Apple on Blu-Ray, Touch Screen Displays, Netbooks

[bilbo--baggins]

FW400 is going to be gone in the next year or so would be my guess (and yes it's a guess) especially when USB 3.0 arrives which should be sometime next year last i heard...

It would make more sense to me to wait until something better than Firewire 400 comes along, and then replace it. Currently, USB 2.0 audio and video devices tend to be inferior to the Firewire 400 equivalent, and Firewire 800 doesn't seem to have taken off as it's replacement. In the past year I've bought the new Apogee Duet (firewire only) and Canopus ADVC 55 (firewire only). These devices are both far superior than cheaper USB alternatives.

Also, with so many devices not working properly through hubs or expansion cards (from my unfortunate experience), I actually find it very useful having some USB devices, and some Firewire devices with the limited number of ports available on the Mac Pro. I wonder if Apple drops Firewire on Mac Pros whether they'll start putting 6+ USB ports on? I doubt it.

 

[overcast]

Sorry I should have said the flash thumb drives are one example today of a technology is far superior and more portable than Blu-Ray.

Who knows, in the future, we might be able to go to a store, go to a Netflix kiosk, select a movie in the RED format (which is far superior to HD), swipe your Netflix card, go home and insert the Netflix card into the Card Reader next to your TV and load the movie from the card....

The day of the optical disc is over!

LOLOLOLOL. Ok, so when is that going to happen? I should probably just throw out all of my CDS/DVD/BLURAY in preparation for this then huh? So then what happens when you decide to watch another movie, I have to drive back out and reload a movie onto my Netflix card?

Better yet, how about I enjoy HD film and you wait that one out. Majority of the country still doesn't have access to high speed internet, let alone this magic card reader technology being available to EVERYONE. And before all this everyone has to have TVs that support greater than 1080 lines of resolution, which would have to exist, considering the RED format is far superior.

K, sushi time.

 

[Lancer]

It means
No DV cams.
No Target mode
No use of older FW equipment

If I had the money I'd buy an older MacBookPro right now, I hope Apple does a turn around or will they offer FW in the 17inch model, forcing people to spend more on a screen they don't need?

I guess I could always get the base model and save a heap of cash so I can use the Canon DV camera and FW HDD I have!

 

[fewture]

Those questions, to me, really seem to me like fluff and even then there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

What happened to the firewire cable?

Why, in todays economy did you decide to raise prices?

You talk about expansion and growth yet you purposely hinder apples potential at the same time. Right now is a time to pounce and you point it out but you drop the ball. Why? Do you like apple to be the whipping boy?

Have you ever actually used your products Steve Jobs? Do you really believe glossy on a pro works outdoors when doing jobs on the fly?

What the hell is up with the Mac Mini?

Why only drop the 3 year old Macbook by just 100$?

Why did you not update the 17" pro? Why only half ass the line?

Why only do a 24" monitor? Have you noticed the rest of your line has not been touched in years?

So spot on. I really hope Apple is hurt over this, so that they are forced to give their consumers what they want. At the moment they have way too much arrogance

 

[donlphi]

I actually agree

Blu-Ray on a laptop? I can't even imagine appreciating my blu-ray discs on anything smaller than a 42" HDTV or bigger. What the heck would I want to watch it on a 15" monitor for? It seems like overkill to me. As for burning Blu-Ray movies, not everybody has a camera that records 1080p (or 1080i for that matter). If I need a blu-ray burner, I'll buy one. I love blu-ray, but it is a fad. It will be gone faster than DVD for sure.

Touch Screen on a laptop or desktop (not a tablet): What's the point? There is a touchscreen desktop computer out right now, and it all seems cool in theory, but think about where you have your current monitor compared to where you sit and tell me that is a convenient interface for your computer. Unless you work for a company that sets up little portable kiosks, I can't image ever needing to have a touchscreen on my computer. If it were a tablet, sure, but if it has a perfectly good keyboard and trackpad, why? The iPhone is easy to clean the finger prints, wipe it on my jeans or my shirt sleeve, or whatever. Cleaning a monitor is another issue.

NETBOOK: If you can't afford a BMW, buy a Ford. The End.

As for the current release prices, I'm predicting another price drop and perhaps a few other surprises before the holidays.

