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

[Hal Itosis]

Some of the zealots are violent frothing at the mouth rage against even the option of Blu ray in a mac because they won't use it.

I requested samples of that a while back. Several replies furnished maybe five (so-called) examples, three of which did not argue against the option (simply stating that they wouldn't choose it). Of the two examples which did sound like they supported Steve's no-option course, none of them were "frothing at the mouth". They posted once or twice (way back within the first fifty posts) and then went on their way.

You are fabricating stuff just to feel as if there is some purpose to all this arguing. Instead of swatting at imaginary flies, quote an actual post where some "zealot violently froths at the mouth their rage against even the option" and then explain how wrong his (actual) words are.

Even if they wouldn't use it their is not a single reason they should be so angry about the option.

Again, where is the "angry" post against an option for Blu-ray drives in Macs? Perhaps you simply dreamt about it. Quote the "angry" post and refute it... else look like a fool (or a liar).

A Blu ray would only make apple a stronger brand, however Steve doesn't want it so the drones don't want it.

Sure... everyone who couldn't care less is a "drone" now. That's full of win.

I guarantee that if or when blu ray support comes to a mac the same people who frothed at the mouth in rage against apple supporting it will switch opinions and scream how apple is wonderful for supporting blu ray.

Words to that effect have appeared many times since this thread began. They're still equally meaningless now (and i doubt their veracity as well... but who cares?).


--

In response to the dying breed comment, I must respectfully disagree. Filmmakers creating content for people today, using today's technology, are a growing breed. People need stuff today, so they can consume it today.

In order for you to be correct, there would have to be less filmmakers making less Blu-ray content than previously. Obviously, that is incorrect.

Carefully study that post to which i replied. There was no mention of burning or creating content. Everything he laid out was about playback.

Players abound.

 

[wonderspark]

I create and burn it, and I want to play it back, so I'm in the same breed. We can already burn it just fine. Playback is the only issue.

 

[MacNewsFix]

I create and burn it, and I want to play it back, so I'm in the same breed. We can already burn it just fine. Playback is the only issue.

Just rip it.

 

[wonderspark]

Just rip it.

Ripping doesn't help test chapter point placement, End Actions, etc.

It's ok... We all agree that everyone loses, and has to use multiple devices.

 

[AidenShaw]

Ripping doesn't help test chapter point placement, End Actions, etc.

It's ok... We all agree that everyone loses, and has to use multiple devices.

The overlords in Redmond clicked "like" on this.

In the pro space, it seems that Apple has a death wish.

 

[charlituna]

Are you referring to the following list from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Cut_Pro#Major_films_edited_with_Final_Cut_Pro?

Major films edited with Final Cut Pro

That list is also ignoring television productions that are edited with FCS such as Leverage, The Simpsons, Futurama and several major ad agencies like AKQA that use FCS. Or even details like 20th Century Fox moving almost all their post production into FCS based systems. How about devout AVID devotee Walter Murch moving to editing in FCS when he worked on Coppola's last film

There are tons of articles out there stating that 95-99% of all major movies are edited with Avid, but those articles are generally at least 3 years old. These days it's more like 50/50 with Avid going down and FCS going up. About the only thing AVID has left is RED and 3D but if the next version of FCS supports either or both of those, that advantage could slip away as well.

All those old articles from 3-4 years ago saying that you must know Avid and hey if you know FCS that never hurts no longer apply.

Most of Apple's success is in the "Mobile Space"

And?

American Idol is what covers Fox's budget, Survivor for CBS. Not things like Fringe and CSI. Easy money is what keeps folks afloat so they can do the pet projects.

 

[swagi]

Just like you, I bought my Mac strictly for work, specifically to edit a feature film. Now that it's complete, I can move on. The point is, it's a shame I had to use the Mac, a PC and a Blu-ray player to finish this job, when a single PC would have been cheaper, faster and more efficient across the board. I've learned a lot this past 15 months, and one of those lessons has been that in many ways, Apple is the dark side, not PC. I hope it changes back to the way it was. The reason I switched to a Mac was for all the good stories I heard. As it turns out, a lot of it was just that... Fairytale stories told by people who act like The Ugly Americans of computers.

I want to believe this Mac is the best system ever, but I'd be lying to myself. Today, PC wins. Maybe someday Mac will reclaim the lead like it used to be. I'd like that.

The truth behind this statement is so disturbing after using Macs exclusively for a decade. Finally I learned Mac OS X is the dark side.

