Steve Jobs Suggests Blu-ray Not Coming to Mac Anytime Soon

[Porco]

I think it has to eventually. Soon it will be Blu-ray vs NO optical drive. Will Apple really block an entire media type (optical discs), when there will most likely still be a few more iterations after Blu-ray?

I don't like this path. Give me back the old Apple who dropped the floppy and stuck CD drives and USB/Firewire ports in all machines, even bottom of the range. Even if it means I have to use a hockey puck for a mouse.

Of course the difference with floppies, for example, is that :
a) you could still go and buy your own drive and it was supported in the OS and
b) there were viable alternatives to floppies for everyone from day one - from CD-RWs to Zip disk drives, and then later cheap flash memory sticks / 'thumb drives'.
The legal alternatives to Blu-ray are neither universally available nor technically superior, and their one great selling point of convenience is one that I think is more questionable than many are willing to admit for the average consumer.

Btw, no-one ever had to use a puck (though personally I never thought it was quite as bad as people made out)

Edit: Of course, a real win would be Blu-ray without the BS. Get rid of HDCP, get rid of region coding and minimise licensing hurdles.

I agree entirely but sadly I think things are headed in the opposite direction for home video - which is actually one of the reasons to support Blu-ray. Until downloads are DRM free I think there exists a much greater potential in them for customer confusion and dissatisfaction when it comes to issues of DRM, availability, accessibility and standardisation of a reliable platform, compared to a mature and stable format like Blu-ray is.

For Blu-ray, at least the region coding situation is an improvement on the DVD one, and you know that if you buy a disc you aren't locked to one company's technology to watch movies. Particularly if that is a company with a long history of annoying customers with baffling and seemingly arbitrary decisions that change products and services they've already bought.

I am an Apple fan but they are often technology butterflies: very lovely things, much nicer than caterpillars, but liable to change direction when they feel the wind change. Great to have around, but you wouldn't want to bet your house on which direction they will fly off to next. So I won't be buying a library of movies in iTunes any time soon.

 

[wonderspark]

I find it interesting that this topic has by far the most views and replies of all the news discussions. That tells me that people DO care about Blu-ray... a lot.

 

[jegbook]

I think it has to eventually. Soon it will be Blu-ray vs NO optical drive. Will Apple really block an entire media type (optical discs), when there will most likely still be a few more iterations after Blu-ray?

I don't like this path. Give me back the old Apple who dropped the floppy and stuck CD drives and USB/Firewire ports in all machines, even bottom of the range. Even if it means I have to use a hockey puck for a mouse.

Edit: Of course, a real win would be Blu-ray without the BS. Get rid of HDCP, get rid of region coding and minimise licensing hurdles.

That's an interesting point: Blu-ray or no way. ; )
It makes sense. At some point there will be no reason to make non Blu-ray capable optical drives. Such a progression of optical drives seems reasonable. Provided this occurs, the industry is unlikely to make no Blu-ray drives specifically for Apple.

So, either Steve accepts that OS X will have to support Blu-ray eventually, or Steve is betting that optical media will be defunct before he has no other choice.

Peanut gallery?

 

[jegbook]

I find it interesting that this topic has by far the most views and replies of all the news discussions. That tells me that people DO care about Blu-ray... a lot.

Possibly.

Could also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The main reason I checked out the thread was the high number of posts...

Hard to say!

p.s.- I really appreciated your anti-elitism examples, wonderspark.

 

[linux2mac]

BTW, The company I work for landed an 85,000 dollar project that will be done entirely on windows.

Again, I am not impressed. I own my company, I am not an employee. I am a business owner providing jobs for this great country called the USA. How many people can say that in this economy? And I provide jobs that use Apple hardware, not crappy Windows. The people I hire are shocked at how well Linux and OSX work. I would never put Windows in my offices again even for BD. My home theater is where I watch BD movies, not at my desk in some cubicle like an employee.

 

[AidenShaw]

Anybody alive more than 25 years knows why Windows became dominant, and it had zero to do with it being a superior product. Come on, AS. You know it to be true.

Windows had a superior business plan, with a decent product.

As for typographical errors in a forum thread, that seems to border on nitpicking.

Messing up the proper name of the product that you're bashing deserves a mention. And, by the way, it was mentioned in a postscript, not the body of my post.

Again, I am not impressed. I own my company...

I thought that you said that you owned two companies a day or two ago? Did one go under?

 

[wonderspark]

I would never put Windows in my offices again even for BD. My home theater is where I watch BD movies, not at my desk in some cubicle like an employee.

You don't seem to think much of your employees, based on that disdainful comment.

I'm also finding humor in the concept that you would never put windows in your offices. You said capital 'W' Windows, but I entertain myself easily.

