Phil Schiller Claims Customers Aren't Asking for Built-In Blu-Ray Anymore

[alexgowers]

It's only dinosaurs that use physical media like discs.

We've seen a lot of change,

turntables gone,
VHS gone,
DVD gone,
Blu-ray never got started.

The only people who still rely on CD or DVD are DJs that haven't yet got serato or traktor. Creatives who don't have good internet connections and maybe a few professionals but they can afford a separate drive or even a higher end computer anyway.

There is no need for it and i'm glad but I do wish they would have upped the processor and GPU to basically replace the tower.

There are still some people who want speed and macs are really letting the high end users down.

 

[Photoshopper]

I thought I would have been happy to have blu-ray support in my Mac PRO, but now realize how much better off I am to have Apple decide what I need and want (or could find useful) in my computing life.

 

[jasomill]

Users lose a great backup option, and they can't simply pop in a DVD or CD anymore, when the part probably only costs Apple less than $5.

Last I checked, the royalty for Blu-ray video playback software was $2, which doesn't include software licensing or development costs, so $5 plus the price of hardware is probably a more realistic unit cost.

Given that the per-gigabyte cost 25GB Blu-ray discs isn't materially lower than that of much faster 1TB+ external hard drives that don't require special hardware support to read, I'm not sure what makes optical discs so great as a backup option. I, for one, don't relish the prospect of doing a bare-metal Time Machine restore from dozens of Blu-ray discs, especially as I do a test wipe-and-restore once a month as a matter of course!

I agree about the convenience; one of the reasons I have a USB Blu-ray drive connected to my Mac mini server. But it'd hardly be more convenient if I didn't have the option to move it around, and, given the option between a second internal SATA bay bay and an optical drive, I'd take the drive bay every time, because USB (even 3) is a far better match for slow optical drives than for fast SSDs!

 

[faroZ06]

I have a Blu Ray player. I've only used it once. I have two DVD+RW drives in my Mac Pro. I've only used them once.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Except in this case! Online is not better quality, more secure or better availability.

It's a better user experience. That's worth more to most people than a marginal difference in quality. And the quality is eventually increased on the back end without obsoleting the customer's hardware.

 

[435713]

I sense some confusion in your quote.
There is no worse lie than a half true statement.

Blu-Ray has not been replaced yet.

Not yet, but I would not be shocked at all when the 4k push happens, current players not able to play that resolution for various reasons and they will push a new format and a new player will be required.

Hollywood has to sell them over as many times as possible. Blu ray was 06 I believe? PS3 anyway was the trojan horse, nice job there Sony, they sure made a killing they thought they would

Getting to that 7 year mark so we will see.

Lots of comments for talking heads speak here. It all sounds the same after awhile. Of course Apple pushes iTunes, MS pushes their movie DL service as well, XBOX 360 had a HD DVD add on but never a blu ray. Windows doesnt natively support blu ray, unless you use that crap software powerDVD or something else. Even on Windows I would and have ripped the Blu ray instead of using that garbage. At least in my experience, some don't have issues with the playback software and you are lucky.

 

[Bregalad]

I bet like my USB bluray player, they are almost exclusivly used with MakeMKV, DVDFAB, and others to get movies into the computer (and then to the iPad), rather than to watch them.

I must be really old to think that movies belong in a theatre (or home theatre) with a big screen and big sound system. It should be an immersive experience preferably shared with others.

I simply cannot imagine getting enjoyment from sitting alone holding a 9.7" screen in my lap for 2 hours.

If a film is worthy of BluRay over one of the lower quality formats then it's bordering on blasphemy to chop it down to the size of a paperback and remove all but two of the audio channels.

But that's a rare film indeed. So few manage to be "good enough" when it comes to story quality that the picture and sound are irrelevant. Thus a cheap DVD quality stream is all that's needed to satisfy those interested in watching.

