So we're approaching 5000 posts (I'm happy being post #4974… good luck to no.5000!)
To sum up:
-Some of us would really quite like Apple to give us (ok, sell us) the option for Blu-ray movie playback in Mac OS X. This is for various reasons including, (sometimes overlapping reasons):
-- A desire for the best quality home movies available.
-- Being able to playback discs we bought for the big TV in the home theatre on our macs without needing an additional purchase of the same movie.
-- Because online movie rentals and purchases (whether streaming or downloading) are either not feasible due to the current state of internet connections, or not desirable because of the afore-mentioned desire to purchase movies in the best quality generally available.
-- Due to the complexity and legal ambiguity for the average home user of ripping DVDs, it would seem that disc-playing machines will be required for some years to come. Apple appear to be suggesting everyone should re-purchase their entire movie collection on iTunes (or at least as much of it as possible). Far better to support options for both the best physical media around and the emerging market for online video when it is appropriate for users.
The alternative mentioned most often is online delivery of video content. Whilst in ideal circumstances this does / would have many advantages over physical media it faces huge obstacles and offers consumers a number of new problems:
-- Choice and availability of movies can (and already has) come and go online. Whilst some studios can delete titles (Disney like to do this) in general once a title is released on a physical format it is around for years. This can happen arbitrarily and unexpectedly with online movies, which is bad for both availability and in terms of being able to keep prices high if there were no competition.
-- iTunes video features restrictive DRM that mean aside from Windows PCs (ironically, given their ability to play back BD movies) only Apple devices can play the video content from the iTunes store.
-- Even worse than disc-based format's regions codes, iTunes is restricted to nation-by-nation deals on movies, further restricting consumer freedom.
Furthermore, in a wider context away from simply the consumer experience the lack of BD playback on the mac means:
-- It's an advantage for Windows over Mac OS X.
-- It seems hypocritical, or at the very least a contradiction that Disney and Pixar release many high quality Blu-ray disc products, yet these will not play upon the OS Steve Jobs sells, only on the OS his rivals sell.
-- It also seems a contradiction that Apple are involved with the Blu-ray disc Association if they are fundamentally opposed to the format at this point.
-- Job's stated aim of Apple wanting to 'make its customers happy' is undermined without a strong logical reason why the option of Blu-ray would run counter to this stated aim.
-- The lack of BD on the mac means the Mac Mini is a dead-end as a home theatre computer. This in turn, paradoxically, means some may be less likely to go to Apple whenever online video becomes more feasible for more people.
-- It makes the mac look less serious for professional and creative use as well. Whatever you think of the format, it's very silly that one can create BDs from their own video content, but cannot play those discs back on the same machine. I hate the reductive and (I think overall…) disingenuous 'iToymaker' tags that suggest all Apple does is dumb 'toy' consumer electronics nowadays, but the BD situation doesn't make it easier to refute or rebut such claims.
-- With the assumption that the primary reason for the lack of BD playback support on OS X is merely to promote online video sales through iTunes, it re-enforces the perception of Apple as an over-controlling, micro-managing company who aren't happy just creating great products, but want to unfairly load the die / cut the cards / stack the odds in their favour by playing politics with people's choices, regardless of the detrimental effect. To put it another way, if their vision is so great, why not let it win fairly on an equal playing field? Allowing for ripping of CDs whilst selling music in iTunes has worked great for everyone (even the music labels who don't get how lucky they are), so why does Apple feel the need to be so controlling over video? If online video is so great already, customers will reject BD themselves. Trying to force it just frustrates users who care about what BD offers, and do nothing for users who already planned to download all their video anyway.
Jobs'/Apple's stated arguments appear to be that
-- Blu-ray is akin to a 'niche' audio format.
This is clearly ludicrous given easily researched sales figures and the rate of their growth over the last few years.
-- Online video is 'good enough' for most people.
One might argue Windows was always 'good enough' for most people, yet some prefer the perceived higher quality experience of Mac OS. Also, even if it is true that most people don't really care that much about the quality, why not concentrate on the promotion of more easily accessible standard definition video and leave HD to Blu-ray for now? And no-one has explained what would be so terrible about leaving the choice to the user. Jobs also seems to be more of a music fan than a movie fan. But some of us really love movies, do watch them numerous times, and do care about them on just as much of an emotional level as our music.
-- Licensing is a 'bag of hurt'.
This sounds like Apple saying 'it's too hard to bother' for what numerous other consumer electronics companies can achieve on low-priced products. Also licensing has become easier since the infamous quote, and can hardly be at a financial level so burdensome that it couldn't be simply passed on to the consumer (or else those sub-$100 BD players wouldn't be able to do it either).
If there are better technical reasons why Apple can't add the option for BD movie playback support, it seems odd they wouldn't simply put out a press release, or at very least pay the courtesy to those customers who would like BD on the mac and give an interview to the tech press on the issue or similar.
Apple have often made unpredictable U-turns on issues before. I just hope this will be one such time, because it's just silly that you can't easily play Blu-ray movies in OS X if you want to.
