Do you have any evidence that he got the idea from Jobs?
I don't know when Gates stated it, but Steve Jobs did so during this year's MWSF keynote in January. Same thing with the digital hub statement.
Quote:
[i]HD has been around for a long time.[/B]
True, but as has been mentioned, HD has never been as affordable as it is now. It is entering the mass market.
Quote:
[i]I think it's idiotic of Jobs to act like it's such a big deal that HD is in QT. It's an extremely limited use; it's only for high-end Macs to use smoothly and there are only a few movie trailers. WOW! WOW!
Meanwhile, other companies have big-ass televisions for people's living rooms and Microsoft has a set-top DVR system with all kinds of different capabilities.[/B]
As mentioned above, Apple has a lot more to offer than HD in Quicktime. Besides what does MS have to offer other than HD playback in WMVHD?
Apple offers a full suite of HD editing tools at various price points - starting form iMovie HD which comes free over Final Cut Express HD for 299 to the Pro suite for an amazing 1299.
And almost any manufacturer's HDTV set will work with any DVI based Mac. But Apple was the first company that made a HDTV-cable display affordable. And even today the 30-inchers price is almost unmatched.
Where is MS? Besides WMVHD, some WMVHD enhanced DVDs and Windows MCE? And by the way, MPEG4 H.264 AVC is also a mandatory HD DVD and BlueRay disc codec.
Concerning the hardware requirements: Please get your facts straight! The official WMVHD-Website would be a good start - have a look at the bottom of the page: For 1080 playback, it takes at least three GHz, 512 MB of RAM, 128 MB Video-RAM. Sounds pretty high-end to me, too.
I have to agree with you on a single point: MCE. But basically, Mac OS X and iLife have all the basic parts in place. A nice unified UI for all your media playback needs is the piece that is missing. But as far as I know, this is something that the Open-Source community is already working on. I wonder when we will see the first Dashboard-based implementation.
On the other hand, Apple's strength is content creation. And the iLife suite puts everything on the Windows side to shame considering its ease of use and high level of integration.
For Apple to actually make a difference or be important in the HD field they have to get their HD product outside their hardware platform, which is so small it basically doesn't exist.
Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media
Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.
I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.
Apple has a way to go before they start claiming to be kings of HD. They are bit players at this point.
For Apple to actually make a difference or be important in the HD field they have to get their HD product outside their hardware platform, which is so small it basically doesn't exist.
Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media
Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.
I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.
Apple has a way to go before they start claiming to be kings of HD. They are bit players at this point.
if you're talking about market share, yes, 2-4% around the world is considered small. however, they are major players in the portable music industry 58% us marketshare for flash players and 70% for hard disk players global/us (???)
if your're talking about entry from the Mac base, yes, that is a concern and some challenges there. if you're talking about entry from the iPod angle, there are some great advantages there.
we can argue till we're blue (screen of death) in the face about who 'owns' HD.
the promising fact is that mpeg4 and h.264 is out there, it's gaining ground, and it's holding up as a more open and agreed upon standard than proprietary microsoft codecs, unless you can provide some hard evidence to prove otherwise this is my *general impression*
so apple is betting on the right horse so to speak, regardless of whether they made or trained the horse to start with, or if they just made that cute little thing that goes over their back (equestrian enthusiasts help me out here)
yes, current Mac-only hardware to get fully into mpeg4 and h.264 is daunting, but a $200 third-party accessory eg. elgato, etc.. will obliterate that daunting $2-3k gap you fairly pointed out between a HD-capable-mac and a HD-capable-build-your-own-PC.
throw stability, great software design, iPod chic and mindshare, and there are some strong possibilities for an iPod-for-home-cinema revolution.
apple is experimenting already eg. with the iPod shuffle on dropping their "price premium" image to move towards "cool and affordable", management is already definitely toying with maintaining profits not through high-profit-margins and lower volume but higher volume with slightly-lower-profit margins, because they suspect that in the long run that's more sustainable. they're probably sick of being the little train that could, though this is so ingrained in apple corporate culture it will take a little while to change...
just some ammo for the pro-apple camp on this thread lock and load....
if you're talking about market share, yes, 2-4% around the world is considered small. however, they are major players in the portable music industry 58% us marketshare for flash players and 70% for hard disk players global/us (???)