Windows, as stupid and malware ridden as it is offers flexibility while Mac OS X deteriorates more and more. And if someone actually wants to have a discussion about deteriorating Macs - well - when was the last time you edited a MP3 file?

I did that quite often in the early 2000s to have nice snippets floating around that I could use as personalized system sounds (e.g. I replaced AOL's "You've got mail" with a nice Bugs Bunny quote). You can't do that anymore. Nope, you can't. Not without hacks or 3rd party stuff.

In the early 2000s you used Quicktime Pro - which now is nothing but a sheer and utter joke compared to its roots.

 

[Hal Itosis]

when was the last time you edited a MP3 file?

I did that quite often in the early 2000s to have nice snippets floating around that I could use as personalized system sounds (e.g. I replaced AOL's "You've got mail" with a nice Bugs Bunny quote). You can't do that anymore. Nope, you can't. Not without hacks or 3rd party stuff.

In the early 2000s you used Quicktime Pro - which now is nothing but a sheer and utter joke compared to its roots.

I liked Spark (ME) myself, back in the day. (sadly enough, it was discontinued... but my copy still 'functions' under 10.6.x). I prefer it to anything by BIAS anyway (well, i really only tried Peak... and still found Spark to be much nicer).

But why complain and then offer QT Pro as the measuring stick? [i.e., QT Pro was never "free" either.] Having said that, i do hear where you're coming from... kinda.

 

[xbjllb]

I'm becoming convinced that a lot of Mac fanboys are hipster apartment-dwellers who don't own a good TV or a receiver, and thus not only do they not know about 192/24 HDMI support, they don't even know what it is. They think AppleTV is the ultimate in home theater and they're happy downloading illegal 720p rips from demonoid.

Why would you watch on a 27" screen? Perhaps you're in your office working on something and that 30" Apple Cinema Display would be nice to watch a movie on while you're there. Perhaps your wife is watching Grey's Anatomy on your 65" plasma and your 30" Cinema Display makes a nice 2nd TV in a pinch. Perhaps you're a college student in a dorm, whose Mac is his only source of entertainment and may have DVD movie playback, a TV tuner, streaming video, the whole ball of wax. Why should it have DVD playback but not Blu-Ray? Maybe you're on the road in a hotel room with your 15" laptop and rather than watch a low-res DVD or iCrap download, you'd like the superior quality of a Blu-Ray. Maybe you want to grab a screen shot. Maybe you want to reference a snippet of a movie for reference in something you're writing -- I'm sure a lot of film students use Macs. Are you really this incapable of creative thinking?



Too bad your Macintosh isn't meant for large screens and major sound systems, otherwise you could put two great things together. Are you getting the irony yet? I personally LOL that you don't connect your Mac to your projector because it just isn't worth it -- the Mac can't drive it. A $300 game system can do a better job than your $3000 Mac. You claim to be such a huge Mac convert (although your vitriol reveals you are a reactionary zealot) yet there is no place for the Mac in your central media experience. Your oft-mentioned media Valhalla is not driven by Apple. Pretty sad, considering that used to be what the Mac was best at.

Do you delete DVDPlayer.app from your Mac, since movies aren't meant to be watched on a 15" screen? Do you delete iTunes since music isn't meant to be listened to on tiny laptop speakers? I'm sure you did, because you only listen to music on your tube amplifier, I'll bet. After all music is meant to be listened to on a major sound system, right? I'm really enjoying the sheer idiocy of your argument that movies aren't meant to be watched on a Mac, when Apple has been saying the exact opposite for years; that EVERYTHING should be done on a Mac. How does Elgato stay in business?



Too bad nobody thought of hooking a Mac up to a large screen and major sound system, since the Mac is so ill equipped to actually deal with being hooked up to them. You know, since it doesn't deal with HDMI, can't handle multichannel audio, or play a Blu-Ray disc.

Oh wait, look what's in the Mac Mini product photo gallery....

http://images.apple.com/macmini/images/overview_hero7_20100615.png
[*]

So it IS meant to be connected to a large screen and major sound system. Just not well. It brings a knife to a gunfight. Apple brings its C- game to home theater. DVD and iCrap downloads in a 1080p lossless multichannel HDMI world.

The irony is you zealots think Apple is pioneering the future; in reality, it's stuck in 2006.