 

[leroypants]

Again, I am not impressed. I own my company, I am not an employee. I am a business owner providing jobs for this great country called the USA. How many people can say that in this economy?

I work at a company during the week and own my own company so i can say that too.

And I provide jobs that use Apple hardware, not crappy Windows.

Insert mandatory windows bashing. All that matters is the final product not what the content or project was created on.

The people I hire are shocked at how well Linux and OSX work. I would never put Windows in my offices again even for BD.

Insert second mandatory windows bashing, take another drink. I'll remember how well OSX works next time when Safari crashes (which is about ever 6 minutes).

My home theater is where I watch BD movies, not at my desk in some cubicle like an employee.

I am utterly amazed that you can not grasp the concept of creating hi-def content and burning it to a blu-ray. We create hi-def content for clients who demand that they can play and show that hi-def content. Only the most devout fanboys side with apple on this one.

 

[wonderspark]

Clearly, he fits the definition of "the most devout fanboy..."
His sig says [Windows Free Since '07' and "I'm lovin' it"]
That means he doesn't have any experience with Windows 7. I'm not really that surprised by his hatred for Windows, if he got screwed by Vista. I was wise/lucky enough to have never attempted to use Vista, but I'll bet he jumped right in and got smacked.

 

[linux2mac]

You don't seem to think much of your employees, based on that disdainful comment.

Oh no, I like my employees very much. They are much smarter and better at their job now that they work on Macs instead of crappy Windows

I thought that you said that you owned two companies a day or two ago? Did one go under?

Please revisit comment by MacNewsFix.

that seems to border on nitpicking.

I've actually owned more than two and there is no need for me to discuss specifics. Back when I was an "employee" I worked with some people like you. Last I checked they are still there hoping they can get to their pension before the pink slips roll out. In my early years with that wonderful Fortune 100 company (they spent thousands of dollars advancing my education and taught me the skills to start my own show) I witnessed a guy get let go after 30 years of service and no pension. I decided I did not want to be that guy. When I die, I will never wonder "what I could have done" because I have done it already. So go ahead and keep nitpicking and maybe one day you can nitpick your way to middle management.

 

[weespeed]

Clearly, he fits the definition of "the most devout fanboy..."
His sig says [Windows Free Since '07' and "I'm lovin' it"]
That means he doesn't have any experience with Windows 7. I'm not really that surprised by his hatred for Windows, if he got screwed by Vista. I was wise/lucky enough to have never attempted to use Vista, but I'll bet he jumped right in and got smacked.

Vista isn't so bad after the service packs. I think Vista got a bad rap due to third parties not having device drivers ready at launch.

Also you're talking about a guy/girl that bashes windows whenever s/he gets a chance. And also a guy/girl that is an "IT consultant" and touts the mac mini server as the "shiznit" and all other servers are garbage. So take what s/he spouts for what it is. Garbage..

 

[wonderspark]

Oh no, I like my employees very much. They are much smarter and better at their job now that they work on Macs instead of crappy Windows

Wow.

 

[AidenShaw]

Clearly, he fits the definition of "the most devout fanboy..."
His sig says [Windows Free Since '07' and "I'm lovin' it"]
That means he doesn't have any experience with Windows 7.

I'd wager that he jumped from XP - and never really tried Vista.

I'm not really that surprised by his hatred for Windows, if he got screwed by Vista. I was wise/lucky enough to have never attempted to use Vista, but I'll bet he jumped right in and got smacked.

Interesting comment, from someone who admits that he never used Vista.

Vista was much better than its public reputation. Windows 7 is a minor UI update from Vista - a very big part of the "improvement" in Windows 7 is that it came out more than two years after Vista. This meant that most of the important 3rd party apps and drivers had been updated for Vista by that time - so they worked fine on Win7.

Vista (and Win7) had a number of changes to improve security and stability - and some NT4/Win2k/XP era apps/drivers had some problems with that. The changes caused a lot of grief when Vista came out, but by the time Win7 came out most of those issues had been fixed.

(Disclaimer: I only have Win7 right now - all the XP and Vista systems have been upgraded except for a couple of XP/Vista virtual machines that I keep for testing. I far prefer Win7 for the UI advancements.)

 

[wonderspark]

I'd wager that he jumped from XP - and never really tried Vista.




Interesting comment, from someone who admits that he never used Vista.

Vista was much better than its public reputation. Windows 7 is a minor UI update from Vista - a very big part of the "improvement" in Windows 7 is that it came out more than two years after Vista. This meant that most of the important 3rd party apps and drivers had been updated for Vista by that time - so they worked fine on Win7.

Vista (and Win7) had a number of changes to improve security and stability - and some NT4/Win2k/XP era apps/drivers had some problems with that. The changes caused a lot of grief when Vista came out, but by the time Win7 came out most of those issues had been fixed.

