Jobs on HD DVD Burners

[MacRumors]

In a Wall Street Journal (subscription required) article, Steve Jobs reveals his position on high definition DVD burners and Music Studios.

As the CEO of Pixar, Jobs is taking sides with content creators, suggesting that studios not release movies in the high-definition DVD format until adequate copy protection methods are in place. Jobs even suggests that HD DVD burners not be bundled with computers at all, but admits this is an "extreme" scenario:

"I hope we don't have to get to, but it helps to put the issue in perspective."

Sony has often been criticized by analysts that the conflict between their Music Division and Consumer Electronics divisions prevented their continued markethold on portable audio devices, allowing Apple to step in with the iPod.

[Jack White]

i'd like an HD-DVD Burner.

[Soire]

How do HD DVD burners present greater legal issues than regular DVDs?

It's all digital content, so why does greater quality mean greater risk?

Besides, has anybody seen one of these yet, and how much do they cost?

[musicpyrite]

Originally Posted by Jack White

i'd like an HD-DVD Burner.

Hope they put HD DVD dual layer disks in the next PowerMacs.

[Bernd]

I hope Apple does not get into a Sony position of crippling it's computers to "save" it's entertainment division. I hope Apple continues to release the best hardware money can buy!! I don't want crippled computers. It would be a false economy if that was to happen: Apple is always leading on tech innovation.

[greg75]

Haha. How many times have I seen Mac zealots claim that Steve understands that DRM doesn't work?

Mac zealots should wake up and smell the coffee.

FairPlay: Another Anticompetitive Use of DRM

On a panel a few weeks ago, I asked the head lawyer for Apple's iTunes Music Store whether Apple would, if it could, drop the FairPlay DRM from tracks purchased at the Music Store. He said "no." I was puzzled, because I assumed that the DRM obligation was imposed by the major labels on a grudging Apple.

Steve Jobs loves DRM just as much as Bill Gates.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by Bernd

Apple is always leading on tech innovation.

*cough*bull*cough*s87t*cough*

IBM has more leading edge tech in its pinky finger then Apple does in its whole body. Tell me who else has built in hardware that aids in on the fly encryption for their laptops? Tell me who else has hardware in their laptops that can detect a fall and locks the hard drive prior to impact? Heck in another thread here on macrumors someone posted THIS NEver mind they have been looking at water cooled laptops for years now. Or how about THIS (Magnetic RAM)
Neither the 17" PowerBook, nor the iPod, nor overall design of the new PowerMacs are leading the edge of tech. (The G5 is the closest thing to bleeding edge and the CPU was created by IBM not Apple with the chipset offering a faster bus which WAS probably designed by Apple.) I would put forth Apple hasn't done anything that puts it on the cutting edge in a while. They take established tech and blend it into a beautiful, easy to use package. Nothing in the PowerBook is out of the ordinary for parts ditto with the iPod. Don't get me wrong I like Apple products but they haven't done anything bleeding edge in a while now.

[eric_n_dfw]

I have a feeling that we're going to see some kind of authentication based scheme for HD DVD's - kind of like the DIVX mess.

IE: Player verifies authenticity with some server via modem/broadband

Portable players would have to have some way of doing this, however, too.

[Laslo Panaflex]

Deleted.

Becuase I didn't know what I was talking about.

[eric_n_dfw]

Originally Posted by Soire

How do HD DVD burners present greater legal issues than regular DVDs?

It's all digital content, so why does greater quality mean greater risk?

Besides, has anybody seen one of these yet, and how much do they cost?

I think their point is that PC users would have no use for HD DVD burning except for copying commercial HD movies.

The problem I have with that is that there are already pro-sumer level HD camcorders on the market. If I were to go buy one of them to shoot weddings, my only output solution that my customers would want would be HD-DVD. (Presuming players exist for it -- I just don't see DVHS taking off, BTW)

Presumabably, I'd have to charge an arm-and-a-leg so as buy a pro HD DVD deck (should they be available) or to pay an HD Pressing facility to manufacture my clients 4 or 5 discs.

Not happy with Job's quote on this one at all.