If Macs aren't meant to be hooked to TVs and used to watch videos, why do Macs come with remote controls and how do you explain Front Row?

Oh, looky what we find in the Mac Mini features page:

[*]Mac mini comes to the big screen.

It’s easy to connect Mac mini to the biggest screen in the house — your HDTV — courtesy of a built-in HDMI port. Plug in one HDMI cable and start enjoying content on your Mac mini in brilliant HD. Like movies and TV shows from iTunes, the Internet, and your photo library. There’s also a handy control that lets you easily adjust the output on Mac mini to fill even the biggest HDTV screen. And when you just want to listen to music, you can play your entire iTunes collection through your home entertainment center, or stream it to a set of speakers in any room via an AirPort Express Base Station.2

I love watching Blu-Rays on my 65" THX certified plasma and listening to the glorious multichannel HD lossless audio on my Yamaha receiver. I also love to listen to lossless high resolution mulitchannel audio from Blu-Ray, DVD-Audio, and SACD. And I use a PC to do it. Because a Mac can't.

Such a shame the "inferior" Windows PCs can do better than the once-mighty Mac. But it seems like doing less is the Mac's future.

+1,000,000

Of course, if you're home with your Imac - you're also home with your home theatre and its Weaver Quartz super screen.

Try to think outside of your own little box, though. There are many reasons why one might want BD playback on their laptop or desktop.

1. Traveling - you can't set up your projector and Weaver Quartz screen on the plane or in your hotel. You shouldn't need to buy a DVD to watch if you already have the BD, nor should you have to suffer through horribly compressed legal downloads.
2. Dorm/Studio Apartment - not everyone has the space or money for a dedicated home theatre room with a projector and a Quartz screen. You may have a little extra money to buy "future-proofed" HD media, though.
3. Child - maybe your children would want to watch a BD movie, but you are using the super Quartz home theatre projector to watch something else. Give them the BD and let them watch it on the computer in the den or in their bedroom.
4. Professionals who want to burn BDs on the road, and who don't want to want to carry an external drive and have to boot into Windows on their BD-capable Apple just to check out a disc.
5. ...dozens of other justifications already discussed in this thread.

We all know that BD playback on your Apples doesn't matter for you - just try to think about what other people may want or need.

+1,000,000

I liked Spark (ME) myself, back in the day. (sadly enough, it was discontinued... but my copy still 'functions' under 10.6.x). I prefer it to anything by BIAS anyway (well, i really only tried Peak... and still found Spark to be much nicer).

I've used Peak for almost a decade and have found it the perfect program for all my audio mastering and audio for video needs. Also, I've found the programmers HIGHLY responsive.

Most people who dislike Peak resent the fact it is not an easy to hack and steal as it once was.

 

[Fubar1977]

The more locked-down the Mac platform becomes the more concerned I get.
I don`t actually care about Blu-Ray specifically but it`s just an indicator of Apple removing yet more choice from their customers.
If not very careful, all those customers Vista gave them will simply flock back to Windows. I`m nowhere near there yet but I`m worried.
Sad.

 

[mpaul]

Of course, if you're home with your Imac - you're also home with your home theatre and its Weaver Quartz super screen.

Try to think outside of your own little box, though. There are many reasons why one might want BD playback on their laptop or desktop.

1. Traveling - you can't set up your projector and Weaver Quartz screen on the plane or in your hotel. You shouldn't need to buy a DVD to watch if you already have the BD, nor should you have to suffer through horribly compressed legal downloads.
2. Dorm/Studio Apartment - not everyone has the space or money for a dedicated home theatre room with a projector and a Quartz screen. You may have a little extra money to buy "future-proofed" HD media, though.
3. Child - maybe your children would want to watch a BD movie, but you are using the super Quartz home theatre projector to watch something else. Give them the BD and let them watch it on the computer in the den or in their bedroom.
4. Professionals who want to burn BDs on the road, and who don't want to want to carry an external drive and have to boot into Windows on their BD-capable Apple just to check out a disc.
5. ...dozens of other justifications already discussed in this thread.

We all know that BD playback on your Apples doesn't matter for you - just try to think about what other people may want or need.