What does this have to do with anything? HD music?
Quote:
throw stability, great software design, iPod chic and mindshare, and there are some strong possibilities for an iPod-for-home-cinema revolution.
I haven't seen any problems as far as stability or ease-of-use with XP Media Center.
Apple might be able to market it better, but that isn't compelling to me.
If Microsoft teams up with TIVO on this... game over.
How would Apple leverage the iPod into the home television market?
There is already a technology brand name in the home television market; TiVo. That's the king. Whoever wants to do it right and get it widely accepted has to deal with TiVo.
Apple seems to have ZERO real plans to enter the home HD market, while Microsoft not only has a product already there but more in the pipeline. (And sorry to Apple, but being part of a larger consortium for a standardized format does not count.)
Apple could announce a media center Mac tomorrow, it could happen and they would probably do a good job. But they aren't there and they don't seem to want to be there.
Microsoft needs to get its ass in gear with Media Center PCs, they need to standardize the setup and get some compelling hardware packages out there door. They need to work with hardware manufacturers to shrink the boxes and make them prettier, the software is pretty much there already.
How would Apple leverage the iPod into the home television market?
There is already a technology brand name in the home television market; TiVo. That's the king. Whoever wants to do it right and get it widely accepted has to deal with TiVo.
Apple seems to have ZERO real plans to enter the home HD market, while Microsoft not only has a product already there but more in the pipeline. (And sorry to Apple, but being part of a larger consortium for a standardized format does not count.)
Apple could announce a media center Mac tomorrow, it could happen and they would probably do a good job. But they aren't there and they don't seem to want to be there.
Microsoft needs to get its ass in gear with Media Center PCs, they need to standardize the setup and get some compelling hardware packages out there door. They need to work with hardware manufacturers to shrink the boxes and make them prettier, the software is pretty much there already.
Tivo = major US brand
iPod = major Global brand
i know, at this stage my guesstimate is 5% chance that Apple will enter home HD market
my personal motivation is that at this stage my mum and dad (and me for some programs) love their standard definition satellite programming, and are going through their VCRs and tapes at full-tilt. i know my dad has been eyeing some standard def mpeg2 standalone DVD-recorder boxes, i just want to be able to 'cut him off at the pass' so to speak and challenge myself in terms of a scalable, easy to use, home theatre solution (where we're livin now HD satellite broadcasts ain't gonna happen for oh, 3 years minimum, i think...)
not HD Music, but the fact that apple can leverage its iPod brand and marketshare, and mindshare to penetrate the home theatre market.
yes,
microsoft+tivo = possibly a juggernaut of unfathomable proportions.
game's far from over at this stage though
Why does Tivo make such a good match?
They're getting hammered because the cable and satellite companies are going with their own set top boxes, which they provide for free.
I can't see why those same companies would want to partner with the famously predatory Microsoft to provide DVR solutions, and I don't see how they'd want to partner with a Microsoft that had acquired the Tivo solution that they are busily putting out of business.
None of which has much to do with HD, one way or the other. If people choose SD cable boxes over SD Tivo, they'll choose HD cable boxes over HD MS/Tivo.
By the way, I think Apple has a legit claim to being HD leaders because they make the tools that make the content, something MS can't touch.
I'm slow, how did a link to an Xbox article have any bearing on iPods, Apple and Media Center PCs? Unless the next Xbox will be a media center PC, which I doubt with Microsofts apparent "this is not a PC" ideal for the Xbox brand.
Recently I began researching what options HDTV users had when it came to console gaming, it really sucks. Across the board lack of 1080i, 720p hell even 480p on all major consoles. If thats not bad 16:9 options are just as bad. I can see how consoles like the PS2 have trouble with HD resolutions but not offering widescreen in every game? Come on.
