Yes, they frame grabbed it off of a Blu-ray disc before they decided not to release blu-ray with the new iMac.
*snap*
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Yes, they frame grabbed it off of a Blu-ray disc before they decided not to release blu-ray with the new iMac.
*snap*
True enough.
But it is a problem in the sense that Apple doesn't give it's customers an option to have BD if they want it in their computer because they want to force you to use iTunes for low quality HD content.
Customers who want BD don't want to have to carry around an additional device simply because Apple won't allow me the option of an internal BD.
It's not like Apple is a struggling, broke company that needs every last cent from iTunes junk HD revenue so they won't allow customers to have built in BD.
Oh, Macs most likely will get Blu-ray sooner or later. Just not any Mac I will be buying(unless they don't offer a standard DVD drive anymore)
The main thing I am getting at is Blu-ray is not going to be a dominant format for long (if ever). It will never get as big as DVD because streaming will get "good enough" before it has the chance to.
Blu-ray is ahead of DVD in adoption at the same point in time of their respective releases.
DVD sales are going down, BD is going up.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multim...rity_of_Packaged_Media_Continues_to_Drop.html
In a few years DVD drives will be the combo drives that used to be laughed at on Macbooks.
The main problem I have with your posts is you're spewing this stuff as fact, when all of this still remains to be seen. It's your opinion that Blu-ray won't be a dominant format, and considering that you can't tell the difference between 3.8mbps 720p Netflix streams and 40mbps 1080p Blu-ray discs indicates that your opinion means very little to me.
I see there are two type of Apple users. Those caught up in the Apple "culture" and those who simply want the best OS on a half way decent computer. From my experiences, most computer desks have a nice lower slot to accommodate a tower of any size. Out of sight, out of mine. Most people only interface with the front of their computers for the optical drive and USB ports for photos or music. the iMac design is not really convenient in that respect.
Exactly. Streaming is the end-all, to quality video that is. I love narrow sighted posters who only consider what happens in their own world. I'm beginning to see why Apple's stock is so high. I should've purchased a few shares when I was the only person I knew who even purchased Macs in the early to mid '90s. Who'd a thunk?
There really are people who can't tell the difference between compressed and uncompressed video, and audio for that matter, and have little concept of quality.
For instance, take the schleps who pay more money to see a film projected at less resolution on a high def [buzz word] projector.
I don't think it's fair to characterize someone who is interested in a powerful all-in-one computer as being indoctrinated into Apple culture.
The iMac is a solid computer and aesthetically it is very pleasing. I have owned dozens of tower PCs over the years and with every one of them got to deal with the hulking box on the floor that had cables going everywhere. They are also loud.
By comparison my iMac sits on my desk and looks like a piece of art. It is also pretty snappy at the tasks I use it for, makes no noise during normal use, and has almost zero cable clutter.
If, on top of those points, you prefer OS X, then the iMac becomes something of a no brainer for the majority of those wanting an Apple computer.
But you wouldn't be able to play back them on a Mac because it isn't supported.
Right now Blu Ray has about 8% market share. DVD's at this point after their introduction were at 4%. Blu Ray Sales are up 91% since last year, and DVD's are down 16%. Digital downloads are only 10-20 of the market.
I just want to voice my 2 cents. Most people are not looking for blu-ray to play movies, they want and NEED it at this point for FCP. The fact that Apple has dragged their feet is yet another in a very obvious trend...Apple has changed their business model away from the pro/creative type to the average consumer. This can be seen from their removal of firewire, the non matte screens and the lack of effort in moving their pro apps forward. The sad truth is they are becoming a consumer electronic company that while still makes great and stylish products, are more content with the money generated with iphone apps.
While it is possible to add a blu-ray burner to a mac pro and burn movies in a very basic way, it is sad that they have not seen it as a NEED for people who use their computers as an important part of their job. Adding it as an option, and more importantly, not listening to what their customers want, is yet another sign that they have moved onto the easy money and abandoned the section that was always their strongest advocate- the pro-sumer.
