It may also be that iTunes can steam the DVD or BlueRay to an AppleTV.
Or they're going to slap an optical drive in the AppleTV after all. It wouldn't surprise me if licensing was more straightforward for a set-top box than a PC.
I also wonder if Apple wouldn't be able to get some sort of license to rip movies into iTunes, so long as they wrapped them in FairPlay on the way. (Particularly if it was limited to iPod-friendly encodes) If they come through with Grand Central, ripping video could get awfully quick and painless.
I have a 32" HDTV and I can see the difference between a good DVD and a HD version of the movie but it's not really that easy.
I own The Unforgiven 2-disc DVD and the HD DVD version and the difference is pretty small.
I have a hard time thinking that it's even a good idea to have an Blue Laser optical drive playing movies on a laptop that has a 17" screen at best.
720p digital files are pretty damn good for a desktop/laptop screen IMO. Though I would like to see Blu-ray for recording capability.
You can only do so much with an old movie title and remastering for HD. Even older movies on HBO-HD don't look as sharp as a current release in HD. The Dark Knight looks superb in Blu Ray. I don't have any older catalog Blu Ray titles yet, not sure if I will go that road unless they can be had for a discounted price.
I agree. Watching an HD movie on a computer is a waste of time. People don't gather around the computer to watch a movie. They also don't use optical storage for backup either, so Blu Ray's data storage doesn't seem to be a popular selling point either for computer use.
Or they're going to slap an optical drive in the AppleTV after all. It wouldn't surprise me if licensing was more straightforward for a set-top box than a PC.
I also wonder if Apple wouldn't be able to get some sort of license to rip movies into iTunes, so long as they wrapped them in FairPlay on the way. (Particularly if it was limited to iPod-friendly encodes) If they come through with Grand Central, ripping video could get awfully quick and painless.
It won't matter what they wrap the DVD rip in the MPAA won't have it. Real is currently in court under the same matter. Their argument is that they support the DVD encryption and have DRM protections and the MPAA still sued them.
In a way the MPAA is in a tough spot. If you allow DVD ripping then nothing stops people from trying to rip every rental DVD they come across.
i'm hoping for a significant update to AppleTV (bigger HDD and DVR capabilities, specifically). I've already begun digitizing my DVDs (Handbrake/VisualHub/MacTheRipper). Best case scenario is they update it by Christmas, but who knows...
Good luck with that fantasy. Apple won't add DVR features because they want you to buy from the iTunes store, not record from your cable company. You'll never see Amazon On Demand or NetFlix on the AppleTV either. Glad to see that you are too lazy to get off the couch and put a disc in your DVD player.
It won't matter what they wrap the DVD rip in the MPAA won't have it. Real is currently in court under the same matter. Their argument is that they support the DVD encryption and have DRM protections and the MPAA still sued them.
In a way the MPAA is in a tough spot. If you allow DVD ripping then nothing stops people from trying to rip every rental DVD they come across.
I think of that as more of a perceived threat than anything else. Those who wish to rip rental dvd's can already do so. I don't think there would be a huge influx in this activity.
Edit: Or they could even create some sort of tag that identifies the dvd as a rental and not allow Real or Apple, or whoever to create software that rips movies that have the rental tag.
You all are missing the point. Blu ray discs offer up to 50GB of storage, versus the 4-5GB of a standard, single sided DVD.
Put a Super Duper Drive that can write Blu ray discs and you made archiving and storage a lot easier.
It's not just about watching movies. If it were, you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080i on a screen smaller than 30 inches.
No one will have any interest in blank BluRay RW media, since they cost $15 (2x) -$30 (4x) per disc for 25 GB of storage. Amazon sells 50GB blank media for $25-$40 each. You would also need a dual-layer BluRay burner, starting at $529. I would have to spend $900 - $1,800 in blank media to equal the capacity of a 1.5 TB drive, which only costs about $150. Also the time wasted of trying to burn 25 GB at 2-4x. Let me know how that works out for you.
Good luck with that fantasy. Apple won't add DVR features because they want you to buy from the iTunes store, not record from your cable company. You'll never see Amazon On Demand or NetFlix on the AppleTV either. Glad to see that you are too lazy to get off the couch and put a disc in your DVD player.
Wrong, hotshot. I don't think Apple cares where I get my content from - as long as I consume it on their hardware. If they only wanted my iPod to play music from iTunes, then ripping CDs would be out of the question. Not that I expect to see Amazon or Netflix on there necessarily, but DVR is totally in the realm of possibility, IMO (see Tru2Way). Who knows what they'll end up doing though.
