Apple on Blu-Ray, Touch Screen Displays, Netbooks

[highjumppudding]

from a business standpoint apple is playing the whole bluray situation smartly. let's see how popular it becomes in the average consumer's daily life. apple is without a doubt planning to remove optical drives from all of their computers in the future. if they wait longer, consumers will eventually "hopefully" become less reliant on optical media. in the future apple can remove the drives and offer a single external slim multi-reader/burner. it would be great too if all computers in the future were portable. they're really pushing this new 24" led monitor for portable's. right now the monitor won't work with the imac, mini, and mac pro. i am personally disappointed in some of their recent moves and "removal" of ports/features. it's a step towards the future.

 

[overcast]

And I agree, tablets are a ridiculously small niche that Apple does not need to fill. I can't even tell you the last time I've seen one in use, outside of the hospital.

 

[Adjei]

Blu-ray is a useless feature, if it was so popular why is it struggling to catch on?

 

[spacevator]

I honestly don't understand all the fuss about tablets (as opposed to touch screen laptops or desktops, which are non-starters). The first thing I would have to do with a tablet is plug a keyboard in. I don't get their purpose at all.

Could a tablet-Mac-wanting person explain it to me?

Do I need to explain the iPhone or iPod Touch to you also? A tablet mac is roughly just a bigger more useful one of these. And if you still don't get it, than just don't buy it. But don't shut the rest of us out of an Apple device because you don't get it! Many others get it and will buy it. I'm an electrical engineer, and I really got it after seeing and owning a multi-touch iPhone.

 

[Adjei]

You do know that pioneer make blu-ray drives don't you ?
Apple not putting Blu-ray is an embarrassment, they could at least support it, so at least people could buy the drives themselves.

Do you know how much Blu-ray on a mac would cost, and their computers are already as expensive as it is.

 

[overcast]

Blu-ray is a useless feature, if it was so popular why is it struggling to catch on?

People are complacent with garbage quality, that's why. As far as media storage, game duplication, it's definitely not useless.

 

[overcast]

Do you know how much Blu-ray on a mac would cost, and their computers are already as expensive as it is.

How much? Expensive is a relative term.

 

[Adjei]

A few vocal people may be "screaming for tables" but the market in general has shown that tablet PCs are a small niche market. They make great props for Sci-Fi channel shows, but they're not exactly burning up the sales charts. This is what Jobs means when he says that the tablet idea "hasn't made a lot of sense to us", i.e. "doesn't look like it'd make any money".

Well said.

 

[Parental]

i made a summary of the event

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=T-JcLA2vEIY

 

[JGowan]

Seriously, some people dont want to get as little as possible for a cheap price. THey want AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE for a a low price.

I think $999 (the new price for the white MacBook -- Apple's "best-selling Mac ever") is low enough, having dropped a full $100 yesterday.

It used to be everyone wanted a $1000 laptop… now that they have it, they piss and moan about $200 cheaper. Sure, I guess if they would've announced that the old white MacBook was $799, I would've been very surprised and thrilled -- but you know what,... people would've been biz-nitching that they weren't getting the Aluminum MacBook for $799.

If what you wants costs $999 or $1299 or even more, then save your money until you have enough and go buy it. Or get a credit card and try to pay it off as fast as you can. But please, those people who can't see the value in the $1299 MacBook that was just announced just need to shut up.

Jobs said it best:

"The new MacBook delivers Metal enclosure, much Faster graphics, LED backlit display. To get into these features, yesterday, cost $1999 -- you'd have to step up to a MacBook Pro to get all of these features. Starting today you can get all these features for just $1299. That's $700 more affordable for these key features. Or 35% lower entry price for these features."

Honestly, what's in a name? They could've easily called the 13.3" MacBook the 13.3 MacBook Pro and no one would've thought otherwise. Same uni-body enclosure, major graphics chip increase, glass track pad, etc. Apple is essentially giving everyone a MacBook Pro, despite the name.

While I can understand people griping about lack of firewire and the glossy screen, for the life of me, I don't get everyone all bunched up in the panty area about $200. The new technologies they're offering are certainly worth the couple extra bones you're paying for the new $1299 version vs the $1099 you pay for the white thing.