While it is possible to add a blu-ray burner to a mac pro and burn movies in a very basic way, it is sad that they have not seen it as a NEED for people who use their computers as an important part of their job. Adding it as an option, and more importantly, not listening to what their customers want, is yet another sign that they have moved onto the easy money and abandoned the section that was always their strongest advocate- the pro-sumer.
ugh. I never said I couldn't tell the difference between an HD stream and a Blu-ray disc. I CAN, and I SAID I can. I just don't give a crap because it's not an order of magnitude better. It's marginally better. Maybe you are one of those people who is replacing all of their DVDs with Blu-ray discs and you can't stand to listen to anything but Lossless audio, but the fact is most people aren't that picky. Just look at the music market. What is the most popular format now? Compressed audio. The majority of people are listening to music that is inferior to CD quality audio. Why? Because it's convenient. Streaming HD content is positioned even better because it is not only more convenient (no disc handling), but it's higher quality than DVD video.The main problem I have with your posts is you're spewing this stuff as fact, when all of this still remains to be seen. It's your opinion that Blu-ray won't be a dominant format, and considering that you can't tell the difference between 3.8mbps 720p Netflix streams and 40mbps 1080p Blu-ray discs indicates that your opinion means very little to me.
I'll gladly eat my words if Blu-ray dethrones DVD as the new media king.
Also, VOD has not seen the kind of gains Blu-ray has seen, at least not this year.
We are probably heading into a 5-10 year period during which blu-ray and VOD coexist. People will use VOD for their casual media consumption. Stuff they really care about will be rented or purchased on blu-ray for the superior picture and audio quality.
Apple trying to spur this trend would simply be idiocy. It will eventually bite them in the arse and cost them sales. They can get away with it right now because in the public mind blu-ray is still "expensive" even though BD-ROM capable devices for computers are getting down into the $100 price point... similar to the prices that DVD drives were at when they gained mass adoption in computers.
Many Apple products seemed like that at one time...
Now, not so much....
I'll buy my art from galleries or from the artists themselves (and I have stuff that cost more than a fully-configured Maxi-Pro), not from the consumer electronic gadget store at the mall....
Don't forget the extras and the menus, plus it will be interesting if BD-Live takes off.
Blu-ray does not have to dethrone DVD, it just has to supplant DVD as the physical medium standard. In all likelihood blu-ray and VOD will coexist and blu-ray will only become obsolete when VOD offerings can match the audio/visual quality of blu-ray.
Even then I would not be surprised if blu-ray scratched out another decade, surviving as the niche format for videophiles.
Realize that it's not just audio/video quality that is the issue between blu-ray and VOD.
With an iTunes download I can authorize up to 5 computers to play the movie and I must have an Apple device connected to any display that I want to watch the content on. This might look very good to Apple but it's very bad for consumers.
Blu-ray players will be $99 for this holiday season and that will be the normal MSRP moving into 2010.
A Blu-ray movie can be played on pretty much any blu-ray player without having to "authorize" anything. I have a physical copy of the movie that I can lend out, trade, or sell if I tire of it.
Until studios rethink their position on DRM for movies with digital downloads, it's a dead issue with me and millions of other consumers. I simply won't shell out $25 for a movie, regardless of quality, if I don't have rights to buy/sell/trade that movie in any way that I would like. Not to mention having the ability to play that movie on any machine I like, even if it is not connected to the internet.
All we're asking for is the choice. The option to have Blu-ray available as a BTO selection from Apple. If you aren't picky about the content you watch, great. You can feel free not to take advantage of this option. This does not affect you at all.
Many Apple products seemed like that at one time...
Now, not so much....
Touche. However, it's worth noting that with the high resale value of Apple computers it's not unreasonable for someone like myself to simply upgrade every year or two to the latest. It's certainly cheaper than an art fetish.
I actually had thought about the idea of a mouse with a touchpad as the button shortly after the mighty mouse was introduced... I hated that pea-sized ball that never works. I probably should have pushed that idea then.