If Apple takes 30% of digital sales, then has to pay for servers, advertising, etc, etc, they end up making a very small profit. How many $3 movie rentals must I download for them to make a reasonable profit? Exactly. But I only need to buy one AppleTV for them to make a nice chunk of profit. "Glad to see" you finally get the big picture.
I'm just guessing here, but with iTunes Store selling HD movies it would make sense to include hooks for the Gracenotes Video database. Forget the hands-on BlueRay or HD DVD media. This allows you to identify and catalog the video content on your home media server so that Apple TV, iPhone, iPod, iTunes and laptop all have the data.
I'm just guessing here, but with iTunes Store selling HD movies it would make sense to include hooks for the Gracenotes Video database. Forget the hands-on BlueRay or HD DVD media. This allows you to identify and catalog the video content on your home media server so that Apple TV, iPhone, iPod, iTunes and laptop all have the data.
I think the inclusion of Gracenote for video content is more about attaching metadata (artist info, chapter titles, movie posters, etc) to your own videos, and less about stuff you buy from iTunes (which already has all this data attached to the files). It would essentially replace the need for programs such as MetaX. In other words, ripping and digitizing your own DVDs would be much easier, much like ripping music CDs is easy.
You all are missing the point. Blu ray discs offer up to 50GB of storage, versus the 4-5GB of a standard, single sided DVD.
Put a Super Duper Drive that can write Blu ray discs and you made archiving and storage a lot easier.
It's not just about watching movies. If it were, you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080i on a screen smaller than 30 inches.
I really don't think you want to do that. I can't imagine how long it will take to back up 50GB of data to an optical drive. After years with computers, I find it really unpractical to do that and it is much easier, safer, and sometimes cheaper to back up to either an external or secondary internal HDD. For me, Time Capsule solved all my archiving and backup problems.
I'm going to buy and rip some Leapfrog learning library stuff for my son and keep it simple so he can find them whenever he wants. Frankly the industry wanting everything on a disc that's locked down is a noble effort to impede natural evolution and control DRM but is quickly growing out of vogue in what is becoming a very well connected global scheme.
I bought a cheap DVD player capable of playing AVI format just to rip my sons DVDs (to AVI format) and burn as much as I can on a rewritable DVDs so he can watch them. Every now and then I find few that don't work due to scratches (time to burn another copy). I will be getting an AppleTV once they release an updated hardware. I think the 40GB storage in the current AppleTV is a joke (160GB is not bad though).
The truth is that Apple (unofficially) pushed the iPod Hi-Fi as "a replacement for your home Stereo" which it certainly could be at the time since the audio quality was equal or better than the average home stereo.
Can you provide a source for that bullshit statement? Equal to or better than the average home stereo (in 2006)? Any stand-alone receiver and speakers would put the iPod Hi-Fi (and any other iPod speaker system) to shame, even something from the 70's and 80's. I guess you don't know much about stereo equipment.
saarek was talking about using iTunes as a DVD ripping software, presumable so you can (A) archive your collection, and (B) stream your movies to your TV with something like AppleTV. Currently, you need third-party software to rip DVDs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saarek
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy HD DVD movies, but it would be nice to have a couple of hundred movies on my Apple TV to just sit down and relax.
Which is exactly why I'd love to have BD ripping support in iTunes (I'd love to have HD DVD ripping too, as I picked up about fifty titles dirt cheap after the format was canceled, but that's pretty unlikely!). I've been, slowly but surely, ripping my DVD collection to h.264 and dropping them on my Mac Mini upstairs to serve up on my AppleTV. Just as we've all gotten used to having easy access to a vast library of music on our iPods (or other delivery method of choice), it's been handy to have frequently-watched movies available at the touch of a remote - particularly when it comes to the movies the kids watch, since they're apt to rewatch movies over and over again. Ripping also has the added benefit of preventing sticky fingers from coating the discs, and helping to keep the media scratch-free.
Even if the iTunes rips are Fairplay-encoded to the iTunes account in use (to prevent sharing), that'd be fine with me. I imagine Apple will wait and see what happens with the ongoing litigation against Real Networks before they consider adding this functionality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
I have a 32" HDTV and I can see the difference between a good DVD and a HD version of the movie but it's not really that easy.