I agree with you! BD playback on laptops IS important, much like it has been all these years for DVD. It's convenient for when you're on the road, and also for when your home theater Plasma is already occupied.
Fortunately, Sony and other computer manufacturers know that and they provide their clients many options: from "15 WUXGA (1920x1200) screens, to "17 double-LED 1080p screens and much more. Options are endless.
It's just a matter of preference whether to choose Apple's own marketing scheme or another one. To each his own

 

[swagi]

I liked Spark (ME) myself, back in the day. (sadly enough, it was discontinued... but my copy still 'functions' under 10.6.x). I prefer it to anything by BIAS anyway (well, i really only tried Peak... and still found Spark to be much nicer).

But why complain and then offer QT Pro as the measuring stick? [i.e., QT Pro was never "free" either.] Having said that, i do hear where you're coming from... kinda.

Thanx for your input. To be fair in my dishonest days it was quite simple to use it as serials were floating around everywhere and in my honest days I simply had the benefit of having QT Pro as a FCS user.

My point was more or less that QT Pro was a clean and easy interface for trimming that stuff with very little CPU and memory hit. Or to put it the other way:

It's a sad joke that you have to fire up the full blown Garage Band to create an iPhone ringtone - and it's an even sadder joke, the iPhone won't use MP3s as ringtone (or does it in it last iterations? I don't know, lost interest in it 3 years ago).

QT Pro was a steal at its time nevertheless. Too bad only few people recognized the potential.

 

[MacNewsFix]

That list is also ignoring television productions that are edited with FCS such as Leverage, The Simpsons, Futurama and several major ad agencies like AKQA that use FCS. Or even details like 20th Century Fox moving almost all their post production into FCS based systems. How about devout AVID devotee Walter Murch moving to editing in FCS when he worked on Coppola's last film

There are tons of articles out there stating that 95-99% of all major movies are edited with Avid, but those articles are generally at least 3 years old. These days it's more like 50/50 with Avid going down and FCS going up. About the only thing AVID has left is RED and 3D but if the next version of FCS supports either or both of those, that advantage could slip away as well.

All those old articles from 3-4 years ago saying that you must know Avid and hey if you know FCS that never hurts no longer apply.

I am actually agreeing with you and was pointing out to the other poster that the list on Wikipedia was not meant as a comprehensive list of professional projects that employed FCS but simply a sampling.

-MacNewsFix

P.S. At least we know the preferred film editing solution used by the overlords in Redmond: iMovie.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...s_macs_to_announce_microsoft_partnership.html

 

[MacNewsFix]

Ripping doesn't help test chapter point placement, End Actions, etc.

It's ok... We all agree that everyone loses, and has to use multiple devices.

Are you strictly talking production? When I rip films for my own use, I get chapter points, etc.

Can you expound on what you mean by "multiple devices?" Are we discussing production or consumption?

If by production, then yes, when you are in the field and want to burn or play a Blu-Ray, then yes, you'll need a portable BD drive. If you are back in your studio and likely using a much, much more powerful desktop, there are several bays that can house a BD drive or even two. You can even use Apple's FCS, as it supports Blu-Ray.

As a consumer, while I am sure there is a small niche of people that are willing to lug a laptop around specifically to watch a film on BD, I cannot fault Apple for being unwilling at this point (based on BD's small marketshare) to deal with the expense of adding more complexity to their manufacturing process for their computers simply to install a BD drive. More and more the public is transitioning to receiving media in digital format (Just look at Borders Books this week).

Just as some in this thread have explained Window's dominance as not being superior to the Mac but instead "just good enough," I contend the same holds true for those willing to sacrifice 1080p, 24fps, etc for a highly portable means of enjoying a film. For example, do I really want to deal with one more pain in the culo when going through security at the airport when I can leave my iPad in my bag? What about the hassle of carrying around a bunch of physical media I have to coddle when I can carry dozens of films digitally. Hell, I can carry a MacBook Air with FKVs of a few BD films with pretty much the exact same experience.

However, while some involvement with the BD Association and an early backer of the technology, Apple has publicly stated the biggest bone of contention to adding BD to their products is the pain delivered by the licensing of BD. Over the last year, some of the patent holders have moved to streamline the process. Perhaps the MBPs set to launch next week will offer a BD option. I, for one, am not optimistic and, as a consumer, ambivalent.

 

[Hal Itosis]

I've used Peak for almost a decade and have found it the perfect program for all my audio mastering and audio for video needs. Also, I've found the programmers HIGHLY responsive.

Most people who dislike Peak resent the fact it is not an easy to hack and steal as it once was.

