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

[480951]

How the heck is Blu-ray expensive? It costs around $25, and you usually get a Blu-ray/DVD combo with that, as well as a digital copy.

Exactly. I have around 60 Blu-ray's now, most of which I paid $10-15 for a month or two after release. if you went to Amazon right now you'd see several on sale for under $10. Until streams are capable of full, true 1080p quality and lossless sound (without imposing bandwidth caps by providers) I plan on buying physical media for a long time to come. Some of these comments seem to be worshipping at the altar of Apple (specifically, "Blu-ray is a dead format like 8-track" and "I've never seen the point in a home theatre system, it's dumb. I just watch movies on the computer".) Give me a ********** break.

 

[Xiroteus]

If someone was looking for a small basic system for a HTPC they could end up going with something like ...

Because it has the drive a HTPC would require.

If Apple had the same thing I could go with them because then I could have every OS along with that.

 

[drblank]

If Apple are never going to include a Blu-Ray drive then they need to offer Movies and TV Shows from iTunes at Blu-Ray bitrate with the HD audio tracks in place and include HD Audio support in the Apple TV etc.

I rip my Blu-Rays to uncompressed MVK's with the HD Audio tracks and stream them using Windows MCE. Until Apple offer full bitrate downloads with HD Audio I won't go near an Apple TV.

The problem is that if they gave us audio tracks at DTS HD Master and/or True HD levels, the file size would become huge and the bandwidth to download would have to be a lot bigger. They give people the option of 1080p, but it still has AC-3 Dolby Digital Audio. Most people STILL don't have systems that support 24/96 DTS HD Master or True HD Audio.

Most people that watch movies on a tablet, computer don't really care about audio quality.

If you care about Audio Quality, you'll be using a high end BluRay player on an expensive home theater. Thus not requiring a computer.

 

[AidenShaw]

The problem is that if they gave us audio tracks at DTS HD Master and/or True HD levels, the file size would become huge and the bandwidth to download would have to be a lot bigger. They give people the option of 1080p, but it still has AC-3 Dolby Digital Audio. Most people STILL don't have systems that support 24/96 DTS HD Master or True HD Audio.

Most people that watch movies on a tablet, computer don't really care about audio quality.

If you care about Audio Quality, you'll be using a high end BluRay player on an expensive home theater. Thus not requiring a computer.

You mean that people watching movies on an Apple don't care about quality - because with Windows you can watch with full BD audio and video quality.

 

[drblank]

You mean that people watching movies on an Apple don't care about quality - because with Windows you can watch with full BD audio and video quality.

No, it's just that for those that have the money to spend on a REAL home theater system are going to use a REAL BluRay player and a DECENT one costs at least $1000, and a REALLY good Home Theater system can cost well in the tens of thousands. If they have an Apple TV box, it's more just to add more sources like YouTube, and other things were they don't give you great audio to begin with.

Personally, when I want quality, I also have to have the money to buy the better Audio/Video products and the MAJORITY of society doesn't care about quality.

Let me ask you a question. What types of music do you listen to? Most Popular music is processed and compressed to where it sounds like crap to begin with, even on CDs. Only a small portion of the population actually listens to high quality recordings they typically aren't pop recordings. Example. HipHop, Rap, Metal, etc., are typically lousy sound quality to begin with and classical and jazz (not smooth jazz crap) recordings are typically more natural.

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You mean that people watching movies on an Apple don't care about quality - because with Windows you can watch with full BD audio and video quality.

Unless you have super expensive speakers/amps/processors, the quality difference isn't that big. And what speakers/amps/processors are you using for your home theater?

 

[Xiroteus]

No, it's just that for those that have the money to spend on a REAL home theater system are going to use a REAL BluRay player and a DECENT one costs at least $1000, and a REALLY good Home Theater system can cost well in the tens of thousands. If they have an Apple TV box, it's more just to add more sources like YouTube, and other things were they don't give you great audio to begin with.

Personally, when I want quality, I also have to have the money to buy the better Audio/Video products and the MAJORITY of society doesn't care about quality.

Let me ask you a question. What types of music do you listen to? Most Popular music is processed and compressed to where it sounds like crap to begin with, even on CDs. Only a small portion of the population actually listens to high quality recordings they typically aren't pop recordings. Example. HipHop, Rap, Metal, etc., are typically lousy sound quality to begin with and classical and jazz (not smooth jazz crap) recordings are typically more natural.

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Unless you have super expensive speakers/amps/processors, the quality difference isn't that big. And what speakers/amps/processors are you using for your home theater?

From what I have seen it goes in stages, if someone has a nice large television they likely want better then standard def yet so many can hardly tell 720P from 1080P and may not even care, tv shows and movies just are not THAT huge of a focus for them to give it too much thought, same with music the second it goes above 320.

However when I see that EVIL pan and scan standard def picture stretched out on their new 1080P I seriously wonder why they bother.