I can see a difference on my 37" HDTV. Yes it's slight - my HD DVD player does a very good job of upconverting (something I thought was really just a gimmick before I saw it).
However, where I really see the difference isn't so much in the additional resolution, but in the added bitrate of the HD content - much less colour artifacting, and what appears to be a much higher contrast over standard definition DVD.
Unfortunately, the rented and purchased HD content from the iTunes store is also compressed into a very low bit rate and suffers the same artifacting you can see on SD DVD. It still looks better than standard DVDs, just not nearly as good as the HD DVD content in my library...
Your point is well taken however - I don't understand the current fascination Windows users have with ensuring their laptops have BD support, unless it's for either ripping their media, or for ensuring forward compatibility with future BD-ROM discs.
Can you provide a source for that bullshit statement? Equal to or better than the average home stereo (in 2006)? Any stand-alone receiver and speakers would put the iPod Hi-Fi (and any other iPod speaker system) to shame, even something from the 70's and 80's. I guess you don't know much about stereo equipment.
Well, hotshot (your new name, BTW), maybe he's not talking about stand-alone receivers and speakers. Maybe he's talking about a similar device to Hi-Fi?
The main thing is that I find iTunes rentals good enough to view, sure it may not be as clear but it certainly does not destroy the experience.
You may find it is not good enough, but for me the choice of having loads of movies loaded on so that my kids can walk in after school and load their favourite disney etc would be perfect.
Why don't you hook up your old VHS deck if you prefer watching poor quality video? Are your kids too unintelligent to know how to load a disc in a player, or are you teaching them to glue themselves to the couch because you are too lazy? Tell them to go outside and play after school and enjoy life instead of sitting their asses on the couch because it is just so hard to get up and change a disc.
I don't understand the current fascination Windows users have with ensuring their laptops have BD support, unless it's for either ripping their media, or for ensuring forward compatibility with future BD-ROM discs.
Unfortunately it doesn't. It has nothing to do with watching BDs, making media backups or future compatability, and everything to do with the need to point at an apparently "glaring" missing feature in Macs, despite the limited real-world usability of such a feature.
But hasn't Apple struck a deal with Disney that would allow you to rip a iPod usable copy of the movie?
Nope. The digital copy included with DVD's does not allow you to rip your own copy. It is a gift certificate code that allows you to download the movie from iTunes for free, including the DRM restrictions. The DRM doesn't bother me at all, and this is a great way to get a usable copy for my iPod/iPhone.
Why don't you hook up your old VHS deck if you prefer watching poor quality video? Are your kids too unintelligent to know how to load a disc in a player, or are you teaching them to glue themselves to the couch because you are too lazy? Tell them to go outside and play after school and enjoy life instead of sitting their asses on the couch because it is just so hard to get up and change a disc.
When Hotshot (fka hillstones) buys a TV or a DVD player, he obvioulsy doesn't bother with configuring or using the remote control, since he can simply get up and manually change the channel. He's old-school, and hates added convenience.
They will need to improve their movie playback functionality in itunes. I've gone to the next movie when I was only trying to skip to the next scene far too often. I now use front row and never itunes for movie playback.
It is definitely lacking in that sense. I can't wait until there an app, like Shazam, that will sample audio and video in your library and rename your library and supply album covers/DVD covers to your iTunes library. Ripping TV Shows to view later on an iDevice is such a pain if you want to clean them all up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2
I don't know why I'm surprised at this angry petulant response, but thanks for the reference anyway.
While it's his typical "self-hating fanboy" response he did actually do some research to back up statement with a bit of sense. That in and of itself is impressive as I didn't think it was possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison
Yes though I was an HD DVD proponent I will openly admit that there is palpable frustration not just from Apple but also from smaller video producers that want to deliver HD content on Blu-ray. The license fee restructure was nice and more work needs to be done so that the needs of the smaller video producer are taken care of.
Though Apple shouldn't be smug about Blu-ray. iTunes is a rousing succes for music but Apple's done bupkiss to help the smaller indie producers who need to give their clients playable HD content and Apple's been suckling from the major distributor teet almost exclusively.
I don't think of anything of the Gracenote info, but I do think that Apple will add Blu-ray support at some point, but only when they really have to. By support, I mean the ability for a 3rd-party BRD to be attached to a Mac so that BR content with HDCP can be played. I don't foresee them adding the player to anything but the Mac Pro, and possibly a high-end 24" iMac, which I think uses the 12.5mm drives.