Grow up. Save your money. Quit complaining. These new machines are awesome.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

Blu-ray is a useless feature, if it was so popular why is it struggling to catch on?

that is just ridiculous. You can backup 50GB of data on one disc. and do it economically!

also, many of us enjoy HD content on BD discs. I am open as anyone else is to a digital future. but there is a definite place for Blu-Ray on Apple products.

Let the consumers have options! Macintosh's are supposed to be versatile and dynamic, why handicap a valued format to any???

let people embrace physical media AND digital downloads. there shouldn't be only one option.

 

[spacevator]

What on earth do you want a touchscreen [douchescreen] tablet for?

Who needs them?

DHL delivery drivers? Great. Any device will do, they don't need a Mac.

Retards? If difficulty using a mouse is an issue, maybe.

Bill Gates Disciples? Buy one of his coffee tables. Are they available yet? No? Oh well.

Touchscreen is pointless technology in everyday computer interface situations.

Sorry, but how ignorant! If you don't want a touch screen device than don't buy one. But why limit Apples' product line just because you don't get it? This isn't rocket science. Many people saw, bought and love their touch screen iPhone. How much imagination does it take to extrapolate the iPhone to a bigger more useful book, internet reader, gaming device, etc. sheesh!

 

[Adjei]

Can you offer an explanation as to why everyone else seems to be managing it? Regardless of the hurdles you have to overcome, if Apple want to compete they have to be able to offer the things which other companies threw in months ago. It's a joke.

Apple were clear supporters of Blu-Ray from the start and I love the quote from that previous MWSF from Jobs. They have given up for their business gain, why support a technology that is in competition with their Digital Downloads? Its about profit and selfishness.

Nonsense, don't they support DVD's and you can download movies from the itunes store, does that compete with DVD's..

Blu-ray is just a gimmick especially on a laptop designed to get money from the consumers and get them to replace their dvds purchased just for marginal improvement in video and sound. No wonder is not taking off.

 

[overcast]

Sorry, but how ignorant! If you don't want a touch screen device than don't buy one. But why limit Apples' product line just because you don't get it? This isn't rocket science. Many people saw, bought and love their touch screen iPhone. How much imagination does it take to extrapolate the iPhone to a bigger more useful book, internet reader, gaming device, etc. sheesh!

Comparing the power and size of an iPhone to tablet is dumb. We already have a large more useful book, it's call a macbook. It's a tablet, that opens and closes.

 

[Adjei]

Yeah, right. That's why all the other brands are fighting to get into this market. If Apple had released the tablet today, you would be saying exactly the opposite. I don't get the people that thinks Apple is always right. They're there to make money not to be right, and sometimes they won't be right.
For example, today, I get they want to push the MBP into the regular consumer, but why not a matte screen BTO. We had that choice before (and I guess 90% went with the matte screen as I have never seen a glossy MBP). The same with BR: just make it BTO and charge for it. Give people choices.

Fighting to get into the tablet market, you must be kidding me, there's a reason you don't see any tablets selling, because it hasn't caught on. Apple shouldn't even step into this market, the same thing they rushed with the Apple TV and jumped and we all see where it is now, I doubt its even selling.

 

[overcast]

Nonsense, don't they support DVD's and you can download movies from the itunes store, does that compete with DVD's..

Blu-ray is just a gimmick especially on a laptop designed to get money from the consumers and get them to replace their dvds purchased just for marginal improvement in video and sound. No wonder is not taking off.

I want you to show me how it is marginal improvement. I can GUARANTEE you have never sat down and compared either. And I'm not talking about on your 20" LCD display and a pair of BOSE speakers.

1080 is LEAPS and bounds over 480. 6 times the resolution!
The new lossless audio formats are an even bigger difference, seriously.

 

[Adjei]

It's the same people who think they are downloading "the same as cd" rips of song on iTunes. The general public does not care or has no idea with their "high-end" BOSE speaker cubes. They will be the death of any type of HD audio/video format. SACD/DVD-A :(

That's what blu-ray can be compared to and it will ahve the same faith.