[g4cubed]

Originally Posted by Soire

How do HD DVD burners present greater legal issues than regular DVDs?

It's all digital content, so why does greater quality mean greater risk?

Besides, has anybody seen one of these yet, and how much do they cost?

Took the words right out of my mouth!

And as for when, the dual layer burner just came out and still no media for it, last time I look.

[twinturbo]

Originally Posted by Laslo Panaflex

There is always going to be a way around the encryption/copy protection . . .

Personally, I don't care for HD DVD, becuase in reality, films won't look "that" better in 1080i or 720p, becuase they are shot using 24p panavision film cameras, that are no where near the picture quality of native 1080i.

Wow, you have a lot to learn. Film has far more resolution than HD video.

[DGFan]

Originally Posted by greg75

Haha. How many times have I seen Mac zealots claim that Steve understands that DRM doesn't work?

Mac zealots should wake up and smell the coffee.

FairPlay: Another Anticompetitive Use of DRM

Steve Jobs loves DRM just as much as Bill Gates.

DRM does in fact work and iTMS sales figures prove it. The necessary condition for DRM working is that the restrictions must not stop customers from using the media in they ways they most want to.

DRM zealots should wake up and smell the coffee. Not everyone is an IP anarchist.

[clonenode]

Originally Posted by Soire

How do HD DVD burners present greater legal issues than regular DVDs?

It's all digital content, so why does greater quality mean greater risk?

Besides, has anybody seen one of these yet, and how much do they cost?

I think the idea is that this is a new hardware format. So, before it's introduced and we start seeing HD-DVD movies hit the market, it would be a good idea to consider how DRM will or can work with them.

[7on]

Originally Posted by greg75

Haha. How many times have I seen Mac zealots claim that Steve understands that DRM doesn't work?

Mac zealots should wake up and smell the coffee.

FairPlay: Another Anticompetitive Use of DRM


Steve Jobs loves DRM just as much as Bill Gates.

To be fair that says "Apple's lawyer" not Jobs. But anybody in the entertainment business needs DRM to protect their stuff. I also don't think Bill Gates loves DRM, he just has to keep the RIAA happy. However, Jobs has Pixar under his belt. He wouldn't be doing very well if he sold machines that people could use to steal from his other job. It'd be like a maker of vaults also making vault cracking devices, like dynamite.

[nuckinfutz]

What PR fluff. Jobs is giving Hollywood a virtual BJ here. Both HD camps know that they cannot afford to hold back on recorders. That's Blu Rays ace in the hole. The reason why they are sticking with MPEG2 so that recording from ATSC tuners won't require any recompression.

Hell with WM9 HD you have HD resolution at DVD bitrates. For all intents and purposes HD DVD is already here and just waiting for chip support. Jobs really is talking to damn much. We're treading dangerous ground here because he keeps painting Apple into corners.

Personally, I don't care for HD DVD, becuase in reality, films won't look "that" better in 1080i or 720p, becuase they are shot using 24p panavision film cameras, that are no where near the picture quality of native 1080i. I think alot of people are getting excited to think that they can buy the HD DVD version of say Kill Bill, and it will be in HD, it doesn't work that way, if it wasn't shot in HD I can't be true natice HD.

Doesn't matter. HDTV looks far better than the 480i/p what we're seeing right now with DVD. Sure film is still superior but we have limitation in our delivery methods still. I love HD ...once you watch it you don't want to return to DVDs.

This is a distrubing trend for all indie filmmakers<grin>. Once again Hollywood is appropriating technology as if they are the sole reason for its existence. When you can buy a HD camera from JVC for $3500 and a DVHS deck for $500 I'd say HD is for everyone who wishes to record in better resolution.

