Well, you could pay a visit to an optometrist (or just get a better TV set) if you don't see the vast quality difference between SD and (properly mastered) full HD...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Phil Schiller Claims Customers Aren't Asking for Built-In Blu-Ray Anymore
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, you could pay a visit to an optometrist (or just get a better TV set) if you don't see the vast quality difference between SD and (properly mastered) full HD...
What a load of guff. I've asked on numerous occasions, Apple are still selling DVD drives for those 'stuck in the past'? Well I'm still enjoying much higher quality movies (like for the last 5 years) than the sludgey muck Apple sells. I don't want their pants overpriced iTunes downloads. If he hates Blu-ray so much he could at least lose the sactimonious 'we is the futurepeople' tripe until they at least equal the quality and prices Blu-ray offers.
Blu-ray could disappear tomorrow and Apple were wrong to not support it as far as I'm concerned.
Blu-ray could disappear tomorrow and Apple were wrong to not support it as far as I'm concerned.
Last edited:
I used to use DVD media 4+ times a day somewhere, usually on computer.
Now, I might use DVD media once a month on the computer, if that much! And usually it is a movie I rip over to the HD. DVDs are over the hill and going down. By about 2016 they will be finished as a leading format.
Blu-Ray is just DVD^2, and it is destined to be gone by the end of this decade.
What I'd like to see are video devices which allow USB thumb drives for video data and I'd love to see movies for sale on thumb drives. That would be excellent.
Now, I might use DVD media once a month on the computer, if that much! And usually it is a movie I rip over to the HD. DVDs are over the hill and going down. By about 2016 they will be finished as a leading format.
Blu-Ray is just DVD^2, and it is destined to be gone by the end of this decade.
What I'd like to see are video devices which allow USB thumb drives for video data and I'd love to see movies for sale on thumb drives. That would be excellent.
For me, no. How much does three terabytes of USB keys cost? How am I supposed to store and organize them? The Cloud would be great, but how much would around three terabytes of storage cost me per month- forever? Why should I have to continually pay someone to access MY things that I own outright?
I burn a 4.7 gig disc that costs me probably around 20 cents, store them conveniently in a three ring binder, and I have an archive that will last for decades. If you can come up with a storage format that's more convenient and more affordable than that, I'm all ears.
I'm all for moving to all-digital, no physical media, but for me, Blu Rays blow away the quality of anything streamed. I work in film and visual effects, however, so image quality is all important to me- it is everything. Its what I do. For others, maybe not as much. Thats fine.
If Apple owned Blu Ray patents and made money on ever single disc and every single player, you can bet we would have it in our Apple computers. They would be bragging about superior image quality etc etc. We (Apple owners) would all be bragging about how much more advanced we are and how we have the ultimate in quality. Firewire, anyone? Blu Ray is not Apple's own technology, so because it directly doesn't make them more money, they would prefer to act like it doesn't exist. Kind of like the way PC manufacturers used to treat firewire technology.
This is purely a business decision from a company that is trying to maximize profits. If you store stuff in Apple's cloud service, they make money on you... forever. I don't necessarily fault them for that- they're just doing what companies do. But, I don't have to support it and I don't have to literally buy into it.
Don't assume Schiller is telling the truth. He surely knows a sizable part of OS X users do want BD drives - again, all Mac forums (this one or Apple's own one) are full of people demanding them. It's just that it's Apple's financial interest is not to provide any other means of full HD video playback (other than iTunes Store) that they state there isn't demand for BD. There is.
You would be better off physically backing up your photos to thumb drives, many of them have higher capacities than what a Blu-Ray DVD can offer. They are also faster, don't require burning, and can be used on almost any computer. Why would anyone prefer a DVD/BD to a thumb drive for archiving?
I'm surprised by many of these responses. Optical media for nearly everyone is not the future. Hell, its not even many people's present (including my own). I haven't used, or needed to use, a DVD/CD in years. Albums are bought digitally, movies are watched on the Apple TV and for my wife and my photography business where we used to use DVDs we upload all the photos to a website for viewing and downloading as well as provide a thumb drive of all the photos.
Optical media is extremely susceptible to damage and its inneficient for most uses. I get the people who are upset about not having super high quality audio but I doubt that the majority of consumers even understands the difference besides knowing that it is HD or SD and the sharpness levels involved. The quality of digital media will catch up soon.
Apple has always looked to future needs/wants and creates a product that will serve for years to come. We've invested in this idea, not in a company that is worried about giving us backwards compatibility for everything while maintaining the status quo. Windows is certainly in this latter category and there's nothing wrong with that. We all just need to understand what we've invested in and either accept it or move to a different platform.
Optical media is extremely susceptible to damage and its inneficient for most uses. I get the people who are upset about not having super high quality audio but I doubt that the majority of consumers even understands the difference besides knowing that it is HD or SD and the sharpness levels involved. The quality of digital media will catch up soon.
Apple has always looked to future needs/wants and creates a product that will serve for years to come. We've invested in this idea, not in a company that is worried about giving us backwards compatibility for everything while maintaining the status quo. Windows is certainly in this latter category and there's nothing wrong with that. We all just need to understand what we've invested in and either accept it or move to a different platform.