I don't "dislike" Peak (nor did i even try "stealing" it). Mostly, it was in the context of how/what the user needed to do (within the GUI) to precisely select sections of audio where Spark shined (for me) and Peak felt somewhat clumsy by comparison.

 

[MacNewsFix]

Major players do use FCS. More major players use Avid though which is why it's still noteworthy when a high profile project is done w/FCS.

According to the 2009 ACE Equipment Survey (the latest I could find published), it is a little over 2:1, Avid to FCS.

Downloads are becoming more and more popular. But 'old media' is still more popular. CDs, which have seen sales dropping year-over-year for a while now still out sell legal music downloads (Link). Legal download sales growth is starting to stall though (Link) and I think online video is going to follow a similar trajectory which to me indicates a future where multiple formats are prevalent instead of a single format taking over the whole marketplace. You want a low-rez mobile version? Boom, here it is. You want a 'good enough' quality streaming version? Boom, here it is. You want 'best money can buy' version? Boom, here it is. The only days that are 'over', IMO, are the days of consumers having no other choice but to conform their media consumption habits to the whims of media distributors.

Legal download sales of music singles had a flat year, but combined with downloaded albums, it actually saw growth. Meanwhile, DVD sales dropped by over 300 million in 2010.

As someone that had a, albeit small, movie collection on Laserdisc, I believe that in the end convenience and price often trumps "best of" in capturing the hearts and minds of the public. A growing number of people also seem to be lured to the ala carte offerings of services like Netflix and Hulu. I believe BD will peek in a few years and slowly join Laserdisks as catering to none but a a very small niche.

 

[janstett]

The biggest burden your group must bear perhaps is: to accept that yours is a dying breed... and, that there actually exists all sorts of users (of both "power" and regular persuasions) who merely don't require bd capability [in their computer] in the least. And the vast majority of them probably aren't even interested enough to chime in here (being more concerned with other creative endeavors). And even those who may be lurking about, upon seeing some of the polarizing language flaunted here might be driven away in disgust (yours truly being one exception).]

The biggest burden to bear, the one I fear the most, is the death of the Macintosh as the best media consumption/production platform, the death of the pro apps, and the eventual decay of the platform. In many ways this is already underway. I'm perfectly fine with people watching Netflix and Youtube; but having Apple ignore new technology, especially technology that is unquestionably mainstream, is disturbing. Blu-Ray is a glaring example but it is just one example of how the Macintosh is stagnating and even decaying. The overall inability to deal with HDMI, deep color, and multichannel audio illustrate the point even further. Apple has clearly abandoned the pursuit of technology in exchange for a pursuit of fashion (slimmer/sexier) and toys.

In some ways I accept that the Mac has changed course to be a iDevice enabler, but I still don't like it. I'm holding out a little hope that Apple will realize it is neglecting the Macintosh and reverse course. It has a lot of catching up to do.

 

[linux2mac]

In the pro space, it seems that Apple has a death wish.

I guess the Coen Brothers are amateurs. They used Final Cut Studio on their latest feature.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/in-action/truegrit/

But then again editing a Hollywood feature film probably does not rate as high on the difficulty level scale as editing a wedding or a YouTube video. LOL

 

[janstett]

I travel a lot by plane for my work. I do not check luggage and prefer to carry on as little as possible. I don't want to be bothered with placing a laptop on my tray to watch a movie. Because I work at a computer 12 - 16 hours a day, I prefer to not have to pull out my laptop while in flight. Just like I never take my cell phone into the gym to work out.

Fair enough, but it cancels out your screen size argument (that movies aren't meant to be watched on a small screen). If you really want to minimize what you're carrying on flights, leave the phone home and read the inflight magazines

Personally I'd rather have a 15" screen to stare at for 2.5 hours instead of a 3.5" screen. I have never watched a full movie on my phone. I think that's why they invented the iPad -- an admission that you can't deal with a 3.5" screen for very long.

If I am in a hotel room due to a work assignment, I am sleeping . I work long hours and don't have time for watching movies. I want to complete my assignment as quickly as possible and get back home because as they say "there is no place like home." If I am staying at a hotel for a vacation, I am not wasting my vacation staying inside.

I travel a lot internationally for plugfests (where multiple companies bring their products together for interoperability testing). This also involves long hours both for travel getting there and back but working days as well; and when I have a layover or jet lag and/or excess adrenaline, rather than watching German soft-porn at night perhaps I'd like to watch a movie. Yeah, I've got iTunes digital copies of stuff that's on my iPhone -- in low res and I've already seen them or portions thereof several times.