(Disclaimer: I only have Win7 and XP clients right now - all the Vista systems have been upgraded except for a couple of Vista virtual machines that I keep for testing. I far prefer Win7 for the UI advancements.)

I admit my comments are based on the misfortune of others, rather than my own. Just this afternoon, a friend was bemoaning Vista to me. I figured I'd keep my hand out of the fire, seeing others with pus-filled blistery hands when they played with it. Hahaha!

 

[Reddkryten]

Oh no, I like my employees very much. They are much smarter and better at their job now that they work on Macs instead of crappy Windows .

Macs make your employees smarter, are you using the new macs with the direct neurological connection through the base of the skull? Where the retina display beams directly to your retina and MobileMe actually teleports you?

 

[linux2mac]

Nice communicating with you pro BD folks but I have an early flight to go meet a new client tomorrow. Can't wait to get their office off Windows, they will be much happier. Actually their problem is due to Windows and why am I not surprised. On iTunes now browsing movies to download to my iPhone to watch on the plane. You won't see me fumbling with BD discs going through airport security - LOL. I still don't understand the fascination to watch BD on a flight. Oh well, to each their own. Anyone have any movie recommendations I should rent from iTunes?

 

[AidenShaw]

I admit my comments are based on the misfortune of others, rather than my own. Just this afternoon, a friend was bemoaning Vista to me. I figured I'd keep my hand out of the fire, seeing others with pus-filled blistery hands when they played with it. Hahaha!

It's rather bizarre to complain about Vista today, since Win7/WinSrvr2008r2 have been out for roughly a year and a half.

Does he also complain about Mac OS 9 issues?

Nice communicating with you pro BD folks but I have an early flight to go meet a new client tomorrow. Can't wait to get their office off Windows, they will be much happier. Actually their problem is due to Windows and why am I not surprised.

It's nice that you've analyzed their problem and have a solution before you've even met and talked to them.

On iTunes now browsing movies to download to my iPhone to watch on the plane. You won't see me fumbling with BD discs going through airport security - LOL. I still don't understand the fascination to watch BD on a flight. Oh well, to each their own. Anyone have any movie recommendations I should rent from iTunes?

I don't understand why one would pay for new, horribly compressed copies of a video to watch on a 3 inch screen, instead of grabbing a couple of BD discs from my library and watching them on the 12" or 14" screen on my laptop.

...but then, I *can* watch them on my laptop - Apple users don't even have that option.

But for a movie recommendation - I'll say "The Kids Are Alright" (http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...i=11qpklf0h&sigb=12pceso7j&.crumb=.jwbX9eSSX2) - a light drama/comedy about modern family life. Fun, and easy to pause and restart after the steward interrupts you to ask if you want a $5 package of peanuts.

 

[wonderspark]

Nice communicating with you pro BD folks but I have an early flight to go meet a new client tomorrow. Can't wait to get their office off Windows, they will be much happier. Actually their problem is due to Windows and why am I not surprised. On iTunes now browsing movies to download to my iPhone to watch on the plane. You won't see me fumbling with BD discs going through airport security - LOL. I still don't understand the fascination to watch BD on a flight. Oh well, to each their own. Anyone have any movie recommendations I should rent from iTunes?

Watch Winnebago Man. Seriously, it's good.
Or, if you haven't seen it, In the Loop is my current favorite film to watch repeatedly.

 

[wonderspark]

It's rather bizarre to complain about Vista today, since Win7/WinSrvr2008r2 have been out for roughly a year and a half.

Does he also complain about Mac OS 9 issues?

He's dumb, because he uses crappy Windows. If he used OS 9, he'd automagically be smart and productive, or something like that.

 

[AidenShaw]

He's dumb, because he uses crappy Windows. If he used OS 9, he'd automagically be smart and productive, or something like that.

Priceless - I hope that linux2mac is able to read that on his way to his plane....

 

[xbjllb]

Except they are gaining market share, not losing it.

I think you are missing the forest for the trees in your conclusions.

Not in the high end desktops. Take the toys out of your figures.

That iCrap is the only reason Apple even exists today.

And the focus on them isn't going anywhere.

You must be seriously delusional.

You obviously will never grasp the simple concept of an ECONOMIC BUBBLE.

By all means, put ALL your capital where your ignorance is; sell everything else and only buy Apple stock.

From Apple's recent earning report:

Record 851,000 Macs sold, up 24%. About half were customers new to Mac.

I'm reading the writing on the wall, but you and I must be speaking a different language.

