decade.
When I bring up the question of bandwidth and HD movies clogging up the web they say : " We'll have a better internet then ". Well this is also years away because there's lots of fiber optic cable to be laid. Some say the web in it's current form is at the top of the traffic it can handle right now.
this would be the same web that had 4 deep sea cables cut recently, and we hardly noticed a blip after about a week, because data was re-routed.
tell me, have those cables been fixed/re-laid yet?
the movie download FUD you are spouting is the same churn of crap that the music studios spewed 5-10 years ago.. oh noes the intertubes won't be able to cope.
Gee 5-10 years eh? you think we might lay some more cable by then?
theres this place on the intertubes called the iTunes music store, you may have heard of it, its up and running, along with countless other websites, all saturating the wires with noughts and ones.
the world is still turning.
go back to your cave.
it will be dark soon, and you might want to light the fire to keep the Fear away.