I'm guessing we haven't heard more studios doing this because they're glad to charge us twice: once for the DVD we already own and again on the iTunes Store. \
Yep.
There's nothing much for the studios to gain from free encodes.
And even if they want to put a free, unique, copy protected file on every bundled DVD that's got to cost extra. If it's not unique, it could be passed around between friends (or rental) and loaded permanently onto the hard disk.
The only solutions I can think of are either
1) Let people load a DVD into iTunes and have it encoded as a rental - 60 days to start watching it and, say, 3 days once you've started watching - then removed automatically (or re-insert your original DVD briefly to 'reactivate' the rental).
2) Let people pay a minimal fee (eg $3) to the studios, to let your iTunes digitise the DVD into a permanently owned copy. or
3) Let people pay $6 to OWN a HD copy of the movie (instead of renting it), downloaded from Apple, in place of their DVD.
But a free Handbreak-style conversion isn't going to happen.
I'm not sure this problem is due to a lack of trying on Apple's part either, unfortunately. Remember last year's Macworld where they did a little announcement about the Family Guy: Blue Harvest DVD that came with a digital iTunes copy?
I'm guessing we haven't heard more studios doing this because they're glad to charge us twice: once for the DVD we already own and again on the iTunes Store. \
Sony, Fox, Disney and Lions Gate offer Digital Copy releases. Every week I see a few more titles released with it, but it's usually a more expensive edition and not offered on the cheapest version. I really don't see the point, I guess they don't want to let on to the people that don't already know that it's easy to make your own "digital copy" without paying another dime beyond the cost of the source DVD. My guess is that the people that don't know probably aren't interested in portable media anyway.
There's nothing much for the studios to gain from free encodes.
And even if they want to put a free, unique, copy protected file on every bundled DVD that's got to cost extra. If it's not unique, it could be passed around between friends (or rental) and loaded permanently onto the hard disk.
The only solutions I can think of are either
1) Let people load a DVD into iTunes and have it encoded as a rental - 60 days to start watching it and, say, 3 days once you've started watching - then removed automatically (or re-insert your original DVD briefly to 'reactivate' the rental).
2) Let people pay a minimal fee (eg $3) to the studios, to let your iTunes digitise the DVD into a permanently owned copy. or
3) Let people pay $6 to OWN a HD copy of the movie (instead of renting it), downloaded from Apple, in place of their DVD.
But a free Handbreak-style conversion isn't going to happen.
I could see #1 and #2 makes sense, though I'm guessing they'd want at least a third ($5) for the digital copy. #3 seems unlikely as it would actually give the user a superior copy to the DVD and the studios would probably prefer trying to up sell people to Blu-ray (at least until Apple starts selling own-able HD movies, which may be held up by the studios).
Sony, Fox, Disney and Lions Gate offer Digital Copy releases. Every week I see a few more titles released with it, but it's usually a more expensive edition and not offered on the cheapest version. I really don't see the point, I guess they don't want to let on to the people that don't already know that it's easy to make your own "digital copy" without paying another dime beyond the cost of the source DVD. My guess is that the people that don't know probably aren't interested in portable media anyway.
Perhaps to discourage piracy and hey, it's free advertising on people's iPods and iPhones.
I had a G5 Quad that died a few months ago. Can't afford anything right now except a Mac mini, otherwise it's no Mac for me, forevermore. Sad but true.
Check out Apple's recall on liquid-cooled G5 machines. You might have a shot at a completely brand new Mac Pro. xlr8yourmac.com has been covering the liquid G5 fiasco very well. Apple has been replacing machines even outside the AppleCare warranty.
That seems pointless. They've had dual-link DVI for years and only developed variations when necessary - mini-DVI for smaller laptops and only this past year did they introduce micro DVI for the ultra compact MacBook Air. Now all share Mini DisplayPort, which is smaller than all of those proprietary miniaturized versions of DVI. The fact even their Cinema Display uses Mini DisplayPort indicates the standard is here for the long haul.
You mean like the Cinema Displays that had the ADC connector?
Quote:
They essentially did with mini-DVI. It just couldn't quite fit in the Air so they had to make a special one for that. Most people never hook up their laptop to an external display or projector, so Apple likely makes very little on adapters.
Based on Apple's previous history of reinventing display connectors whenever they felt like it, I would not put it past them to introduce even more variations of DisplayPort. Maybe sometime next year, there will be some reason for which the Mini DisplayPort "just couldn't quite fit", prompting Apple to introduce Micro DisplayPort. And Apple defenders will praise and defend Apple for doing it, despite previously saying "That seems pointless".
Quote:
If other companies adopt Apple's mobile-friendly, royalty free, pin-identical version of the DisplayPort spec, adapters will be a thing of the past, at least until the next generation port standard comes along.
And Apple follows up with their own Mini, Micro, or Nano version of that standard.
Based on Apple's previous history of reinventing display connectors whenever they felt like it, I would not put it past them to introduce even more variations of DisplayPort. Maybe sometime next year, there will be some reason for which the Mini DisplayPort "just couldn't quite fit", prompting Apple to introduce Micro DisplayPort. And Apple defenders will praise and defend Apple for doing it, despite previously saying "That seems pointless".
Except that Mini DisplayPort is smaller than all those DVI variations, even the tiny micro-DVI specifically engineered for the Air.
But you can't decide on your story. First you say Apple does this whenever they feel like it, then they do it becasue there's some reason to do so. Have fun arguing with yourself.
I don't get why Apple can't put 2 mDP ports in there instead of just one and another mini/micro DVI. I mean the mini has a full sized DVI now. If you were to get a new mini to replace your old one, in order to use your current monitor, you would need to get an adapter anyway. Plus it would be a better solution for those who would want to use 2 Apple 24" displays. As far as I know, there will never be a mini DVI to mDP adapter.