I expect every new console to offer _at least_ 480p and widescreen. Game doesn't offer it, game doesn't get published. The Xbox is capable of HD, but game developer don't feel any pressure. No better pressure then the publisher.
As far as HD in computers in general, its a joke. Feels like 3D gaming back in software mode when the CPU handled the entire load. Its fun to say; get a Dual Power Mac G5 or a Prescott and your set but thats the wrong approach, like hammering a nail with a jack hammer.
......As far as HD in computers in general, its a joke. Feels like 3D gaming back in software mode when the CPU handled the entire load. Its fun to say; get a Dual Power Mac G5 or a Prescott and your set but thats the wrong approach, like hammering a nail with a jack hammer.
dude, totally. i overclocked my ati mobility radeon 9200 on my iBook g4 933mhz by 20% clock and 10% memory and i was already starting to see improved frame rates on apple's 720p trailers...
given mpeg4-level-specifications there's a lot of hardware-specific routines built into a decoder chip that can totally offload h.264 decoding. encoding, well, a bit of another kettle of fish but same concept, really.
now if those f8cking ati and nvidia pay some attention to 2D Video decoding instead of just 3D anisotropic this and trilinear that
How would Apple leverage the iPod into the home television market?
AirPort Express HD. It transmits your iTunes HD video wirelessly in addition to your music. People can also use iTunes "Video Store" to obtain HD content, but that is not required.
Keeping iTunes cross platform eliminates a major switcher barrier. As long as you use iTunes and iPod, you can use a Mac or PC and switch back and forth. This makes it easier to actually switch, as its one less hassle and you're safe to switch back.
iTunes video would be similar, and I bet it could even burn DVDs or those new HD on standard DVD discs as described at NAB. Can't play it in your DVD player? No worries, get AirPort Express HD and you can play it on your TV.
The mac is no longer the digital hub. iTunes is now the digital hub.
For Apple to actually make a difference or be important in the HD field they have to get their HD product outside their hardware platform, which is so small it basically doesn't exist.
I don't have exact marketshare numbers, but I think Apple HD cutting and authoring solutions are pretty wide spread in the enthusiast, semi-professional and professional environments. Even when adding the price of a entire Mac-based workstation, the Apple's pricepoint is pretty compelling.
Quote:
[i]Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media[/B]
I actually like an open agreed-upon standard better than any MS codec.
Quote:
[i]Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.[/B]
Well, you said that HD requires a high-end machine on the Mac-side, implying that every out-of-the-box Dell could handle without a problem. And MS's states the bare minimum requirements - and they usually are very optimistic in their estimates.
Quote:
[i]I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.[/B]
What native resolution does this "nice" HDTV set run at? The ones I have seen are 720 at most. Have a look at what full-res set sell for.
I wanted to state that Apple's top-of-the-line display goes unmatched in price and quality for quite some time. It was that way when they released the 23-inch HD modell and even today very few companies offer a display that matches the 30-incher.
Because of the name "TiVo". Everyone knows what it means. People say they are going to "TiVo" a show. If a big player like Microsoft or an advertising-saavy group like Apple get behind it, work deals with some satellite and cable providers? watch out.
Roland:
We're not talking about HD authoring. We're talking about bringing HD to the people.
Also, the 30" HDs value as a television doesn't matter a bit if they aren't marketing it as a television. Well, they don't market it at all. It's sold as a computer accessory. They need to follow Dell and Gateway's lead and market them as televisions as well.
They may announce all of this tomorrow. A Mac mini looking set-top and the 30" as a TV. It might be a good move.
Because of the name "TiVo". Everyone knows what it means. People say they are going to "TiVo" a show. If a big player like Microsoft or an advertising-saavy group like Apple get behind it, work deals with some satellite and cable providers? watch out.
Right, but I think it's the "working the deals" part that may be the problem.
I have the feeling that MS has finally entered the "reap what they have sown" phase, at least when it comes to licensing agreements with the big media players.
Everybody has seen how they operate-- how a "deal" with MS that seemed like a great way to get access to all that marketing muscle-- turns into "Microsoft owns everything and controls everything and you are now the dog that gets wagged".