 

[faroZ06]

Seriously, still talking about Blu Ray? I thought everyone moved on a long time ago.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

I have a Blu Ray player. I've only used it once. I have two DVD+RW drives in my Mac Pro. I've only used them once.

I used to think I should at least get an external drive and leave it in a drawer somewhere for those odd times someone handed me a CD with some data on it. I found that it's better to just hand them a thumb drive and politely ask if they could copy it on there instead.

 

[tomsamson]

If Apple can do something useful thanks to getting rid of the optical drive i'm all for removing it.
Useful would be: putting in a desktop grade high end graphics card. Or for example having both hard drive and ram easily replaceable.
But when i see the new iMac and they tout it is thinner on the edges that is the most stupid thing. It is only good for marketing as has zero use for an iMac.
Yes, it looks great (for the two times one looks at the machine from the side), but it has much worse usability thanks to that making it thinner at any cost craze. With the small model one can't even replace the ram anymore.

 

[McGiord]

Streaming Video

It's better in these ways
It's faster to get (I buy I watch instantly) Blu Ray I have to go buy or have it delivered
Convenience I can use it on multiple Devices, any computer or Apple device
It's better for the environment (no disks, no packaging) less waste
less space needed to house
Automatic Backups in the cloud (no lost or damage disks)

Not yet, diseases are also widely available and growing but not necessarily are good for all of us.
Some are good for the pharmaceutical companies, as they profit from them.
ISPs are looking for taxing data caps, and having the Internet connection sequestered by a streaming movie is not a better technical solution.
Portability versus quality, I prefer quality.
Watching a movie on a 4", 7.9", 9.7", 11", 13", 15", 17" are never going to be better than a 40" screen.
3D movies and the lack of other languages as well as the extras that come with a Blu-Ray movie are still out if the Apple iTunes expensive experience.

The environment impact is something relative. The servers and all the ISP cables that are needed an will be implemented also impact it. Same goes for the production of bigger HDDs and SSDs.

Do you still think that the cloud will be cheaper? It starts like any drug, they give you some for free to try it out, and once you are hooked they got you.

 

[robanga]

The Blue-Ray revolution has delivered i think a grand total of 6 Movies to our house and i think 3 of those came as the result of combo packs. All of which have been watched on a PS3. I think we have more 3D movies actually.

During that time we have paid for about 50-60 downloadable movies.

I'd say he is correct from our standpoint.

Also - Netflix is driving so much of the media consumption out there. It has been a bane to Blue-Ray.

 

[Huracan]

His preferred Blu-ray alternative? iTunes, of course, which lets you buy a movie and then watch it on all your Apple devices.

He forgot to insert the word "ONLY", as in: "watch it ONLY on all your Apple devices". Nowhere else.

This is Apple trying to use their current market dominance to eliminate products that don't increase the revenue for their ecosystem. It's pretty clear. This has nothing to do with what customers want or ask for. This is about total domination of media distribution, and where can you enjoy that media.

I think it is all fine and nice to have iBooks, and movies, etc. Where I don't think it is fine is where you pay almost as much as for physical media, but have less rights. If I buy a Blu-Ray disc I can always loan it to a friend, sell it, rip it to enjoy in another device. You can't do any of that with iTunes content. Same thing applies to ebooks, and the problem is not only with Apple, it is the same with Google and Amazon to mention a few. Although it is actually worse with Apple because there is no way of reading the iBooks in a computer. There should be a web based interface to any purchased iBook for example.

I believe this will have to take an act of Congress, a bill of rights for digital content. However, I don't see any of this happening soon.

Obviously a lot of this could be avoided with DRM free content in standard formats, but that might be tough.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

The Blue-Ray revolution has delivered i think a grand total of 6 Movies to our house and i think 3 of those came as the result of combo packs. All of which have been watched on a PS3. I think we have more 3D movies actually.

During that time we have paid for about 50-60 downloadable movies.

I'd say he is correct from our standpoint.

Try to give away both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to loan both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to sell both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to will both sets of movies to somone else when you die and see which ones they can actually receive and fully (legally) own.