I do have issues with a bluetooth only device. I really think that the mouse and keyboard should have also been able to connect to the computer with a USB cable for those times when the computer fails to link with the externals. That's about my only gripe about the new mouse; otherwise it's the greatest thing since the scrolling trackpad.
I do have issues with a bluetooth only device. I really think that the mouse and keyboard should have also been able to connect to the computer with a USB cable for those times when the computer fails to link with the externals. That's about my only gripe about the new mouse; otherwise it's the greatest thing since the scrolling trackpad.
Unless Apple decides to change the perception of value a la 3.06 GHz iMac. Top of the line one day to $1,000 off bottom of the barrel the next.
It's not an impressionist painting.
You know something that can go up in value?
I think the "nanny factor" is strong in the Cult of Apple.
To nannies, choice is bad, and those people will argue that you should not have options.
_____
Remember, on Monday "Quad Core" was a bad choice that the nannies said that you didn't need.
Wednesday (today), the nannies are bragging about the new quad core Imacs that they've ordered.
BD won't be a good thing until Apple starts shipping it - and then it will be essential.
This is very interesting. Because on the one hand, I strongly agree with you about Apple's direction and general abandonment of the pro markets (especially egregious in the case of higher end software like the FCS); but on the other hand, I don't see BR in particular as an instance of this trend. I think Apple genuinely has a problem with BR - and it is not just licensing issues and the like mentioned by Steve's "bag of hurt" speech. I think that deep down, Apple believes BR is a kind of dead end technology that laserdisc was - yes, it has higher fidelity and so on, but there are many many technical problems with it... it is by no means as smooth as DVDs, it is still very expensive (mediawise both blank and the movies for sale), and it still has a very small market share. I think Apple believes that DVD is good enough for most consumers, and eventually digital distribution will take over - that makes BR not a transitional technology, but a dead end that is already being superseded... the DVD will hold on long enough for digital distribution to catch on. This maps pretty well with the situation with CDs. CDs are "good enough" for the vast majority of consumers - SACD never caught on - and is already being superseded by digital distribution. SACD is like BR. OK, not quite, as the infrastructure for real digital distribution isn't there for film the way it is for music - video is way more data intensive, and we don't have the pipes for the most part (most people don't). And the video/film enthusiast market has embraced the BR the way the audiophile/music market has not SACD, so it is a flawed comparison, but it has an essential truth to it. BR came to market too late, and DVDs are not quite low quality enough. For most people - not enthusiasts - the experience gap between a DVD and VHS was much bigger than between a DVD and BR. So they jumped on the DVD, but I don't think the same will happen with BR. So, I suspect Apple sees BR like those jazz drives (remember those?!) - in between floppy and optical media, something that will not survive and never catch on big... so, all you need to do is ignore it, and it'll eventually go away, just like the jazz drives did.
That said, I agree - Apple is dropping the ball with the pro market, and this is a very bad mistake, IMHO. Sure, it may not be a big market - how much do they earn from FCS, LS etc. given the development costs - but it is critical to keep the loyalty and mind-share among people who really are trend setters. If you start being perceived as a consumer company without legit chops at the highest level of pro, you lose a lot of cache. Penny wise, pound foolish APPLE!! WAKE UP!!
It's not an impressionist painting.
You know something that can go up in value?
One of my pieces of art jumped $12K in value in one day.
The artist announced that she was not longer going to produce any pieces in that style. That meant that the supply side of supply/demand dropped to zero.
The manager of a gallery that I patronize called me that afternoon, wondering if I would want to sell any of the items that I had....
What's "BR", do you mean "BD"?
Do you mean "cash" or "cachet"?
(probably both...)
Streaming content to your TV is just barely in it's infancy, but it's getting ready for it's first massive growth spurt. Just look at all the TVs coming out with Netflix/Amazon VOD streaming built-in. Even Blu-ray players themselves are getting Netflix streaming capabilities! It's going to become commonplace very quickly. (Netflix says 2011 http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/152659 )