[DGFan]

Originally Posted by SiliconAddict

*cough*bull*cough*s87t*cough*

IBM has more leading edge tech in its pinky finger then Apple does in its whole body. Tell me who else has built in hardware that aids in on the fly encryption for their laptops? Tell me who else has hardware in their laptops that can detect a fall and locks the hard drive prior to impact? Heck in another thread here on macrumors someone posted THIS NEver mind they have been looking at water cooled laptops for years now. Or how about THIS (Magnetic RAM)
Neither the 17" PowerBook, nor the iPod, nor overall design of the new PowerMacs are leading the edge of tech. (The G5 is the closest thing to bleeding edge and the CPU was created by IBM not Apple with the chipset offering a faster bus which WAS probably designed by Apple.) I would put forth Apple hasn't done anything that puts it on the cutting edge in a while. They take established tech and blend it into a beautiful, easy to use package. Nothing in the PowerBook is out of the ordinary for parts ditto with the iPod. Don't get me wrong I like Apple products but they haven't done anything bleeding edge in a while now.

Your points are valid but that doesn't mean Apple isn't an innovation leader. IBM innovates at a lower level of technology. Apple innovates more at the product level. For instance, I am simply amazed at the elegance of the Powerbook power brick. Was Apple first with this design? I don't know, but I haven't seen another power brick that even comes close.

[PBGPowerbook]

Originally Posted by SiliconAddict

Don't get me wrong I like Apple products but they haven't done anything bleeding edge in a while now.

Hm. Maybe from a different perspective on "new tech" I will disagree. I don't have any idea about chipset design or heat management but I know what company made it super easy to use Bluetooth and 802.11g and share files and print wirelessly in my new house. Which is pretty tech to me.

[technocoy]

apple DOES lead on tech innovation in many areas of interface design and elements, they also often introduce fledgling technologies long before they are accepted by other marketers and hence causes them to be brought into the mainstream sooner.

[docpsycho]

[quote=Laslo Panaflex]Personally, I don't care for HD DVD, becuase in reality, films won't look "that" better in 1080i or 720p, becuase they are shot using 24p panavision film cameras, that are no where near the picture quality of native 1080i. I think alot of people are getting excited to think that they can buy the HD DVD version of say Kill Bill, and it will be in HD, it doesn't work that way, if it wasn't shot in HD I can't be true natice HD.
QUOTE]
Actually 135 MM film is 4 times higher that a 720p/1080i digital system. do the math. remember a CCD imager is faster for light sensitivity. hence film grain, uneven light reaction is the pitfall of traditional film.
besides all that is compress into a small viewing space anyways even with someone who has a "killer" front projection systme with a 15 foot screen won't take advantage of all that resolution.

[nuckinfutz]

Someone want to provide the whole article. I'm not signing up for the WSJ just to read this article.

[bathysphere]

Originally Posted by Laslo Panaflex

There is always going to be a way around the encryption/copy protection . . .

Personally, I don't care for HD DVD, becuase in reality, films won't look "that" better in 1080i or 720p, becuase they are shot using 24p panavision film cameras, that are no where near the picture quality of native 1080i. I think alot of people are getting excited to think that they can buy the HD DVD version of say Kill Bill, and it will be in HD, it doesn't work that way, if it wasn't shot in HD I can't be true natice HD.

Sure, you can encode the films at higher bitrates due to larger storage capacity's, and that might make the movies look a little better, but still not HD. I guess the only good thing about HD/Blue Ray DVD is that it has greater storage capicity, which would be good for putting say 4 DVDs on one HD DVD.

hhahahaha holy crap that's the most wrong thing i've ever read. ever.
and i agree with most others here, what the hell is the point of singling out hd dvd burners? why would that be any different than a regular dvd burner? does steve need to pull his head out of his a$$, or am i missing something?

[fartheststar]

Originally Posted by twinturbo

Wow, you have a lot to learn. Film has far more resolution than HD video.

Yep. They can take the film and make HD (or any other digital format for that matter) of it.

Movies shot on film are the best and have the most options when outputting them as a digital product.

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by PBGPowerbook

Hm. Maybe from a different perspective on "new tech" I will disagree. I don't have any idea about chipset design or heat management but I know what company made it super easy to use Bluetooth and 802.11g and share files and print wirelessly in my new house. Which is pretty tech to me.

Ahh see this is where innovation and bleeding edge is in the eye of the beholder. I'm talking from purely a technological standpoint. If you look at it from integration and an ease of use standpoint Apple blows everyone else out of the water.

[greg75]

Originally Posted by DGFan

DRM doesn't work and iTMS sales figures prove it.

Fixed that for you.