Try to take both sets of movies to someone else's house and play it on their equipment.

Apple appreciates your lock in with Apple. They also appreciate your buying- but not owning- those 50-60 movies (or maybe they were all 1-time rentals?). If they were rentals, Apple appreciates you probably paying much more to rent <BD quality movies than what it would have cost to rent BD. If they were purchases, Apple appreciates you paying probably as much- if not more- than BD prices to own a proprietary format only playable on Apple-branded hardware and/or through Apple-branded software.

If you're happy with all that, good for you. However, others feel differently about stuff like that.

 

[skunnykart]

but Phil...

I didn't ask for a thin desktop with a 2.5 inch laptop drive but you still gave it to us why not a bluray? Is it because it'll eat into your itunes and AppleTV sales?

Ok then if you are so concerned about what the consumer wants then please include the following in the next iMac. Just for me.

GTX 680
2x Hot swappable HDD + SSD Samsung 840 Pro
User Upgradeable Ram
30 inch IPS display
Front facing (or anywhere but rear) 2x Firewire 800, TB, 4x USB 3.0, SD card slot
Ability to Fusion Drive on any BYO SSD+HDD.
I don't care how fat it is.

 

[bigpoppamac31]

Well I for one still buy and use DVD and Blu-ray movies. I don't download movies online. Maybe a TV show episode now and then. I have a PS3 and use it a lot to watch my Blu-ray and DVD movies. I've even re-purchased a decent number of my movie from regular DVD to Blu-ray. And I always try to buy the "combo pack". One thing I like is special features which most (if not all) movies on iTunes don't have. I've never really cared to stream stuff and I refuse to use "cloud" based storage for as long as I can.

 

[whitesand]

The only people who still rely on CD or DVD are DJs that haven't yet got serato or traktor.

This is flat out false.

----------

Try to give away both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to loan both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to sell both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to will both sets of movies to somone else when you die and see which ones they can actually receive and fully (legally) own.

Try to take both sets of movies to someone else's house and play it on their equipment.

Apple appreciates your lock in with Apple. They also appreciate your buying- but not owning- those 50-60 movies (or maybe they were all 1-time rentals?). If they were rentals, Apple appreciates you probably paying much more to rent <BD quality movies than what it would have cost to rent BD. If they were purchases, Apple appreciates you paying probably as much- if not more- than BD prices to own a proprietary format only playable on Apple-branded hardware.

If you're happy with all that, good for you. However, others feel differently about stuff like that.

Kachow! Well put!

 

[robanga]

Try to give away both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to loan both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to sell both sets of movies to someone else and see if you actually can.

Try to will both sets of movies to somone else when you die and see which ones they can actually receive and fully (legally) own.

Try to take both sets of movies to someone else's house and play it on their equipment.

Apple appreciates your lock in with Apple. They also appreciate your buying- but not owning- those 50-60 movies (or maybe they were all 1-time rentals?).

If you're happy with all that, good for you. However, others feel differently about stuff like that.

No we bought those. Rentals i am not counting. I understand the lock-in issue believe me.

Really not concerned about my estate. Those whippersnappers can buy them again if they want them By then they will probably be watching 4K Tv's anyway.

Not saying Blue-Ray is bad at all. The numbers are not good for them though. The convenience of the walled garden trumps the flexibility for us.

 

[Breckenridge]

Buy an external Drive. Simple

And have a dangling ugly box attached to a super thin apple junk. It is time for me to switch back to Linux. Yes I know Linux still sucks, but it does suck less than an Apple going rotten.

 

[Bregalad]

I don't understand why this isn't what every one has latched on to. Buy a CD, bang it on iTunes, sell it on eBay. HQ, official music and all that. Same for a DVD/Blue-Ray. Costs about the same as a download initially then you get back a few quid at the end.