Comments
I'm guessing we haven't heard more studios doing this because they're glad to charge us twice: once for the DVD we already own and again on the iTunes Store.
Yep.
There's nothing much for the studios to gain from free encodes.
And even if they want to put a free, unique, copy protected file on every bundled DVD that's got to cost extra. If it's not unique, it could be passed around between friends (or rental) and loaded permanently onto the hard disk.
The only solutions I can think of are either
1) Let people load a DVD into iTunes and have it encoded as a rental - 60 days to start watching it and, say, 3 days once you've started watching - then removed automatically (or re-insert your original DVD briefly to 'reactivate' the rental).
2) Let people pay a minimal fee (eg $3) to the studios, to let your iTunes digitise the DVD into a permanently owned copy. or
3) Let people pay $6 to OWN a HD copy of the movie (instead of renting it), downloaded from Apple, in place of their DVD.
But a free Handbreak-style conversion isn't going to happen.
I'm not sure this problem is due to a lack of trying on Apple's part either, unfortunately. Remember last year's Macworld where they did a little announcement about the Family Guy: Blue Harvest DVD that came with a digital iTunes copy?
Here's what I'm talking about:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/01/15fox.html
I'm guessing we haven't heard more studios doing this because they're glad to charge us twice: once for the DVD we already own and again on the iTunes Store.
Sony, Fox, Disney and Lions Gate offer Digital Copy releases. Every week I see a few more titles released with it, but it's usually a more expensive edition and not offered on the cheapest version. I really don't see the point, I guess they don't want to let on to the people that don't already know that it's easy to make your own "digital copy" without paying another dime beyond the cost of the source DVD. My guess is that the people that don't know probably aren't interested in portable media anyway.
Yep.
There's nothing much for the studios to gain from free encodes.
And even if they want to put a free, unique, copy protected file on every bundled DVD that's got to cost extra. If it's not unique, it could be passed around between friends (or rental) and loaded permanently onto the hard disk.
The only solutions I can think of are either
1) Let people load a DVD into iTunes and have it encoded as a rental - 60 days to start watching it and, say, 3 days once you've started watching - then removed automatically (or re-insert your original DVD briefly to 'reactivate' the rental).
2) Let people pay a minimal fee (eg $3) to the studios, to let your iTunes digitise the DVD into a permanently owned copy. or
3) Let people pay $6 to OWN a HD copy of the movie (instead of renting it), downloaded from Apple, in place of their DVD.
But a free Handbreak-style conversion isn't going to happen.
I could see #1 and #2 makes sense, though I'm guessing they'd want at least a third ($5) for the digital copy. #3 seems unlikely as it would actually give the user a superior copy to the DVD and the studios would probably prefer trying to up sell people to Blu-ray (at least until Apple starts selling own-able HD movies, which may be held up by the studios).
Sony, Fox, Disney and Lions Gate offer Digital Copy releases. Every week I see a few more titles released with it, but it's usually a more expensive edition and not offered on the cheapest version. I really don't see the point, I guess they don't want to let on to the people that don't already know that it's easy to make your own "digital copy" without paying another dime beyond the cost of the source DVD. My guess is that the people that don't know probably aren't interested in portable media anyway.
Perhaps to discourage piracy and hey, it's free advertising on people's iPods and iPhones.
I had a G5 Quad that died a few months ago. Can't afford anything right now except a Mac mini, otherwise it's no Mac for me, forevermore. Sad but true.
Check out Apple's recall on liquid-cooled G5 machines. You might have a shot at a completely brand new Mac Pro. xlr8yourmac.com has been covering the liquid G5 fiasco very well. Apple has been replacing machines even outside the AppleCare warranty.
That seems pointless. They've had dual-link DVI for years and only developed variations when necessary - mini-DVI for smaller laptops and only this past year did they introduce micro DVI for the ultra compact MacBook Air. Now all share Mini DisplayPort, which is smaller than all of those proprietary miniaturized versions of DVI. The fact even their Cinema Display uses Mini DisplayPort indicates the standard is here for the long haul.
You mean like the Cinema Displays that had the ADC connector?
They essentially did with mini-DVI. It just couldn't quite fit in the Air so they had to make a special one for that. Most people never hook up their laptop to an external display or projector, so Apple likely makes very little on adapters.
Based on Apple's previous history of reinventing display connectors whenever they felt like it, I would not put it past them to introduce even more variations of DisplayPort. Maybe sometime next year, there will be some reason for which the Mini DisplayPort "just couldn't quite fit", prompting Apple to introduce Micro DisplayPort. And Apple defenders will praise and defend Apple for doing it, despite previously saying "That seems pointless".
If other companies adopt Apple's mobile-friendly, royalty free, pin-identical version of the DisplayPort spec, adapters will be a thing of the past, at least until the next generation port standard comes along.
And Apple follows up with their own Mini, Micro, or Nano version of that standard.
Based on Apple's previous history of reinventing display connectors whenever they felt like it, I would not put it past them to introduce even more variations of DisplayPort. Maybe sometime next year, there will be some reason for which the Mini DisplayPort "just couldn't quite fit", prompting Apple to introduce Micro DisplayPort. And Apple defenders will praise and defend Apple for doing it, despite previously saying "That seems pointless".
Except that Mini DisplayPort is smaller than all those DVI variations, even the tiny micro-DVI specifically engineered for the Air.
But you can't decide on your story. First you say Apple does this whenever they feel like it, then they do it becasue there's some reason to do so. Have fun arguing with yourself.
As far as I know, there will never be a mini DVI to mDP adapter.
That is correct.