Some people can tell the difference in quality...
Couldn't agree more.
Phil, can we please legally watch BluRay on the Mac?
Couldn't agree more.
Phil, can we please legally watch BluRay on the Mac?
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Phil Schiller Claims Customers Aren't Asking for Built-In Blu-Ray Anymore
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There's no real reason to have the Blu-ray drive built in to your device.
I mean why not just have a separate drive for your iMac, if you really want to watch movies on it that is.
Most people watch Blu-ray movies on their wide screen TV's on a Blu-ray player. if you own a MacBook and say you're planning on travelling and want to take some Blu-ray movies with you to watch, it would be better to rip them to a portable hard drive rather than carry a bundle of discs.
I dont think Phil is saying "people dont want Blu-ray quality movies anymore" but like the thread title states, he's talking about "built-in" blu-ray.
However Apple should come up with a WiFi capable external Blu-ray player so you can stream blu-ray movies to your Mac's. Now that would be cool!
I think the Apple TV needs to evolve or Apple should sell an additional Apple TV model, larger of course, that has Blu-Ray. I'd certainly buy one.
I mean why not just have a separate drive for your iMac, if you really want to watch movies on it that is.
Most people watch Blu-ray movies on their wide screen TV's on a Blu-ray player. if you own a MacBook and say you're planning on travelling and want to take some Blu-ray movies with you to watch, it would be better to rip them to a portable hard drive rather than carry a bundle of discs.
I dont think Phil is saying "people dont want Blu-ray quality movies anymore" but like the thread title states, he's talking about "built-in" blu-ray.
However Apple should come up with a WiFi capable external Blu-ray player so you can stream blu-ray movies to your Mac's. Now that would be cool!
I think the Apple TV needs to evolve or Apple should sell an additional Apple TV model, larger of course, that has Blu-Ray. I'd certainly buy one.
I suppose it's not such a big deal considering we have a proper home theatre setup downstairs for watching movies (Bluray all the way, digital distribution can go **** itself).
However, not asking for it and not wanting it anymore are two different things.
However, not asking for it and not wanting it anymore are two different things.
An 27" iMac and my rMBP has more resolution than my 55" screen. But that's not the point. If the Mac mini had a BR player, it would make for a sweet HTPC/desktop PC in one small package and there wouldn't be a need for a separate BR player.
And if they put a document scanner in my iMac there wouldn't be a need for a separate scanner. Whats your point?
And what software is that? Is it as simple to use as a standalone player? Does it play all discs, or is every new Blu Ray release unplayable until they patch the software? Do you have to insert the disc, rip it, then play it, or can you simply insert and play commercial movies?
Most of the reviews I've read for macblurayplayer.com say that software is horrible. I have an older version of dvdfab, and that software is pretty junky and grossly overpriced; I don't trust them enough to buy their new product that supposedly plays Blu Rays.
I know a lot of people find this odd, we still need the huge scanner printer combo yet the idea of a small external drive is a no go. A lot of that comes from just the principle of the matter and value, like on another post on this topic I talked about how I was okay with a sub two hundred dollar netbook not having a drive, yet a it is not okay leaving it out of a fifteen hundred dollar laptop or desktop.
At some point I will think if an external is that bad (laptops) depending how often I end up using them along with there being a real reason for it not to be there (more power? battery?)
Very, very, very well said.
For anyone who has any doubts (or disputes), they should go read Clifford Sthol's book from the 1990s, "Silicone Snake Oil...". In a nutshell, the task of data archiving is going to become less robust (= more fragile) because the days of "file and forget" are gone - - it is going to take a recurring investment to actively monitor and maintain the systems...and it is not just data, but also data formats, the applications that support the same, the OS versions that support those applications' versions, etc, etc.
Stohl has an example in his book of some NASA data that had been professionally archived ... and it was "successful" in the sense that the data was still intact - - but the problem was that the physical means to read in the data from its media form had been lost.
FWIW, I'm sure that Apple's belief paradigm is that the Cloud is going to solve all these problems. On the one hand it does, since it is continuously maintained - - but on the other hand, it won't be a free service forever, so when Uncle Bob dies and his account goes dormant for a year and a day (or whatever metric), we can pretty much be assured that his data will go **poof** and gone forever.