 

[redmeister]

people are always going to be letdown at every single apple event. everyone either expects too much or expects everything at once. sure, there are a few things that are worth complaining about that should be included... but sometimes people get a bit too carried away here

lofty expectations = crushed when reality hits

 

[ndstrenge]

TouchScreen Display - "so far it hasn’t made a lot of sense to us."



isn't that one of the driving forces behind the iPhone's success? It seems rather ridiculous to claim that TouchScreen is only for tiny non-finger-friendly devices.

There is nothing wrong with just saying; "we're experimenting with it, but the technology doesn't spread across all the necessary software yet."

On a side note-

What I see is that Apple dedicated most of their resources towards developing a new manufacturing process to deliver notebooks that can be dropped off the balcony and survive. But- they're ahead of the curve and haven't actually figured out how to give us all the tech we want inside that casing. They will. I just wish SJ would admit that.

 

[Lancer]

So spot on. I really hope Apple is hurt over this, so that they are forced to give their consumers what they want. At the moment they have way too much arrogance

What's new?

 

[mpb2000]

double post

 

[mpb2000]

people are always going to be letdown at every single apple event. everyone either expects too much or expects everything at once. sure, there are a few things that are worth complaining about that should be included... but sometimes people get a bit too carried away here

lofty expectations = crushed when reality hits

I never expected any of the things people have been saying. All of the "brick" ideas were just insane. I never expected blu-ray. I didn't even expect a glass trackpad. But the one thing I didn't see coming was the removal of firewire from the MB line. That is just unthinkable given all of the products that use this connection, and the fact that IT WAS ALREADY THERE! It's not like it was something new we were hoping for.

 

[Macmaniac]

For all the people poo-pooing BlueRay your full of it. Apple should be getting on the bandwagon now, BlueRay won the format war, now go with it. My roommates and I have a 40in HDTV with a PS3 hooked up to it, watching movies is incredible, I will never buy none Blu-Ray again. Its absolutely stunning how good the quality is, download it? U gotta be kidding me.

 

[overcast]

TouchScreen Display - "so far it hasn’t made a lot of sense to us."



isn't that one of the driving forces behind the iPhone's success? It seems rather ridiculous to claim that TouchScreen is only for tiny non-finger-friendly devices.

There is nothing wrong with just saying; "we're experimenting with it, but the technology doesn't spread across all the necessary software yet."

On a side note-

What I see is that Apple dedicated most of their resources towards developing a new manufacturing process to deliver notebooks that can be dropped off the balcony and survive. But- they're ahead of the curve and haven't actually figured out how to give us all the tech we want inside that casing. They will. I just wish SJ would admit that.

Just use your imagination for five seconds. A large screen COVERED in greasy fingerprints. Not to mention the amount of arm movement required to do anything. It just doesn't work.

I really DO NOT see touch screens replacing the mouse any time in the near future.

 

[EMKoper]

Touch Screen on a laptop or desktop (not a tablet): What's the point? There is a touchscreen desktop computer out right now, and it all seems cool in theory, but think about where you have your current monitor compared to where you sit and tell me that is a convenient interface for your computer.

I now have the strongest urge to 'touch' the screen on my desktop work computer to select options and press internet buttons ever since I got an iPhone (actually did touch it a few times!) ... never had the urge on my laptop, though, which I usually use sitting down in bed (so a very different posture). So, I think in some cases the 'touch screen' would possibly keep your focus on the screen and you'd not have to break stride and look down at the keyboard or move your hand on the mouse which is energy 'away' from the focus area (the screen). It seems so 100% natural to me after just a few months with an iPhone to touch that screen to make things happen!

There might actually be some human factors evidence that it is beneficial as well...

 

[AidenShaw]

One thing I've learned listening to SJ all these years... no technology is good enough until suddenly it appears in Apple products.

One of my favorites was Jobs' claim when the "luxo" or "makeup mirror" Imac G4 was introduced.

He said that CD drives won't work in the vertical orientation, which was why the Imac G4 had the CD in the tacky white plastic half-dome instead of the screen.

Of course, they worked just fine in the vertical orientation in the next iteration of the Imac
_________________

The makeup mirror Imac has another parallel with the latest introduction....

A big thing then was made of the engineering in the swivel arm - how hard it was to engineer a great solution.

Now Apple is crowing about the wonderful unibody frame - but the former Apple fanbois say "where's Firewire - we want features, not a less useful system that's a millimetre thinner than the last one".