The other day someone wanted to watch something and Direct TV can be wonky with formats and I noticed right away people were too thin, had to be set to the correct 1:85.

 

[drblank]

If someone was looking for a small basic system for a HTPC they could end up going with something like ...

Image

Because it has the drive a HTPC would require.

If Apple had the same thing I could go with them because then I could have every OS along with that.

Do you know how much a REFERENCE quality CD player costs? Some of them cost $20,000. That's right. $20,000. Do you use a $20,000 CD Player? I would venture to guess NO. So don't YOU care about quality?

Do you have a speaker system that costs $250,000 for just the speakers? That's what the high end system can easily cost? Do you have a quarter of a million dollars invested in speakers? NO. Why not? Don't you care about high quality?

 

[Xiroteus]

Do you know how much a REFERENCE quality CD player costs? Some of them cost $20,000. That's right. $20,000. Do you use a $20,000 CD Player? I would venture to guess NO. So don't YOU care about quality?

Do you have a speaker system that costs $250,000 for just the speakers? That's what the high end system can easily cost? Do you have a quarter of a million dollars invested in speakers? NO. Why not? Don't you care about high quality?

That reminds me about flac files, I have only I can play them on that allows me to tell the difference from 320 to 1000. I am on a laptop and iPhone, the best I could and can do is basic sound like 1080P blu-ray, that is likely as high as it will go even years from now, the day I spend thousands for sound is when I have a fifty million in the bank.

 

[masterofbuckets]

People who care about quality would usually have the following:

Audio/Video Receiver
Good 5.1 or 7.1 home theater speakers

These don't cost tens of thousands of dollars fyi.

AVR - http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR2312...UTF8&qid=1351392243&sr=8-4&keywords=denon+avr

Speakers:

Center Channel - http://www.amazon.com/BIC-AMERICA-D...ie=UTF8&qid=1351393160&sr=8-4&keywords=bic+dv

Tower Speakers - http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-V...ie=UTF8&qid=1351393160&sr=8-3&keywords=bic+dv

Bookshelf speakers - http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-DV62si-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B00006JPDI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_1


There are many people who would love true Bluray quality iTunes movies but understand that it is not feasible to put those giant files for downloading/streaming.

Hence, a bluray drive would be nice to have, especially in MacPros or even Mac minis.

I personally watch blu-rays on my PS3 and it would be sweet if Apple included the drive but I understand why they don't.

 

[michaeljohn]

Very disappointing. Those saying they dont own or care about Blu Ray must have below average monitors and TVs. I have an 82 inch Mitsubishi and the difference between a movie on a BR disc and a Netflix or iTunes stream is night and day. Not to mention you get nowhere near the same quality sound from Netfix or iTunes. Then there is all the additional footage and features only found on a BR disc. Apple is just afraid of taking movie downloads away from iTunes if people have BR discs in their Macs. For a company like Apple that prides itself on their high end displays and all the retina nonsense, its absurd they continue to shun the top of the line quality video format.

 

[doctor-don]

He's right, for the most part. Physical media formats are a thing of the past. 8 Track. VHS. CD/DVD. Blu-Ray. Each has their day but more and more things move to the Cloud and/or online.

Personally I prefer it that way. But that's my opinion and preference.

Right! I am going to trust my 250+ GB of photographic images to some ethereal cloud where I may or may not be able to retrieve them.

I want a method to store my images separate from my hard drive which, as most people are aware, will fail at some time in the future.

 

[SAIRUS]

We all know this is all a pure marketing move. Yes disc less computers is the future. I'm fine with it not being available on a lot of computers, BUT why do we not get the option?!

iTunes

Sadly I'm a rare breed who can detect differences in HD quality, and I think 5.1 sound is piss poor compared to 7.1 DTS-MA. I also have a 110" screen. iTunes movies look like CRAP!

That said, Apple is catering to the mass market, and the average consumer doesn't know jack when it comes to this.

PS: I have both blu-ray and AppleTV and use both. Not a fan boy of either since each do have their pros and cons. With internet companies not able to create affordable high speed internet for everyone, disc will have the higher quality.

 

[SeaFox]

Bluray movies are overpriced and inconvenient.

That's funny. I've spent less for most of my bluray movies than I did on DVDs when I was still buying them. And I often see blu-rays on sale for less than digital "ownership" prices on Amazon or iTunes.

I can take a blu-ray to a friend's house and watch it there without having to authorize his equipment on my iTunes account, or hook up my own device to his TV. I can loan the blu-ray to him. I can rip a blu-ray to a digital format on my computer compatible with iDevices or anything else I want to... because there's no DRM.

In fact, I currently enjoy movies during my lunch breaks at work. I encoded the files from my own video library discs and use them on my iPod. I'm sure Apple would rather I rebuy all these movie from them in iTunes format, but honestly that's stupid.