I think the content delivery people want to provide an experience that is simple as possible. A DVR really isn't that complicated, and mostly depends on the quality of the scheduling software. I don't think MS has anything to offer here except to make the whole thing more complicated, and I can't see where that is a selling point, Tivo name recognition notwithstanding.
In fact, I think at this point "Tivo", as a verb, has become too ubiquitous to cash in on by using the actual "Tivo" brand name. It's kind of like bringing out a product that has "Zippers" and hoping people notice that you are using actual Zippers from the Zipper people and not just another "alternating tooth closure device".
It's the functionality of Tivo that people get. ironically because of Tivo itself, in a way that makes the particular product irrelevant.
i built a MCE box. It was nice, easy to use, very nice to play back xvids and whatnot that I acquired. The DVR interface outdid any Tivo or Cox cable set top. I used the highest quality parts with the lowest sound profile possible and the dang thing was still a hair dryer sitting next to my TV. Unless you are using a Hush system (pure MCE, no fans, $3000+) its just not gonna live in my house. And for those MCE extenders? Garbage. Run on Windows CE and no xvid/divx support and have to be HARDWIRED for any kind of bandwidth. Needless to say my next computer purchase was a dead quiet Mini (first mac). Best use of my money until I bought this powerbook.
I'm in agreement with a previous poster, QT7/iTunes is going to be the route Apple is going along with an HD Airport or something similar. A quiet non-intrusive and extremely useful piece of hardware that integrates with iTunes (or iFlicks, whatever) and the PC or Mac in the den as the server.
And was it cool or what to hook up my camcorder to my powerbook and record direct to H.264 from QT7? Zero config, just works. I can't say that about the MCE box I put together. It didn't all work on first install/config and the hardware requirements were very specific and sometimes the thing just didn't work right (but did most of the time, it was pretty good).
Comments
I'm gonna have to frame that
Originally posted by groverat
Do you have any evidence that he got the idea from Jobs?
I don't know when Gates stated it, but Steve Jobs did so during this year's MWSF keynote in January. Same thing with the digital hub statement.
[i]HD has been around for a long time.[/B]
True, but as has been mentioned, HD has never been as affordable as it is now. It is entering the mass market.
[i]I think it's idiotic of Jobs to act like it's such a big deal that HD is in QT. It's an extremely limited use; it's only for high-end Macs to use smoothly and there are only a few movie trailers. WOW! WOW!
Meanwhile, other companies have big-ass televisions for people's living rooms and Microsoft has a set-top DVR system with all kinds of different capabilities.[/B]
As mentioned above, Apple has a lot more to offer than HD in Quicktime. Besides what does MS have to offer other than HD playback in WMVHD?
Apple offers a full suite of HD editing tools at various price points - starting form iMovie HD which comes free over Final Cut Express HD for 299 to the Pro suite for an amazing 1299.
And almost any manufacturer's HDTV set will work with any DVI based Mac. But Apple was the first company that made a HDTV-cable display affordable. And even today the 30-inchers price is almost unmatched.
Where is MS? Besides WMVHD, some WMVHD enhanced DVDs and Windows MCE? And by the way, MPEG4 H.264 AVC is also a mandatory HD DVD and BlueRay disc codec.
Concerning the hardware requirements: Please get your facts straight! The official WMVHD-Website would be a good start - have a look at the bottom of the page: For 1080 playback, it takes at least three GHz, 512 MB of RAM, 128 MB Video-RAM. Sounds pretty high-end to me, too.
I have to agree with you on a single point: MCE. But basically, Mac OS X and iLife have all the basic parts in place. A nice unified UI for all your media playback needs is the piece that is missing. But as far as I know, this is something that the Open-Source community is already working on. I wonder when we will see the first Dashboard-based implementation.
On the other hand, Apple's strength is content creation. And the iLife suite puts everything on the Windows side to shame considering its ease of use and high level of integration.
Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media
Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.
I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.
Apple has a way to go before they start claiming to be kings of HD. They are bit players at this point.