You realize that the music and movie industry calls what you're doing piracy. Not that I agree with them, more than half my collection was purchased from used record shops, but that's what they think. It helps explain why Apple has been so willing to move to a business model that tracks every piece of media to a credit card number so "cheaters" can be found and prosecuted. It also explains their zeal for streaming formats that force people to pay every time they watch something.

I have a big problem with the whole industry and its desire to make copyright permanent. Sorry dudes, but after about 30 years all published works (words, art, music, video, etc.) have had their run at being a commercial success and now belong to the people of the world to use as they see fit. If you don't like that then maybe you shouldn't be trying to make a living as an artist. Nobody forced you to publish your stuff in the first place.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Not saying Blue-Ray is bad at all. The numbers are not good for them though. The convenience of the walled garden trumps the flexibility for us.

Again, good for you if it makes you happy. I can very much appreciate the concept of the convenience. I just wish the price of it was not best quality picture & much more modern surround sound formats.

I own an TV3 and have lots of stuff in iTunes. But my "us" prefers trading a bit of convenience for the big upgrade in picture & sound. And for "us", the things we want to watch are either delivered to us in the mail or just as conveniently in iTunes via converted favorites. Yes, the mailbox hike is not as convenient as pushing a "download" button, but we go to the mailbox every day anyway.

 

[opeepingtomo]

When they drop DRM from movies like they have from music, then (and only then) will I stop buying movies on DVD/Blu-Ray.

DRM makes it too inconvenient. It's easier for me to just buy the disc and rip it to stream HOWEVER I want (and i rarely buy the movies, usually rent via streaming or Redbox).

 

[SPUY767]

I for one need to burn dvds with data (e.g. physical backup of photos). Not often, but on occasion.
I don't think I am significantly away from any average consumer.
As for Blue Ray I can't say (I don't even watch dvds at all, so in that respect I am in the tail of the gaussian.)

And if "you can have it external" then it does misses the point of the sleekness factor.

And for you, there are External drives, $35 for DVD, and $70 for BD.

 

[smoking monkey]

Apple has lost its way. I'm surprised it's not even an opinion on the mac pro, as lots of people who use their mac for actual work (rather than, I don't know, playing angry birds on a 27" screen) would benefit from being able to make backups of their data using blue ray.

Oh the drama! Not just this post, but so many others...

Haven't you all heard of an external USB bluray/DVD read-write drive!?!?

It works the exact same as an internal.

You can back up if you want!

Live with it or don't. It ain't changin'!

 

[Reikochan]

For me and my family it's not a big deal at all to not have a blu ray drive in our macs. I actually do have a blu ray drive in my windows PC. I used it to install windows and to rip my blu ray movies. I have since sold all my blu rays, yes all 5 of them, and keep everything digitally. So I haven't used my blu ray drive for about a year now.

I was once a huge DVD and then a blu ray person. I loved having my huge collection to show. Now, I keep my huge collection on a HD that streams to my AppleTv. It's just so much easier. I actually find myself watching movies more then I used to just because of the instant access.

But what really drove me to give up blu rays was one thing. Why is it after I have legally purchased the movie they want to shower me with almost 5 minutes of FBI, piracy warnings and what not? I purchased the disc, I shouldn't have the see FBI and piracy warnings. After waiting for forever for that to finish then what happens? Movie trailers that can not be skipped. You have to actually fast forward because it won't let you skip past them easily.

Most blu rays also don't remember where you last left off, which makes you have to go through the whole process again just to get to the menu. Which sucks if you are watching a TV box set.

It's so much easier with AppleTv. Click play, it goes straight to the movie to watch. No FBI warnings, no nonsense. Love it!

For data I just use a thumb drive or a HD. Easy easy stuff. Yes, blu ray has awesome quality, but I just prefer the quick convenience of an iTunes copy. If the next Mac I purchased had a blu ray drive in it, I honestly would never use it. Of course, everyone's needs are different and for the few who do want blu rays it would be nice if apple did add at least software for it. But I don't think most people would really care if they did or not.