I fail to see much indication that the lack of BD is making any significant impact on their sales. The 52 week average of BD vs DVD reflects BD only accounting for a market percentage somewhere in the mid-teens. Besides, if CES was any indication, it looks as if non-BD equipped tablets are set to cannibalize PC sales. This report from CNET seems to jive with this prediction:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20028352-92.html

Pay special attention to this paragraph:
Apple, which is recorded as part of Gartner's U.S. vendor report, came in just under Toshiba in terms of fourth-quarter shipments, though bested it and all the rest of the companies on year-on-year growth at 23.7 percent. In fact, Toshiba and Apple were the only two vendors in Gartner's top 5 to increase shipments in the U.S. year-on-year.

Again, not really seeing noticeable hurt from avoiding BD. If you guys really want to embrace your inner-luddite and hold onto physical media, get on the 4K wagon más pronto.

As an aside, I'm not sure which market you are working in, but you just may want to up your fees. A friend of mine is a successful wedding videographer, and he brings in almost twice that working by himself at events. You may be undercutting yourself. Also, he eschews BD and says most of his clients prefer DVD as many of their family members do not have BD players.

No wedding photographer "eschews" Blu-ray unless he's working the bottom fifth of the market. Every other wedding couple with enough money to PAY a DECENT videographer wants at least three Blu-ray discs: One for themselves, and two for each set of parents. For their plasmas. Guess what one of the most popular wedding presents is? A BLU-RAY PLAYER.

And the rest of your post is every bit as anecdotal based on one of a kind freak examples.

And the articles and numbers you quote INCLUDE Apple's TOY output.

Apple's top end product is NOT GROWING. At the most, its stagnating.

At the worst, we'll see.

It's all moot now, because with Jobs gone Blu-ray will be coming to Apple, and fast.

 

[Hal Itosis]

iCrap BUBBLE.

BUBBLE. BUBBLE.

The operative word is BUBBLE. Even Steve Jobs cannot keep an iCrap BUBBLE afloat indefinitely. Even from a hospital bed.

Sooner rather than later Apple is just going to have to service its creative content creator highend base.

Or lose its cutting edge cachet. If it hasn't done irreparable damage to it already in the quest of the LCD cheap en masse buck.

Creating a BUBBLE.

Pop.

Haha... so you're saying that mobile devices such as the iPod touch and the iPhone and the iPad are merely part of some trend... and like a bubble they're just gonna go <POOF> and disappear one day. LL. Dream on, oh visionary one.

 

[Hal Itosis]

A "bag" that's about 19 times more popular than Apple OSX, by the way.

Yup, just like McDonald's is probably 1,234,567.89 times more "popular" than Outback Steakhouse. Ubiquity matters, because market-share totally trumps good taste. (Lady G, Britney, Katy, Ke$ha). Way to go!

 

[cheesymogul]

BD in Macs is not necessary to service the high end customers. I have colleagues that are commercial videographers/photographers and graphic designers and all use Mac Pros and have zero issues with not having BD in their Macs. (They are not wedding photographers either, I am talking some serious heavy production work)

Now this smart-ass Mac rookie and liberated former Windows slave even knows what every high end user in the world needs for THEIR business, based on the fact that a few colleagues of his don't need BD to create piss ugly cereal boxes!!!

You have an extremely low standard for what "high-end" means.
And from your naive argumentation it's pretty obvious that you have ZERO first hand experience in that area...

 

[Jcoz]

Not in the high end desktops. Take the toys out of your figures.



You obviously will never grasp the simple concept of an ECONOMIC BUBBLE.

By all means, put ALL your capital where your ignorance is; sell everything else and only buy Apple stock.




No wedding photographer "eschews" Blu-ray unless he's working the bottom fifth of the market. Every other wedding couple with enough money to PAY a DECENT videographer wants at least three Blu-ray discs: One for themselves, and two for each set of parents. For their plasmas. Guess what one of the most popular wedding presents is? A BLU-RAY PLAYER.

And the rest of your post is every bit as anecdotal based on one of a kind freak examples.

And the articles and numbers you quote INCLUDE Apple's TOY output.

Apple's top end product is NOT GROWING. At the most, its stagnating.

At the worst, we'll see.

It's all moot now, because with Jobs gone Blu-ray will be coming to Apple, and fast.

No, those numbers do not include the toy segment, unless you are counting laptops as toys.

I dont care if the rate of growth in the i-department is unsustainable, it doesn't need to be. Fact remains that if Apple didn't care about toys and was still catering to your market exclusively, they'd be out of business.

Does that mean they SHOULD abandon that segment? Arguable, but it looks like they have, regardless.

I'm not saying it makes me happy, just the way it is.

And you really are dellusional if you think steve taking leave means BD in your machines in the near term.

So tell me, just for ***** and grins, lets say they implement the changes tomorrow and BD will now be supported. What is your next step personally?