Originally posted by groverat
For Apple to actually make a difference or be important in the HD field they have to get their HD product outside their hardware platform, which is so small it basically doesn't exist.
Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media
Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.
I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.
Apple has a way to go before they start claiming to be kings of HD. They are bit players at this point.
if you're talking about market share, yes, 2-4% around the world is considered small. however, they are major players in the portable music industry 58% us marketshare for flash players and 70% for hard disk players global/us (???)
if your're talking about entry from the Mac base, yes, that is a concern and some challenges there. if you're talking about entry from the iPod angle, there are some great advantages there.
we can argue till we're blue (screen of death) in the face
the promising fact is that mpeg4 and h.264 is out there, it's gaining ground, and it's holding up as a more open and agreed upon standard than proprietary microsoft codecs, unless you can provide some hard evidence to prove otherwise this is my *general impression*
so apple is betting on the right horse so to speak, regardless of whether they made or trained the horse to start with, or if they just made that cute little thing that goes over their back (equestrian enthusiasts help me out here)
yes, current Mac-only hardware to get fully into mpeg4 and h.264 is daunting, but a $200 third-party accessory eg. elgato, etc.. will obliterate that daunting $2-3k gap you fairly pointed out between a HD-capable-mac and a HD-capable-build-your-own-PC.
throw stability, great software design, iPod chic and mindshare, and there are some strong possibilities for an iPod-for-home-cinema revolution.
apple is experimenting already eg. with the iPod shuffle on dropping their "price premium" image to move towards "cool and affordable", management is already definitely toying with maintaining profits not through high-profit-margins and lower volume but higher volume with slightly-lower-profit margins, because they suspect that in the long run that's more sustainable. they're probably sick of being the little train that could, though this is so ingrained in apple corporate culture it will take a little while to change...
just some ammo for the pro-apple camp on this thread
Originally posted by sunilraman
if you're talking about market share, yes, 2-4% around the world is considered small. however, they are major players in the portable music industry 58% us marketshare for flash players and 70% for hard disk players global/us (???)
What does this have to do with anything? HD music?
throw stability, great software design, iPod chic and mindshare, and there are some strong possibilities for an iPod-for-home-cinema revolution.
I haven't seen any problems as far as stability or ease-of-use with XP Media Center.
Apple might be able to market it better, but that isn't compelling to me.
If Microsoft teams up with TIVO on this... game over.
Originally posted by groverat
What does this have to do with anything? HD music?
I haven't seen any problems as far as stability or ease-of-use with XP Media Center.
Apple might be able to market it better, but that isn't compelling to me.
If Microsoft teams up with TIVO on this... game over.
not HD Music, but the fact that apple can leverage its iPod brand and marketshare, and mindshare to penetrate the home theatre market.
yes,
microsoft+tivo = possibly a juggernaut of unfathomable proportions.
game's far from over at this stage though
There is already a technology brand name in the home television market; TiVo. That's the king. Whoever wants to do it right and get it widely accepted has to deal with TiVo.
Apple seems to have ZERO real plans to enter the home HD market, while Microsoft not only has a product already there but more in the pipeline. (And sorry to Apple, but being part of a larger consortium for a standardized format does not count.)
Apple could announce a media center Mac tomorrow, it could happen and they would probably do a good job. But they aren't there and they don't seem to want to be there.
Microsoft needs to get its ass in gear with Media Center PCs, they need to standardize the setup and get some compelling hardware packages out there door. They need to work with hardware manufacturers to shrink the boxes and make them prettier, the software is pretty much there already.
Originally posted by groverat
How would Apple leverage the iPod into the home television market?
There is already a technology brand name in the home television market; TiVo. That's the king. Whoever wants to do it right and get it widely accepted has to deal with TiVo.
Apple seems to have ZERO real plans to enter the home HD market, while Microsoft not only has a product already there but more in the pipeline. (And sorry to Apple, but being part of a larger consortium for a standardized format does not count.)
Apple could announce a media center Mac tomorrow, it could happen and they would probably do a good job. But they aren't there and they don't seem to want to be there.