-hh
Oh, so "in the future"! You've "been saying it on here for 3 years: physical media is DEAD." So is it DEAD or it will die in the future "a slow death"? It sounds like you are taking back your words?
No one said it will. There are more Toyota owners then Mercedes owners. There are also more Windows users vs. Mac users. Some are OK with mediocre quality video streaming and limited title availability, for others it's best or nothing. To each its own.
Netflix is reporting in Aug 2012 that 62% optical media rental and only 38% streaming dvds-blu-ray-disc-rentals-still-surpass-streaming/ It does not look like "post-optical disc" era. Does it?
And BR player sales are booming:
"It will" yes, but for now it's a long way to go. 3 main problems with streaming today:
1. Limited movie selection, about a third (compare to optical disk)
2. Average video/audio quality (compare to BR disk)
3. Fast Internet connection is not available in all areas or not affordable to everyone.
Well, you've said that digital is the future. So Blu-Ray is digital.
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Backing up
I do IT work and I am burning DVD data disks a lot. It would be much better if I can have 25 Gigs on a 5 inch disk instead of 4 Gigs. I don't care about the movies and never did.
Think about it like this, to make a stable backup of a hard drive with 250 Gigs on it, I would need 63 DVD's or 32 DVD/DL Disks, I would like to use 10 BlueRays disks, if Apple ever supports BlueRay drives and gives us the choice to get one.
I cant help but to wonder, if they ever allowed people the option, how well they would sell? Even as an external drive with out the BlueRay move support. I know I would get one, even for $300+!
I do IT work and I am burning DVD data disks a lot. It would be much better if I can have 25 Gigs on a 5 inch disk instead of 4 Gigs. I don't care about the movies and never did.
Think about it like this, to make a stable backup of a hard drive with 250 Gigs on it, I would need 63 DVD's or 32 DVD/DL Disks, I would like to use 10 BlueRays disks, if Apple ever supports BlueRay drives and gives us the choice to get one.
I cant help but to wonder, if they ever allowed people the option, how well they would sell? Even as an external drive with out the BlueRay move support. I know I would get one, even for $300+!
+1
I think this is the most valuable post I've seen on this thread. I've always assumed [incorrectly] that anyone could just buy a third party drive, then plug & play.
How good are the third party codecs offered out there for Mac? I see some available on the web but have never tried them. Do they support drives or rips of BRs only?
As an owner of 5 Macs (past & present), I agree their optical drives are terrible, so not offering the option on a drive is fine, but not supporting the codecs is something else.
Well, I thought I was pretty clear. To me (and I am entitled to my opinion) the Apple sales pitch is "everything built to work together." If a percentage of the population needs this media (and I believe it is a larger percentage than you clearly do -- we can agree to disagree), then Apple faces a choice: give people what they want, or understand that they will choose otherwise. "I really, really really, do NOT see" why the Apple "fan boys" are so offended when people provide their honest opinion. I have been the route of "aftermarket upgrades" with Dell/Windows -- didn't like it, which is why I went Mac a few years ago. I am simply saying that, as a consumer, I may make a choice to switch back because Apple is ignoring my desires. Sorry, that's just the free market, whether you like it or not.
I agree. For years and years I avoided, even despised, Apple products because of this seemingly overly rigid path all customers were forced onto. However, in the last few years, I jumped in with both feet (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod nano, and an iMac) because it seemed like my interests were actually being carefully considered.
This feels like the bad old days. I am being excluded because, as others have posted, I cannot get unlimited Internet access in my area. So, it seems unlikely the next computer will be an optical drive-free Mac.
Yea, it's a free market. Sony offers excellent all-in-one iMac alternative:
1. BluRay optical drive
2. Brilliant LED display (made by Sony not LG) utilizing Sonys X-Reality picture processing engine.
3. Touchscreen. Comes with the ArtRage Studio: a stylish, intuitive painting and drawing package
4. NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB graphics, HDMI
5. Sony's Rapid Wake technology - instant on
6. Sony S-Master amplifier, and HD Audio with S-FORCE Surround
7. Media remote control
8. TV tuner
and of course you will find all the stuff imac has: wireless keyboard/mouse, hd webcam, SD/memory stick, i7, USB3, bluethooth, wifi, etc.