I can play these encoding on video playback software that has more features and better picture quality than iTunes/Quicktime Player.

I find dealing with Apple's "walled garden" when it comes to video content -- inconvenient.

 

[NT1440]

We all know this is all a pure marketing move. Yes disc less computers is the future. I'm fine with it not being available on a lot of computers, BUT why do we not get the option?!

You do have the option, its ~$90 bucks on amazon for an external. Way cheaper than if it was BTO.

I'm amazed at how people think their choices are limited, when really its because they are limiting themselves to whatever brand X offers.

Buy one, plug it in. Voila

 

[Xiroteus]

You do have the option, its ~$90 bucks on amazon for an external. Way cheaper than if it was BTO.

I'm amazed at how people think their choices are limited, when really its because they are limiting themselves to whatever brand X offers.

Buy one, plug it in. Voila

"Mostly not the option those who want such a drive are looking for."

That said, Apple is catering to the mass market, and the average consumer doesn't know jack when it comes to this.

Some people have no idea, saw someone had to be told that blue case that says blu-ray was not a dvd. -_- Guessing they are not too up on current film tech.

 

[NT1440]

Mostly it is not the option any one of is looking for.

What?

 

[SAIRUS]

You do have the option, its ~$90 bucks on amazon for an external. Way cheaper than if it was BTO.

I'm amazed at how people think their choices are limited, when really its because they are limiting themselves to whatever brand X offers.

Buy one, plug it in. Voila

Native support for blu-ray watching in OSX...

 

[NT1440]

Native support for blu-ray watching in OSX...

No apps have the licenses required to do this?

I see no one here is upset that Windows 8 ships without basic DVD (not even bluray, DVD) playback. But hey, Apples the bad guy not wanting to deal with the licensing headaches of bluray.

 

[throAU]

The last time i used either a blu-ray or dvd physical disk was over 18 months ago (except for gaming on my PS3).

I have drives in my machines that sit unused.

 

[SAIRUS]

No apps have the licenses required to do this?

I see no one here is upset that Windows 8 ships without basic DVD (not even bluray, DVD) playback. But hey, Apples the bad guy not wanting to deal with the licensing headaches of bluray.

Because you at least have the option to have it installed...

oh and ... http://www.apple.com/pr/library/200...Welcomes-Apple-to-Its-Board-of-Directors.html

 

[Xiroteus]

What?

REALLY bad edit.

"Mostly not the option those who want such a drive are looking for."

I see no one here is upset that Windows 8 ships without basic DVD (not even bluray, DVD) playback. But hey, Apples the bad guy not wanting to deal with the licensing headaches of bluray.

Depends what it is and how much, I like having the ability to sell, trade or give away something. Video games are the same way, a ten dollar download? Sure, fifty? No way! Of course I never spend more then twenty on a game anyway, closer to fifteen or less, if I am not comfortable with high game costs of real media no way a download will do at those prices. When cheap, yes! Steam is great.

Overall I do not care about software being digital, unless I spent a lot of it and want to sell the older edition later it would be fine.

 

[throAU]

Right! I am going to trust my 250+ GB of photographic images to some ethereal cloud where I may or may not be able to retrieve them.

I want a method to store my images separate from my hard drive which, as most people are aware, will fail at some time in the future.

Tape. Multiple hard drives (NAS and also disks you can take off site).

Optical discs fail as well.

 

[Xiroteus]

Optical discs fail as well.

That is why I just have backup hard drives, the odds of three hard drives going out at once would take an EMP.

Never trusted floppies or DVD-RWs all that much.

 

[AidenShaw]

No, it's just that for those that have the money to spend on a REAL home theater system are going to use a REAL BluRay player and a DECENT one costs at least $1000,?

$1000 for a BD player? Really? May I have a hit of whatever you are smoking?

FWIW, I spent about $2K for speakers, $2K for the AVR, $4K for the screen.

The BD player was about $400 for a high end one...

 

[Rian Gray]

I gotta say, one day, ONE day, he's point might become valid. I am aware country like S. Korea already has nation wide 1Gbps internet, and I am also aware in many 'American' households, fastest we can possibly get, with unlimited budget that is, would be around 1/10th of it. Blu ray, in that sense, is more reliable and faster than actual internet.

Let's assume we download, for the sake of fairness in comparison, a ripped version of blu ray. Or perhaps HD quality movie through Amazon, or Apple iTunes, whatever your preference is. In former case, it will take forever. And I am not kidding, I know most people don't get flat 10 Mbps. It really depends. On the other hand, say we use netflix or something like that, to get blu rays mailed right in front of a door step. Again, delivery time also depends, but we can simply double the disks and get it done with.

So in the end, in about a week, whoever is still using blu ray will get more contents & datas. Unless Apple has some brilliant idea to boost the speed, I say, no way.