Microsoft needs to get its ass in gear with Media Center PCs, they need to standardize the setup and get some compelling hardware packages out there door. They need to work with hardware manufacturers to shrink the boxes and make them prettier, the software is pretty much there already.
Tivo = major US brand
iPod = major Global brand
i know, at this stage my guesstimate is 5% chance that Apple will enter home HD market
my personal motivation is that at this stage my mum and dad (and me for some programs) love their standard definition satellite programming, and are going through their VCRs and tapes at full-tilt. i know my dad has been eyeing some standard def mpeg2 standalone DVD-recorder boxes, i just want to be able to 'cut him off at the pass' so to speak and challenge myself in terms of a scalable, easy to use, home theatre solution (where we're livin now HD satellite broadcasts ain't gonna happen for oh, 3 years minimum, i think...)
Originally posted by sunilraman
not HD Music, but the fact that apple can leverage its iPod brand and marketshare, and mindshare to penetrate the home theatre market.
yes,
microsoft+tivo = possibly a juggernaut of unfathomable proportions.
game's far from over at this stage though
Why does Tivo make such a good match?
They're getting hammered because the cable and satellite companies are going with their own set top boxes, which they provide for free.
I can't see why those same companies would want to partner with the famously predatory Microsoft to provide DVR solutions, and I don't see how they'd want to partner with a Microsoft that had acquired the Tivo solution that they are busily putting out of business.
None of which has much to do with HD, one way or the other. If people choose SD cable boxes over SD Tivo, they'll choose HD cable boxes over HD MS/Tivo.
By the way, I think Apple has a legit claim to being HD leaders because they make the tools that make the content, something MS can't touch.
Recently I began researching what options HDTV users had when it came to console gaming, it really sucks. Across the board lack of 1080i, 720p hell even 480p on all major consoles. If thats not bad 16:9 options are just as bad. I can see how consoles like the PS2 have trouble with HD resolutions but not offering widescreen in every game? Come on.
I expect every new console to offer _at least_ 480p and widescreen. Game doesn't offer it, game doesn't get published. The Xbox is capable of HD, but game developer don't feel any pressure. No better pressure then the publisher.
As far as HD in computers in general, its a joke. Feels like 3D gaming back in software mode when the CPU handled the entire load. Its fun to say; get a Dual Power Mac G5 or a Prescott and your set but thats the wrong approach, like hammering a nail with a jack hammer.
Originally posted by IonYz
......As far as HD in computers in general, its a joke. Feels like 3D gaming back in software mode when the CPU handled the entire load. Its fun to say; get a Dual Power Mac G5 or a Prescott and your set but thats the wrong approach, like hammering a nail with a jack hammer.
dude, totally. i overclocked my ati mobility radeon 9200 on my iBook g4 933mhz by 20% clock and 10% memory and i was already starting to see improved frame rates on apple's 720p trailers...
given mpeg4-level-specifications there's a lot of hardware-specific routines built into a decoder chip that can totally offload h.264 decoding. encoding, well, a bit of another kettle of fish but same concept, really.
now if those f8cking ati and nvidia pay some attention to 2D Video decoding instead of just 3D anisotropic this and trilinear that
Originally posted by groverat
How would Apple leverage the iPod into the home television market?
AirPort Express HD. It transmits your iTunes HD video wirelessly in addition to your music. People can also use iTunes "Video Store" to obtain HD content, but that is not required.
Keeping iTunes cross platform eliminates a major switcher barrier. As long as you use iTunes and iPod, you can use a Mac or PC and switch back and forth. This makes it easier to actually switch, as its one less hassle and you're safe to switch back.
iTunes video would be similar, and I bet it could even burn DVDs or those new HD on standard DVD discs as described at NAB. Can't play it in your DVD player? No worries, get AirPort Express HD and you can play it on your TV.
The mac is no longer the digital hub. iTunes is now the digital hub.
Originally posted by groverat
For Apple to actually make a difference or be important in the HD field they have to get their HD product outside their hardware platform, which is so small it basically doesn't exist.