 

[overcast]

That's what blu-ray can be compared to and it will ahve the same faith.

Because you and your peers enjoy overpaying for low quality.

$20-25 Blu-Ray disc of the same movie in DVD should be $3-5 dollars right? Considering it's 6 times less resolution.

 

[thenightstalker]

A word on blu ray

Look, I understand that people did not want blu-ray due to the price, but at the price theyre charging for the pros, they should have at least a blu-ray reader. Its an insane price for the hardware.

 

[Adjei]

Only reason why Apple wont release blu ray is cause they wont make AS much money do to them having to pay the licensing and buying a sony or LG drive to put in their machines as their own.

Apple is all about making money, greed, so till Jobs can figure out how to make MORE money by selling BR drives, they they wont, his excuse is the biggest bunch of BS i heard this week.

As stated before, if Dell, HP, Acer, etc. can have it then why can't Apple?........he is just trying to find a good way to monopolize BR to the Apple consumer where there is no way to get around it.........greedy bastards!!!!

So let me guess Dell, HP, and Acer aren't greedy, I mean they don't care about money, they are all about customers right?

 

[spacevator]

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.

Newsflash....Comcast limits downloads to 250GB per MONTH! How many HD movies, TV shows will your family download along with all the regular bandwidth they consume per month?

 

[overcast]

Look, I understand that people did not want blu-ray due to the price, but at the price theyre charging for the pros, they should have at least a blu-ray reader. Its an insane price for the hardware.

Actually, if you added up the price for 2 x quadcore xeons when those were initially revised, plus the server motherboard and everything else. They were by far the best deal out of anything in the Apple lineup. Even todays prices are pretty close.

 

[ukpetey]

Sorry, but how ignorant! If you don't want a touch screen device than don't buy one. But why limit Apples' product line just because you don't get it? This isn't rocket science. Many people saw, bought and love their touch screen iPhone. How much imagination does it take to extrapolate the iPhone to a bigger more useful book, internet reader, gaming device, etc. sheesh!

I have a touchscreen tablet (Fujitsu Siemens) running XP Pro, and it is a complete pile of cr*p - it belongs to my employer, not me -luckily My colleagues and I joke that they are so bad, and so slow, that we'd like to give them a good whack on the floor to kill them off. I'd never EVER buy one. I would not even want one as a gift - honestly!

Yet I have and adore my iPhone 3G, which works very well. Different tools for different jobs...

Yesterday I ordered my new MacBook 2.4 - which will be my first MB, and I think it'll be everything I need, and I won't miss the Blu-Ray or the Firewire.

I'm the happiest person in all of England after yesterday's keynote

ukp

 

[whatever]

Why because you aren't buying them and watching crappy SD-DVD? Myself and MANY other film fanatics have very large collections already. Hard media is not dead, not even close. Explain to me where the network infrastructure exists to download 25GB files? Where are the storage devices to hold gigantic libraries of these? Do you honestly think that people that wouldn't be involved in HD media, would be involved in the latter? Give me a break. Physical media is no where near dead. People want tangible objects when they purchase something.

But that's just it. When you purchase a Blu-Ray disc, you don't actually own it.

Physical media for consumer products are dying! The biggest market for physical media ten years ago was the music industry and today the largest music reseller in the United States is Apple. Go to Walmart, the former #1 and the shelf space dedicated to music is down to nothing.

Who says that we're locked into the current formats and compression rules. What if tomorrow someone comes up with a new format that delivers true 1080P in a file size a quarter the size of todays formats.

So has the pipes get bigger and faster, hopefully the files will get smaller and smaller.

 

[Adjei]

Dear Apple,

Since you obviously can't be bothered to offer anything remotely close to a good value, I'll be moving to the PC realm for my laptop. I can't believe I actually waited all year anticipating a major Apple laptop update only to be utterly disappointed in your latest offerings.

Netbooks are a nascent market and that's why you can't be bothered to jump in? I guess the pioneering apple of old is long gone.


I'll be back on the PC side. If you decide to someday release oh, say, a tablet, netbook or a competitively priced notebook, I'll be happy to come take a peek then.

Hasta luego,
Dan

Good ridance.