Comments
It may also be that iTunes can steam the DVD or BlueRay to an AppleTV.
Or they're going to slap an optical drive in the AppleTV after all. It wouldn't surprise me if licensing was more straightforward for a set-top box than a PC.
I also wonder if Apple wouldn't be able to get some sort of license to rip movies into iTunes, so long as they wrapped them in FairPlay on the way. (Particularly if it was limited to iPod-friendly encodes) If they come through with Grand Central, ripping video could get awfully quick and painless.
Exactly
I have a 32" HDTV and I can see the difference between a good DVD and a HD version of the movie but it's not really that easy.
I own The Unforgiven 2-disc DVD and the HD DVD version and the difference is pretty small.
I have a hard time thinking that it's even a good idea to have an Blue Laser optical drive playing movies on a laptop that has a 17" screen at best.
720p digital files are pretty damn good for a desktop/laptop screen IMO. Though I would like to see Blu-ray for recording capability.
You can only do so much with an old movie title and remastering for HD. Even older movies on HBO-HD don't look as sharp as a current release in HD. The Dark Knight looks superb in Blu Ray. I don't have any older catalog Blu Ray titles yet, not sure if I will go that road unless they can be had for a discounted price.
I agree. Watching an HD movie on a computer is a waste of time. People don't gather around the computer to watch a movie. They also don't use optical storage for backup either, so Blu Ray's data storage doesn't seem to be a popular selling point either for computer use.
Or they're going to slap an optical drive in the AppleTV after all. It wouldn't surprise me if licensing was more straightforward for a set-top box than a PC.
I also wonder if Apple wouldn't be able to get some sort of license to rip movies into iTunes, so long as they wrapped them in FairPlay on the way. (Particularly if it was limited to iPod-friendly encodes) If they come through with Grand Central, ripping video could get awfully quick and painless.
It won't matter what they wrap the DVD rip in the MPAA won't have it. Real is currently in court under the same matter. Their argument is that they support the DVD encryption and have DRM protections and the MPAA still sued them.
In a way the MPAA is in a tough spot. If you allow DVD ripping then nothing stops people from trying to rip every rental DVD they come across.
i'm hoping for a significant update to AppleTV (bigger HDD and DVR capabilities, specifically). I've already begun digitizing my DVDs (Handbrake/VisualHub/MacTheRipper). Best case scenario is they update it by Christmas, but who knows...
Good luck with that fantasy. Apple won't add DVR features because they want you to buy from the iTunes store, not record from your cable company. You'll never see Amazon On Demand or NetFlix on the AppleTV either. Glad to see that you are too lazy to get off the couch and put a disc in your DVD player.
It won't matter what they wrap the DVD rip in the MPAA won't have it. Real is currently in court under the same matter. Their argument is that they support the DVD encryption and have DRM protections and the MPAA still sued them.
In a way the MPAA is in a tough spot. If you allow DVD ripping then nothing stops people from trying to rip every rental DVD they come across.
I think of that as more of a perceived threat than anything else. Those who wish to rip rental dvd's can already do so. I don't think there would be a huge influx in this activity.
Edit: Or they could even create some sort of tag that identifies the dvd as a rental and not allow Real or Apple, or whoever to create software that rips movies that have the rental tag.
You all are missing the point. Blu ray discs offer up to 50GB of storage, versus the 4-5GB of a standard, single sided DVD.
Put a Super Duper Drive that can write Blu ray discs and you made archiving and storage a lot easier.
It's not just about watching movies. If it were, you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080i on a screen smaller than 30 inches.
No one will have any interest in blank BluRay RW media, since they cost $15 (2x) -$30 (4x) per disc for 25 GB of storage. Amazon sells 50GB blank media for $25-$40 each. You would also need a dual-layer BluRay burner, starting at $529. I would have to spend $900 - $1,800 in blank media to equal the capacity of a 1.5 TB drive, which only costs about $150. Also the time wasted of trying to burn 25 GB at 2-4x. Let me know how that works out for you.
Good luck with that fantasy. Apple won't add DVR features because they want you to buy from the iTunes store, not record from your cable company. You'll never see Amazon On Demand or NetFlix on the AppleTV either. Glad to see that you are too lazy to get off the couch and put a disc in your DVD player.