Coincidentally it also involves traveling with at least one laptop, sometimes two -- for development, testing, and communication.

I can think of a million other reasons someone would do that. Maybe they have children with them and aren't going to be out late at night. Maybe they are prepared for a rainy day, or have a few hours to kill before their flight. Maybe they want to take some video, edit it, and share with their family on location.

Why? I have dedicated BD players to watch BD movies in my theater room. Why do I need to hook up any of my Macs in my theater room?

Again why? I could hook up my Mac Mini to the projector via HDMI, but why? Why the need for me to hook up any of my Macs in my home theater?

Doesn't your Mac have a lot of content? Mine does. The entire internet, iTunes, every online service imaginable (youtube, hulu, netflix, ad nauseum), DVD movies (but not Blu-Ray), home videos and photos, et al? Sure you could use an Apple TV but format support is very limited (it won't handle everything you throw at it, such as FLAC and MKV) and it is only 720p and in most cases still relies on a computer running somewhere else in your house.

Ironically, Sony is doing a better job at this convergence of media than Apple is. Sony makes a $300 video game player that plays Blu-Ray movies in 1080p and supports multichannel audio and HDMI and does just about everything you can do on the internet. It does more than a Mac can.

Once upon a time the Mac was the center of the media universe. The fact that you even have to ask why you would want to hook a Mac up to your projector makes me sad.

I mean really, an enthusiastic, relatively new Mac convert, can see no reason to have a Mac driving his main media consumption experience on the best screen in his house. That should make every Mac fanatic cry a little.

BD is not worth going back to Windows PC's.

Precisely why I wish it was supported on the Mac.

P.S. - As I was composing this response, I was having a conversation with someone on the phone that sent me a video link and the video froze during playback on their machine while they could still hear the video playing on my iMac. So I asked them what the issue was over there, and they said "Windows!" I laughed so hard.

Hmm, my Mac Pro spontaneously rebooted on me last night and did it a second time while I was using it this morning. I can't tell you how many times the flash plugin crashes under Firefox on OSX. Should I start blasting Apple?

 

[wonderspark]

Are you strictly talking production? When I rip films for my own use, I get chapter points, etc.

Can you expound on what you mean by "multiple devices?" Are we discussing production or consumption?

If by production, then yes, when you are in the field and want to burn or play a Blu-Ray, then yes, you'll need a portable BD drive. If you are back in your studio and likely using a much, much more powerful desktop, there are several bays that can house a BD drive or even two. You can even use Apple's FCS, as it supports Blu-Ray.

Either way, production or consumption, it's a drag. I'm mostly concerned in regards to production, but the point is that I have to burn from the LG burner I installed in the tower, then pop it out and test it in another device, or reboot into Windows just to play what I created.

I use Adobe CS5 because I've come from the PC side and used it since Premiere 4.2 in 1997. I considered buying a copy of FCS just to know both sides, but I've decided to wait until Apple updates it to be on the same or better level as CS5 is today. It's interesting to hear you say that FCS allows you to insert a Blu-ray into the Mac and be able to play it. I didn't know that. My understanding was that OS X prohibits such playback. I can play BD files prior to burning them in Encore, but once burned to disc, I don't think anything I have will bypass OSX to allow playback from the disc. Sounds like that's the one thing I could use from FCS!

 

[wonderspark]

It's like this:
A baker bakes a batch of cookies, but a dude in a turtleneck is standing beside him with a spatula to smack the s%*t out his hand if he tries to eat one, just to see how good they taste.

 

[blairh]

I just wanted to add to this discussion as someone who has jumped into the HDTV/Blu-ray game in the past 12 months.

I purchased an HDTV last spring. I wanted to start enjoying HD movies on my new TV, so I looked at my options. At that time the latest Mini had yet to be released, so I went ahead and bought a BD player. When Apple eventually released the latest Mini last summer, I was shocked that a BD drive was not a part of it.

I'm aware of what Jobs has said in the past regarding Blu-ray. However with the release of the latest Mini I realized that he simply is being absurdly ridiculous at this point. Including a BD drive in the Mini would have taken away from sales and rentals of HD movies at the iTunes store, and that's a big no-no for Steve (however for us the consumer it would have made the Mini a fantastic option as an HTPC).