I now have the strongest urge to 'touch' the screen on my desktop work computer to select options and press internet buttons ever since I got an iPhone (actually did touch it a few times!) ... never had the urge on my laptop, though, which I usually use sitting down in bed (so a very different posture). So, I think in some cases the 'touch screen' would possibly keep your focus on the screen and you'd not have to break stride and look down at the keyboard or move your hand on the mouse which is energy 'away' from the focus area (the screen). It seems so 100% natural to me after just a few months with an iPhone to touch that screen to make things happen!

There might actually be some human factors evidence that it is beneficial as well...

BINGO!!

I have a touchscreen Windows phone, a Chumby, and a MID that I've been playing with the last couple of months.

And yes, I've been poking the screen on my laptop and desktop just out of reflex.

I think that the key isn't that you need to redo the whole UI to be touch-only, but that a touch should be equivalent to a mouse action. If there's a big button on the screen that says "[OK]", let me tap that with my fingernail rather than finding the mouse or touchpad and moving the cursor over the button and then do whatever is interpreted as a "click" (Apple has really muddied that one with the new Apple books)

I don't have to use the whole-arm action for everything - but please make tapping the "[OK]" button the same as moving the cursor over the button and clicking.

But "choice" - it's not an Apple thing.

 

[overcast]

I now have the strongest urge to 'touch' the screen on my desktop work computer to select options and press internet buttons ever since I got an iPhone (actually did touch it a few times!) ... never had the urge on my laptop, though, which I usually use sitting down in bed (so a very different posture). So, I think in some cases the 'touch screen' would possibly keep your focus on the screen and you'd not have to break stride and look down at the keyboard or move your hand on the mouse which is energy 'away' from the focus area (the screen). It seems so 100% natural to me after just a few months with an iPhone to touch that screen to make things happen!

There might actually be some human factors evidence that it is beneficial as well...

You can't possibly compare a 5" screen to a large desktop monitor.

 

[editguy]

Blu-Ray on a laptop? I can't even imagine appreciating my blu-ray discs on anything smaller than a 42" HDTV or bigger. What the heck would I want to watch it on a 15" monitor for? It seems like overkill to me. As for burning Blu-Ray movies, not everybody has a camera that records 1080p (or 1080i for that matter). If I need a blu-ray burner, I'll buy one. I love blu-ray, but it is a fad. It will be gone faster than DVD for sure.

Touch Screen on a laptop or desktop (not a tablet): What's the point? There is a touchscreen desktop computer out right now, and it all seems cool in theory, but think about where you have your current monitor compared to where you sit and tell me that is a convenient interface for your computer. Unless you work for a company that sets up little portable kiosks, I can't image ever needing to have a touchscreen on my computer. If it were a tablet, sure, but if it has a perfectly good keyboard and trackpad, why? The iPhone is easy to clean the finger prints, wipe it on my jeans or my shirt sleeve, or whatever. Cleaning a monitor is another issue.

NETBOOK: If you can't afford a BMW, buy a Ford. The End.

As for the current release prices, I'm predicting another price drop and perhaps a few other surprises before the holidays.

Lots of PC laptops now have Blu-ray drives. And Blu-ray will be around for a long time. Sony ensured that with the Playstation. Just because you don't want it as an option doesn't mean there aren't people that do. Some people are just asking for the ability to connect an external drive. And I thought Apple claimed to be the industry leader? They've been around for come time on PC's. Why is Apple so late to the party? And if the new Apple is a BMW you'd better call your insurance company because it's been stripped.

 

[AidenShaw]

You can't possibly compare a 5" screen to a large desktop monitor.

But yes, you can.

If you are accustomed to touch screen devices, and you're looking at a dialogue on a 24" monitor - the intuitive action is to click the "[OK]" or "[Cancel]" button on the screen.

We're not saying that you toss the keyboard and mouse - we're saying that touching the button on the screen with your fingernail should do the same thing as finding the mouse, moving the cursor over the screen button, and then doing something to the mouse (or trackpad) that is interpreted as a "click".

Options. Choice. Intuition. Ease of use. Things that Apple used to expouse.