Wrong, hotshot. I don't think Apple cares where I get my content from - as long as I consume it on their hardware. If they only wanted my iPod to play music from iTunes, then ripping CDs would be out of the question. Not that I expect to see Amazon or Netflix on there necessarily, but DVR is totally in the realm of possibility, IMO (see Tru2Way). Who knows what they'll end up doing though.
If Apple takes 30% of digital sales, then has to pay for servers, advertising, etc, etc, they end up making a very small profit. How many $3 movie rentals must I download for them to make a reasonable profit? Exactly. But I only need to buy one AppleTV for them to make a nice chunk of profit. "Glad to see" you finally get the big picture.
I'm just guessing here, but with iTunes Store selling HD movies it would make sense to include hooks for the Gracenotes Video database. Forget the hands-on BlueRay or HD DVD media. This allows you to identify and catalog the video content on your home media server so that Apple TV, iPhone, iPod, iTunes and laptop all have the data.
I think the inclusion of Gracenote for video content is more about attaching metadata (artist info, chapter titles, movie posters, etc) to your own videos, and less about stuff you buy from iTunes (which already has all this data attached to the files). It would essentially replace the need for programs such as MetaX. In other words, ripping and digitizing your own DVDs would be much easier, much like ripping music CDs is easy.
You all are missing the point. Blu ray discs offer up to 50GB of storage, versus the 4-5GB of a standard, single sided DVD.
Put a Super Duper Drive that can write Blu ray discs and you made archiving and storage a lot easier.
It's not just about watching movies. If it were, you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080i on a screen smaller than 30 inches.
I really don't think you want to do that. I can't imagine how long it will take to back up 50GB of data to an optical drive. After years with computers, I find it really unpractical to do that and it is much easier, safer, and sometimes cheaper to back up to either an external or secondary internal HDD. For me, Time Capsule solved all my archiving and backup problems.
Despite persistent rumors, Blu-ray support has yet to find its way to the Mac in any capacity
Not true. Blu-ray data discs are read by the Finder and can be written to with Toast.
+1
I'm going to buy and rip some Leapfrog learning library stuff for my son and keep it simple so he can find them whenever he wants. Frankly the industry wanting everything on a disc that's locked down is a noble effort to impede natural evolution and control DRM but is quickly growing out of vogue in what is becoming a very well connected global scheme.
I bought a cheap DVD player capable of playing AVI format just to rip my sons DVDs (to AVI format) and burn as much as I can on a rewritable DVDs so he can watch them. Every now and then I find few that don't work due to scratches (time to burn another copy). I will be getting an AppleTV once they release an updated hardware. I think the 40GB storage in the current AppleTV is a joke (160GB is not bad though).
The truth is that Apple (unofficially) pushed the iPod Hi-Fi as "a replacement for your home Stereo" which it certainly could be at the time since the audio quality was equal or better than the average home stereo.
Can you provide a source for that bullshit statement? Equal to or better than the average home stereo (in 2006)? Any stand-alone receiver and speakers would put the iPod Hi-Fi (and any other iPod speaker system) to shame, even something from the 70's and 80's. I guess you don't know much about stereo equipment.
saarek was talking about using iTunes as a DVD ripping software, presumable so you can (A) archive your collection, and (B) stream your movies to your TV with something like AppleTV. Currently, you need third-party software to rip DVDs.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy HD DVD movies, but it would be nice to have a couple of hundred movies on my Apple TV to just sit down and relax.
Which is exactly why I'd love to have BD ripping support in iTunes (I'd love to have HD DVD ripping too, as I picked up about fifty titles dirt cheap after the format was canceled, but that's pretty unlikely!). I've been, slowly but surely, ripping my DVD collection to h.264 and dropping them on my Mac Mini upstairs to serve up on my AppleTV. Just as we've all gotten used to having easy access to a vast library of music on our iPods (or other delivery method of choice), it's been handy to have frequently-watched movies available at the touch of a remote - particularly when it comes to the movies the kids watch, since they're apt to rewatch movies over and over again. Ripping also has the added benefit of preventing sticky fingers from coating the discs, and helping to keep the media scratch-free.
Even if the iTunes rips are Fairplay-encoded to the iTunes account in use (to prevent sharing), that'd be fine with me. I imagine Apple will wait and see what happens with the ongoing litigation against Real Networks before they consider adding this functionality.
I have a 32" HDTV and I can see the difference between a good DVD and a HD version of the movie but it's not really that easy.