It all feels very slimy and pathetic. How can you give consumers such a great HTPC and yet not provide us the option of enjoying the highest quality available for films and TV shows? Apple TV 2's release last fall was another reminder that Cupertino wants to focus on selling media from their iTunes store in the form of rentals.

I certainly can't fault Apple's desire to increase sales of rentals and purchases of their movies and TV shows, but they are doing it in a really shady manner IMO.

Look, I hate physical media. My 50 GB music collection was ripped to an external for backup and sits nicely in iTunes on my MBP. I ripped my entire DVD collection with RipIt (400 movies) to a 2 TB external drive and have both my CDs and DVDs boxed up in my basement. But at the same time, I want to enjoy movies in the best quality available to me. I'm perfectly happy watching my movie collection in SD however I now also rent new releases (and some restored classics) on Blu-ray via Netflix. This satisfies my needs quite nicely. I wish I could watch the BDs on a Mac Mini with a BD drive (having that Mini connected to my HDTV would allow me to easily watch my ripped DVD collection, but instead I just connect my MBP, for now). But no, Apple won't give me that option.

And on a related note, it's a shame that movies from iTunes for purchase are DRM protected. I have no desire to purchase BDs and would be open to buying digital copies of HD movies, but not if DRM is in the mix.

 

[wonderspark]

I suppose I can just look forward to the future, when I only have to create compressed files for uploading to Withoutabox.com, or sending full-resolution files to theatres for projection at festivals and such. The problem is that it's not that future yet, and the movie I just completed has been accepted to (hopefully) the first of many festivals. They are playing it from a Blu-ray, which is nice. Others require transfer to HDCAM, which I still have to get done.

 

[linux2mac]

Fair enough, but it cancels out your screen size argument (that movies aren't meant to be watched on a small screen). If you really want to minimize what you're carrying on flights, leave the phone home and read the inflight magazines

The inflight magazines? LOL

Personally I'd rather have a 15" screen to stare at for 2.5 hours instead of a 3.5" screen. I have never watched a full movie on my phone. I think that's why they invented the iPad -- an admission that you can't deal with a 3.5" screen for very long.

Different strokes for different people I suppose. In this case the 3.5" screen is a trade off for less hassle with carry on luggage.

Doesn't your Mac have a lot of content? Mine does. The entire internet, iTunes, every online service imaginable (youtube, hulu, netflix, ad nauseum), DVD movies (but not Blu-Ray), home videos and photos, et al? Sure you could use an Apple TV but format support is very limited (it won't handle everything you throw at it, such as FLAC and MKV) and it is only 720p.

No. I bought my Macs strictly for work because I was tired of buggy Windows. I did not buy my Macs for entertainment.

Once upon a time the Mac was the center of the media universe. The fact that you even have to ask why you would want to hook a Mac up to your projector makes me sad.

I mean really, an enthusiastic, relatively new Mac convert, can see no reason to have a Mac driving his main media consumption experience. That should make every Mac fanatic cry a little.

So perhaps I am not the Apple "fanboy," "sheep," "follower of the dark turtle necked sith lord" I have been labeled.

Hmm, my Mac Pro spontaneously rebooted on me last night and did it a second time while I was using it this morning. I can't tell you how many times the flash plugin crashes under Firefox on OSX. Should I start blasting Apple?

*Cough* *Cough* Adobe !!

 

[MacNewsFix]

It's interesting to hear you say that FCS allows you to insert a Blu-ray into the Mac and be able to play it. I didn't know that. My understanding was that OS X prohibits such playback. I can play BD files prior to burning them in Encore, but once burned to disc, I don't think anything I have will bypass OSX to allow playback from the disc. Sounds like that's the one thing I could use from FCS!

Nope. Not saying you can play a commercial Blu-Ray natively in your Mac without bypassing the annoying DRM and any non-HDCP equipment in your rig, even with a Blu-Ray drive. You can, however, easily rip the movie and add it to your movie library. There are a multitude of solutions, both for sale and open source.

However, I found this quite dated instruction (2009) on Blu-Ray production using Final Cut Studio. I hope it is of some use.

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoencodvd/revfeat/blu_ray_final_cut_studio_0813/index.html

You may want to hold off, as it appears the next version of Final Cut Studio is right around the corner.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20027109-263.html

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2011/01/03/rumors-some-rumors

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/03/final-cut-updates-due-in-march-or-april-steve-jobs-still-sour-o/

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/0...april-xserve-controversy-and-jobs-on-blu-ray/