I don't have exact marketshare numbers, but I think Apple HD cutting and authoring solutions are pretty wide spread in the enthusiast, semi-professional and professional environments. Even when adding the price of a entire Mac-based workstation, the Apple's pricepoint is pretty compelling.
[i]Yeah, MPEG H.264 will be on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, but that's not Apple's baby even if Apple is the first to release a player for it and love themselves loudly in the media[/B]
I actually like an open agreed-upon standard better than any MS codec.
[i]Also, I don't remember every saying HD Players on the PC required only a 486 with 6MB of RAM. I made a factual statement about the necessity of a high-end Mac. A high-end Mac will run you $3-$4k. I can build a 3ghz P4 w/ 1GB RAM for well under $1k. For $4k you could get a tricked out XP-Media Center PC and still have enough left over to pre-order your XBOX360 (HD) and a handful of games for it.[/B]
Well, you said that HD requires a high-end machine on the Mac-side, implying that every out-of-the-box Dell could handle without a problem. And MS's states the bare minimum requirements - and they usually are very optimistic in their estimates.
[i]I don't know what you're talking about with the 30" HD, but it's $3k. $2k can get you a very nice 52" HDTV.[/B]
What native resolution does this "nice" HDTV set run at? The ones I have seen are 720 at most. Have a look at what full-res set sell for.
I wanted to state that Apple's top-of-the-line display goes unmatched in price and quality for quite some time. It was that way when they released the 23-inch HD modell and even today very few companies offer a display that matches the 30-incher.
Originally posted by groverat
Not seriously enough to start any threads about it.
Nice
Why does Tivo make such a good match?
Because of the name "TiVo". Everyone knows what it means. People say they are going to "TiVo" a show. If a big player like Microsoft or an advertising-saavy group like Apple get behind it, work deals with some satellite and cable providers? watch out.
Roland:
We're not talking about HD authoring. We're talking about bringing HD to the people.
Also, the 30" HDs value as a television doesn't matter a bit if they aren't marketing it as a television. Well, they don't market it at all. It's sold as a computer accessory. They need to follow Dell and Gateway's lead and market them as televisions as well.
They may announce all of this tomorrow. A Mac mini looking set-top and the 30" as a TV. It might be a good move.
Originally posted by groverat
Because of the name "TiVo". Everyone knows what it means. People say they are going to "TiVo" a show. If a big player like Microsoft or an advertising-saavy group like Apple get behind it, work deals with some satellite and cable providers? watch out.
Right, but I think it's the "working the deals" part that may be the problem.
I have the feeling that MS has finally entered the "reap what they have sown" phase, at least when it comes to licensing agreements with the big media players.
Everybody has seen how they operate-- how a "deal" with MS that seemed like a great way to get access to all that marketing muscle-- turns into "Microsoft owns everything and controls everything and you are now the dog that gets wagged".
I think the content delivery people want to provide an experience that is simple as possible. A DVR really isn't that complicated, and mostly depends on the quality of the scheduling software. I don't think MS has anything to offer here except to make the whole thing more complicated, and I can't see where that is a selling point, Tivo name recognition notwithstanding.
In fact, I think at this point "Tivo", as a verb, has become too ubiquitous to cash in on by using the actual "Tivo" brand name. It's kind of like bringing out a product that has "Zippers" and hoping people notice that you are using actual Zippers from the Zipper people and not just another "alternating tooth closure device".
It's the functionality of Tivo that people get. ironically because of Tivo itself, in a way that makes the particular product irrelevant.
I'm in agreement with a previous poster, QT7/iTunes is going to be the route Apple is going along with an HD Airport or something similar. A quiet non-intrusive and extremely useful piece of hardware that integrates with iTunes (or iFlicks, whatever) and the PC or Mac in the den as the server.
And was it cool or what to hook up my camcorder to my powerbook and record direct to H.264 from QT7? Zero config, just works. I can't say that about the MCE box I put together. It didn't all work on first install/config and the hardware requirements were very specific and sometimes the thing just didn't work right (but did most of the time, it was pretty good).