Death to Optical Drives
I'm glad to see optical drives go. I don't want them part of my computer. If I want one, let me get a USB or other external. Frankly, I prefer streaming movies to physical data anytime. I have an Apple TV and pull movies off my hard drive, it works great. Netflix and Hulu are becoming must have.
I'm planning on buying a new iMac next year and like the direction they are going. I'm also going to get a Thunderbolt Drobo for backup. It's a much better solution than stacks of plastic.
I'm glad to see optical drives go. I don't want them part of my computer. If I want one, let me get a USB or other external. Frankly, I prefer streaming movies to physical data anytime. I have an Apple TV and pull movies off my hard drive, it works great. Netflix and Hulu are becoming must have.
I'm planning on buying a new iMac next year and like the direction they are going. I'm also going to get a Thunderbolt Drobo for backup. It's a much better solution than stacks of plastic.
Blu Ray player sales are anything but booming. The increases are expected for a new format, but they continue to disappoint the industry as they fall far short of the growth that DVD saw at this point in its life cycle. Its just another illustration that Blu Ray came too late to the party.
While revenue from Blu Ray disc sales and rentals increased 23% in Q1 2012 over Q1 2011, overall physical media sales (DVD & Blu Ray combined) dropped .63%. In other words, Blu Ray's increases are coming from DVD's losses, and the combined physical disc market continues to decline. (http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/30/netflix-blu-ray-lead-home-entertainment-back-to-growth/)
In contrast, subscription streaming during the same quarter was up a whopping 545%.
Consumers have spoken. Blu Ray will continue to replace DVD as the format of choice for physical media, while at the same time the overall market for physical discs continues to crater.
I put a BD-R in my Mac. You can get 50GB BD-R discs, which is only 5 discs for 250GB of data.
I only use Verbatim disc media, and if you buy in spindles, you can find them for right around $1 per 25GB disc.
It will take a long time for blu-ray to disappear. And any "theory" that it will be soon is right up there with other tin foil hat theories.
Yes. Streaming is up. But that's irrelevant to the fact that there's still a large audience and value to having true high definition video and uncompressed audio.
VHS didn't die quickly. DVDs aren't dying quickly. So I don't know why people think that Blu-Rays are going to be gone anytime soon.
More odd - is how some people for some whacked reason - seem to take "glee" in the fact that streaming is winning over blu-ray and accept it as a good thing.
I've said it before on this thread - I find it a complete "switch" of logic coming from Apple fans who more often than most prides themselves on having the best quality products.
Yes. Streaming is up. But that's irrelevant to the fact that there's still a large audience and value to having true high definition video and uncompressed audio.
VHS didn't die quickly. DVDs aren't dying quickly. So I don't know why people think that Blu-Rays are going to be gone anytime soon.
More odd - is how some people for some whacked reason - seem to take "glee" in the fact that streaming is winning over blu-ray and accept it as a good thing.
I've said it before on this thread - I find it a complete "switch" of logic coming from Apple fans who more often than most prides themselves on having the best quality products.
Nice!!!
I wish Sony still made a traditional desktop. I had a Vaio desktop in 2003 and it was rock solid, + Sony has nice style to their stuff as well. Always preferred their stuff to Samsungs. Personal preference of course.
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I do not really see why people are so pissed about the blue ray ...
Because our 2-3 year old dSLR has 1080p which we've been experimenting with for home movies ... only to find that Apple's kicked HD to the doorstop.
Wow, I'm a pretty big fan ofstuff but so many of you are sipping the
I actually can't believe how many of you are actually buying movies on iTunes...
Tried downloading one trailer to my AppleTV. After a half hour, killed the session.
Perhaps Apple will get a clue from this as to why I've not yet tried to download my FREE upgrade copy of Mountain Lion .. either.
IMNSHO, someone should go force the Apple leaders to go live in a mid-level Hotel room for a weekend, and give them a Mac that needs a re-install. Tell them that they don't eat/drink until the download's successfully run. Oh, and no cheating by recovering from the hidden partition.
My photography stuff costs a couple of multiples of what my Mac Pro setup cost - - to switch to Windows is a very logical decision when the PC is merely a peripheral.
The way I see it overall, Phil is absolutely correct in that most Apple customers aren't asking for built-in Blu-Ray ... of course that's because an optical drive won't fit in an iPhone.
-hh