To sum up:
-Some of us would really quite like Apple to give us (ok, sell us) the option for Blu-ray movie playback in Mac OS X. This is for various reasons including, (sometimes overlapping reasons):
-- A desire for the best quality home movies available.
-- Being able to playback discs we bought for the big TV in the home theatre on our macs without needing an additional purchase of the same movie.
-- Because online movie rentals and purchases (whether streaming or downloading) are either not feasible due to the current state of internet connections, or not desirable because of the afore-mentioned desire to purchase movies in the best quality generally available.
-- Due to the complexity and legal ambiguity for the average home user of ripping DVDs, it would seem that disc-playing machines will be required for some years to come. Apple appear to be suggesting everyone should re-purchase their entire movie collection on iTunes (or at least as much of it as possible). Far better to support options for both the best physical media around and the emerging market for online video when it is appropriate for users.
The alternative mentioned most often is online delivery of video content. Whilst in ideal circumstances this does / would have many advantages over physical media it faces huge obstacles and offers consumers a number of new problems:
-- Choice and availability of movies can (and already has) come and go online. Whilst some studios can delete titles (Disney like to do this) in general once a title is released on a physical format it is around for years. This can happen arbitrarily and unexpectedly with online movies, which is bad for both availability and in terms of being able to keep prices high if there were no competition.
-- iTunes video features restrictive DRM that mean aside from Windows PCs (ironically, given their ability to play back BD movies) only Apple devices can play the video content from the iTunes store.
-- Even worse than disc-based format's regions codes, iTunes is restricted to nation-by-nation deals on movies, further restricting consumer freedom.
Furthermore, in a wider context away from simply the consumer experience the lack of BD playback on the mac means:
-- It's an advantage for Windows over Mac OS X.
-- It seems hypocritical, or at the very least a contradiction that Disney and Pixar release many high quality Blu-ray disc products, yet these will not play upon the OS Steve Jobs sells, only on the OS his rivals sell.
-- It also seems a contradiction that Apple are involved with the Blu-ray disc Association if they are fundamentally opposed to the format at this point.
-- Job's stated aim of Apple wanting to 'make its customers happy' is undermined without a strong logical reason why the option of Blu-ray would run counter to this stated aim.
-- The lack of BD on the mac means the Mac Mini is a dead-end as a home theatre computer. This in turn, paradoxically, means some may be less likely to go to Apple whenever online video becomes more feasible for more people.
-- It makes the mac look less serious for professional and creative use as well. Whatever you think of the format, it's very silly that one can create BDs from their own video content, but cannot play those discs back on the same machine. I hate the reductive and (I think overall…) disingenuous 'iToymaker' tags that suggest all Apple does is dumb 'toy' consumer electronics nowadays, but the BD situation doesn't make it easier to refute or rebut such claims.
-- With the assumption that the primary reason for the lack of BD playback support on OS X is merely to promote online video sales through iTunes, it re-enforces the perception of Apple as an over-controlling, micro-managing company who aren't happy just creating great products, but want to unfairly load the die / cut the cards / stack the odds in their favour by playing politics with people's choices, regardless of the detrimental effect. To put it another way, if their vision is so great, why not let it win fairly on an equal playing field? Allowing for ripping of CDs whilst selling music in iTunes has worked great for everyone (even the music labels who don't get how lucky they are), so why does Apple feel the need to be so controlling over video? If online video is so great already, customers will reject BD themselves. Trying to force it just frustrates users who care about what BD offers, and do nothing for users who already planned to download all their video anyway.
Jobs'/Apple's stated arguments appear to be that
-- Blu-ray is akin to a 'niche' audio format.
This is clearly ludicrous given easily researched sales figures and the rate of their growth over the last few years.
-- Online video is 'good enough' for most people.
One might argue Windows was always 'good enough' for most people, yet some prefer the perceived higher quality experience of Mac OS. Also, even if it is true that most people don't really care that much about the quality, why not concentrate on the promotion of more easily accessible standard definition video and leave HD to Blu-ray for now? And no-one has explained what would be so terrible about leaving the choice to the user. Jobs also seems to be more of a music fan than a movie fan. But some of us really love movies, do watch them numerous times, and do care about them on just as much of an emotional level as our music.
-- Licensing is a 'bag of hurt'.
This sounds like Apple saying 'it's too hard to bother' for what numerous other consumer electronics companies can achieve on low-priced products. Also licensing has become easier since the infamous quote, and can hardly be at a financial level so burdensome that it couldn't be simply passed on to the consumer (or else those sub-$100 BD players wouldn't be able to do it either).
If there are better technical reasons why Apple can't add the option for BD movie playback support, it seems odd they wouldn't simply put out a press release, or at very least pay the courtesy to those customers who would like BD on the mac and give an interview to the tech press on the issue or similar.
Apple have often made unpredictable U-turns on issues before. I just hope this will be one such time, because it's just silly that you can't easily play Blu-ray movies in OS X if you want to.