I have to agree with previous comments. Blu-Ray is a pretty good deal nowadays. Typically, you'll get the BR, DVD, and the digital copy for $25-30. I personally just buy the disc rather than pay DirecTV $5.99 for a one-time rental or $15-20 through PSN or iTunes for a digital copy. Plus, I don't have the storage (cloud-based or physical) to remotely come close to storing all the movies I have in HD.
As for the player in my desktop? Eh, I can live without it. I can't even remember the last time I watched a movie on my PC. If it's ever a dire need, the external drives are cheap, all things considered.
As for the player in my desktop? Eh, I can live without it. I can't even remember the last time I watched a movie on my PC. If it's ever a dire need, the external drives are cheap, all things considered.
External options are still available, but I for one have used DVD backup probably like twice in the past 4 years.
Last time I used DVD was to install outdated legacy software that came on a DVD and I don't want to purchase the new version that costs a fortune (office 2007 for my windows bootcamp)
I for one appreciate the sleekness and the removal of optical drive in new iMacs.
I used to own hundreds of VHS tapes. Then DVD came along. Sold all my VHS on eBay, and collected nearly 1000 DVDs. Then Blu-Ray came out. So, I sold all my DVDs started buying Blu-Rays, and then I realized that I am an idiot
I now own 0 DVDs and 2 Blu-Rays. Last time I used my Blu-Ray player was 2 years ago. Physical medias are dead to me as well. Online streaming is clearly the future and it doesn't take up a ridiculous amount of space for large collections
I love BD but I really don't mind that there's no drive in Macs. I like how they're losing optical drives anyway. I'd get an external if I needed it, but the PS3 does a good job plugged into the TV.
Digital distribution is storming everything. Soon the bandwidth won't be an issue at all.
Digital distribution is storming everything. Soon the bandwidth won't be an issue at all.
You actually have a couple of options...
- get a 3rd party blu-ray player
- if you don't like apple's approach and vision, vote with your wallet and not buy their products
I used to love Apple, but nowadays with them bashing technology which ought to be a consumers option. It's just sad.
Apple ought to support Blu-Ray as a consumer option, like they do Superdrive as an add on. Or an optical drive option for Mac Pro.
Sorry, but the rumors of BD's death is greatly exaggerated. Lots of people love them. Lots of photographers/video people use the standard also.
Apple ought to just support the format and know most people will still enjoy their PPV's on itunes, vudu, Amazon or otherwise. But BD offers better picture and audio with tons more extras. no contest.
For Schiller to say people have stopped asking is ridiculous. People have tired of Apple's deaf ear to their needs. For me to properly use BD on a mac, i would need to install windows? sad.
Apple ought to support Blu-Ray as a consumer option, like they do Superdrive as an add on. Or an optical drive option for Mac Pro.
Sorry, but the rumors of BD's death is greatly exaggerated. Lots of people love them. Lots of photographers/video people use the standard also.
Apple ought to just support the format and know most people will still enjoy their PPV's on itunes, vudu, Amazon or otherwise. But BD offers better picture and audio with tons more extras. no contest.
For Schiller to say people have stopped asking is ridiculous. People have tired of Apple's deaf ear to their needs. For me to properly use BD on a mac, i would need to install windows? sad.
Last edited:
All my local video stores (blu-ray rentals) have closed down. Nowhere to rent physical media anymore in my area.
Except that normally a better technology replaces an older poorer one.
In Apple's case we've gone the other way.
Goodbye CD's and hello compressed audio
Goodbye Bluray and hello compressed video
Try again, i actually have an amazing TV. If the video quality were truly crappy i wouldn't use streaming services, but it's not. It's quite livable, it's not grainy at all. I love the convenience of browsing through all the available movies on my ipad and making a watch list and being able to watch them on my tv. It's worth the quality sacrifice to me, mostly because i don't feel that i'm making much of a sacrifice. I don't need to see every blackhead on an actor's face.
Why would people need to leave the platform which, apart from the BD problem (and Apple's lies concerning the alleged "lack" of demand for BD support), is far superior than anything else? We plan to stay but we also make our voice heard when facing blatant lies like that of Schiller.
Only way for me to access blu-ray right now is to buy it from best-buy and I have no interest paying that much $$$ for a movie that I would only watch it once.
No more video rental store in my area anymore... they all shutdown earlier this year.
Sorry, Apple was in the Blu Ray camp and Microsoft was on the HD DVD camp.
I've just started to get into home theater but I can tell the difference on my setup between DD and DPLII on my ATV and DTS for blu ray movies.
With that said I do prefer to be able to watch my owned content on any iOS device so I only buy blu ray movies for those that I know will stand out from the 1080p Apple movies.
With that said I do prefer to be able to watch my owned content on any iOS device so I only buy blu ray movies for those that I know will stand out from the 1080p Apple movies.
If you only *rent*, then, iTunes Store can indeed be (much) cheaper. If you plan to watch the movies more than once, the Amazon and Apple prices are generally the same, apart from the ocassional $10 sales of Apple.