I can see a difference on my 37" HDTV. Yes it's slight - my HD DVD player does a very good job of upconverting (something I thought was really just a gimmick before I saw it).
However, where I really see the difference isn't so much in the additional resolution, but in the added bitrate of the HD content - much less colour artifacting, and what appears to be a much higher contrast over standard definition DVD.
Unfortunately, the rented and purchased HD content from the iTunes store is also compressed into a very low bit rate and suffers the same artifacting you can see on SD DVD. It still looks better than standard DVDs, just not nearly as good as the HD DVD content in my library...
Your point is well taken however - I don't understand the current fascination Windows users have with ensuring their laptops have BD support, unless it's for either ripping their media, or for ensuring forward compatibility with future BD-ROM discs.
Can you provide a source for that bullshit statement? Equal to or better than the average home stereo (in 2006)? Any stand-alone receiver and speakers would put the iPod Hi-Fi (and any other iPod speaker system) to shame, even something from the 70's and 80's. I guess you don't know much about stereo equipment.
Well, hotshot (your new name, BTW), maybe he's not talking about stand-alone receivers and speakers. Maybe he's talking about a similar device to Hi-Fi?
The main thing is that I find iTunes rentals good enough to view, sure it may not be as clear but it certainly does not destroy the experience.
You may find it is not good enough, but for me the choice of having loads of movies loaded on so that my kids can walk in after school and load their favourite disney etc would be perfect.
Why don't you hook up your old VHS deck if you prefer watching poor quality video? Are your kids too unintelligent to know how to load a disc in a player, or are you teaching them to glue themselves to the couch because you are too lazy? Tell them to go outside and play after school and enjoy life instead of sitting their asses on the couch because it is just so hard to get up and change a disc.
I don't understand the current fascination Windows users have with ensuring their laptops have BD support, unless it's for either ripping their media, or for ensuring forward compatibility with future BD-ROM discs.
Unfortunately it doesn't. It has nothing to do with watching BDs, making media backups or future compatability, and everything to do with the need to point at an apparently "glaring" missing feature in Macs, despite the limited real-world usability of such a feature.
But hasn't Apple struck a deal with Disney that would allow you to rip a iPod usable copy of the movie?
Nope. The digital copy included with DVD's does not allow you to rip your own copy. It is a gift certificate code that allows you to download the movie from iTunes for free, including the DRM restrictions. The DRM doesn't bother me at all, and this is a great way to get a usable copy for my iPod/iPhone.
Why don't you hook up your old VHS deck if you prefer watching poor quality video? Are your kids too unintelligent to know how to load a disc in a player, or are you teaching them to glue themselves to the couch because you are too lazy? Tell them to go outside and play after school and enjoy life instead of sitting their asses on the couch because it is just so hard to get up and change a disc.
When Hotshot (fka hillstones) buys a TV or a DVD player, he obvioulsy doesn't bother with configuring or using the remote control, since he can simply get up and manually change the channel. He's old-school, and hates added convenience.
They will need to improve their movie playback functionality in itunes. I've gone to the next movie when I was only trying to skip to the next scene far too often. I now use front row and never itunes for movie playback.
It is definitely lacking in that sense. I can't wait until there an app, like Shazam, that will sample audio and video in your library and rename your library and supply album covers/DVD covers to your iTunes library. Ripping TV Shows to view later on an iDevice is such a pain if you want to clean them all up.
I don't know why I'm surprised at this angry petulant response, but thanks for the reference anyway.
While it's his typical "self-hating fanboy" response he did actually do some research to back up statement with a bit of sense. That in and of itself is impressive as I didn't think it was possible.
Yes though I was an HD DVD proponent I will openly admit that there is palpable frustration not just from Apple but also from smaller video producers that want to deliver HD content on Blu-ray. The license fee restructure was nice and more work needs to be done so that the needs of the smaller video producer are taken care of.
Though Apple shouldn't be smug about Blu-ray. iTunes is a rousing succes for music but Apple's done bupkiss to help the smaller indie producers who need to give their clients playable HD content and Apple's been suckling from the major distributor teet almost exclusively.
I don't think of anything of the Gracenote info, but I do think that Apple will add Blu-ray support at some point, but only when they really have to. By support, I mean the ability for a 3rd-party BRD to be attached to a Mac so that BR content with HDCP can be played. I don't foresee them adding the player to anything but the Mac Pro, and possibly a high-end 24" iMac, which I think uses the 12.5mm drives.