 

[Slim02]

You people make me lol.. Download movies? I hope you do not have Comcast or is doing the same thing with their high speed internet.. Because I have Comcast and if you go over 250GB (streaming over the internet cuts into it too not just downloading) you can loose your internet or be charged on top of your monthly charge. And by the looks of it most high speed internet is going that way.. So go luck downloading them HD movies long with with a extra cost to your monthly charge for high speed internet.. I take a Blu-ray over a download any day and will keep on buying Blu-ray movies over DVD and Downloads..

 

[moomac]

Yes for MacBook Touch!

 

[iVoid]

"Blu-Ray - "It’s great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace.""

Ironically, I'm looking to replace my aging PowerMac G5 soon. The one thing that would make me act right away is to have BluRay playback capability.

I might have settled on the new iMac a year ago (couldn't and still can't yet justify the cost of a MacPro), but I won't buy a glossy screen.

And one of these days I have to replace my ancient iBook, but now the glossy screen issue is preventing that.

That's three sales Apple's current choices have cost them, for those keeping track.

 

[MattInOz]

You can't possibly compare a 5" screen to a large desktop monitor.

What about a 9inch monitor that is close to 200dpi.

Steve seemed to answer the netbook and touchscreen thing the same way.
"We have prototypes but nothing we are in love with."
or
"we have a mockup we are happy with but some of the parts are 6 to 12months away"

I wonder when Steve get shown these prototypes, with all the reports of Pixel Prefect mockups for product, does steve get told the price then have the full packaging and everything.

 

[MacsBestFriend]

Blu-ray is too new and it can never take away DVDs from us. DVD is compatable with blu ray but not the other way around and noone cares enough when it comes to macs unless there is a blu-ray burner. And THAT is too far off!

 

[whatever]

LOLOLOLOL. Ok, so when is that going to happen? I should probably just throw out all of my CDS/DVD/BLURAY in preparation for this then huh? So then what happens when you decide to watch another movie, I have to drive back out and reload a movie onto my Netflix card?

Better yet, how about I enjoy HD film and you wait that one out. Majority of the country still doesn't have access to high speed internet, let alone this magic card reader technology being available to EVERYONE. And before all this everyone has to have TVs that support greater than 1080 lines of resolution, which would have to exist, considering the RED format is far superior.

K, sushi time.

Bottom line is if Walmart doesn't start selling a ton of Blu-Ray discs this holiday season the format is done.

And I'm including in that equation PS3 games.

The Wii is destroying the PS3 in sales (hell, Wii Fit is making more money for Nintendo than PS3 is for Sony).

Then add into the mix the environmental issues involved with Blu-Ray discs and the high cost of oil....

Another thing I have not mentioned is OnDemand, which for some reason does not have the same bandwidth issues that other Online delivery systems do. And it works today.

 

[Spymit007]

Blu-ray is dying on the vine people.

Sony is all but giving them away with the PS3 and people aren't buying them.

Both Apple and Microsoft are betting on digital downloads of movies. Sure, it may not be "true HD", but SJ is right on the money when he says a majority of people watch a movie once and then they're done.

I've said before and I'll say it again, the day of hard media is dead.

As far as storage goes, ripping things to Blu-ray is again just a stop gap.

I'd have to disagree. Blu-ray discs are selling extremely well. Iron Man on Blu-ray sold over half a million copies in its first week of release and is poised to hit 1 million sales. People are predicting that when The Dark Knight comes out on Blu-ray, it will shatter Iron Man's record. Movie studios are scurrying to bring their titles, old and new, to Blu-ray (ie The Godfather Collection, Matrix Collection, Citizen Kane). I don't believe these are the actions of a dying format. I will say that as of right now, it is more of a niche market. People who have adopted the Blu-ray format are those who have big screen HDTVs and great sound systems. Blu-ray takes advantage of that. Anyone who says regular DVDs are just as good as Blu-ray absolutely has no idea what they are talking about. I laugh everytime I see or hear that. High Definition content whether it be in the form of a Blu-ray disc or HD broadcast television is far superior to standard definition. Seeing is believing. Once you go hi-def, you'll never want to go back to standard def.

 

[AidenShaw]

Seeing is believing.

And "hearing is epiphany".

Many BD titles have 7 channel uncompressed 96KHz/24-bit sound tracks. Unfarkingbelievable on a good sound system.

And the Cupertino Fruit Company is still trying to convince y'all that 128 Kbps is "CD quality".

If you believe that crap, you deserve that crap.