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

[blairh]

Actually I am in the same boat as you. I too am done with buying physical media. Digitizing keeps my home entertainment room free from the clutter of jewel boxes and makes travel easier. Seeing a wall of BDs is unsightly for my decor. Plus doesn't look too cool either.

It's a matter of taste. Some people like having all their media like DVDs, BDs, on a shelf in a room. They think it looks good and it's an easy way to browse one's collection, etc.

I however agree with you. I see a bookshelf full of books or a wall of CDs, DVDs, BDs, and I wince. And if you travel it's perfect to have your entire movie collection at your fingertips (like most of us have with our music via mp3 players).

 

[linux2mac]

It's a matter of taste. Some people like having all their media like DVDs, BDs, on a shelf in a room. They think it looks good and it's an easy way to browse one's collection, etc.

I prefer to browse my collection on screen.

And if you travel it's perfect to have your entire movie collection at your fingertips (like most of us have with our music via mp3 players).

+1

 

[iEdd]

All this bickering about price is yet another reason I'd like to see Blu-ray in Macs: region free. Blu-rays cost closer to $50US here, just like USA PS3 games are $60US, whereas they are $120US in Australia - needless to say, I import all my games.

My PS3 is region free for games only. If the Mac gets Blu-ray with a region free player, I might actually buy a few movies.

Oh and before anyone says anything moronic like "prices are higher downunder because of shipping", think about the fact that I'm paying retail rates of international shipping of a single game (at retail), and it still comes out far cheaper than our stores can sell at (with bulk shipping and buying the games wholesale). Prices are higher because the market is prepared to pay large sums.

 

[wonderspark]

Hmm, interesting. You mentioned repulsion to seeing media on display. I think that speaks to the different schools of thought here.

I grew up with books in a house of readers. Books were on shelves, as were vinyl records in my childhood home, and I find them comforting. On another level, I am comforted by the knowledge that I will own these things until I decide not to own them any longer. Since I'm not clumsy and I take care of my stuff, I don't have any issues with scratching discs or ripping pages, and it lasts well beyond my lifetime. I might give a book or a movie away, or sell them, but otherwise it's mine, and I can browse them on the shelf. If the power goes out, I can read my books via candlelight if need be, or perhaps watch a movie on battery power...whatever. If I want to get really crazy, I can tell myself that in the event of a nuclear EMP blast, my things will still be useful. Problem with that line of thinking is, the world is totally safe from nuclear war, and all electronics will last forever.

On the other hand, we have your line of thinking. (Nothing wrong with it, but another viewpoint.) Possibly the IKEA type, but instead of books and media, you display trophies, rare artifacts (maybe a chunk of spaceship debris?) and photos of you and your family on the peak of K2. Anything but media, which you much prefer to store in the form of 1's and 0's on some type of drive or better yet, The Cloud. Some of you won't ever read a book or watch a movie twice, so it's no biggie. Watch on huge screen or read on iPad, delete and move on to the next consumable.

The only thing that seems off here, is the rah-rah cheer to eliminate physical media. Burn the books, melt the gun... er, discs, and push everyone away from ownership of anything that can't be updated with the movement of electrons. There seems to be this thinking that somehow, this is for our own good, and dissenters are holding back the mighty Scepter of Progress. Throwing in a smug "disclaimer" that you don't "mind" people having options, while ribbing people with comments such as, "What century is this again LOL" fails to elevate you above anyone else, and in fact does the opposite. There are some that go off the handle in favor of Blu-ray and other physical media as well, and they are just as silly.

The point is that we can have it both ways, just like we can have more than one religion or flavor of ice cream. As soon as one is lifted above the others, it creates that awesome, magical cancer-causing negativity that can ruin everything.

Please, think of the kittens.

 

[gkarris]

P.S. I did pre-order the Star Wars BD set due to my Star Wars collector needs but that will most likely be the extent of my BD physical media.

Ha, ha - interesting - you can't download Star Wars, as collectors WANT the physical media. Hence my collection has the show on Beta, LaserDisc, CED, etc...

It was always available on the current format (and in different incarnations ).

Something about Star Wars collecting I guess...

 

[linux2mac]

Ha, ha - interesting - you can't download Star Wars, as collectors WANT the physical media. Hence my collection has the show on Beta, LaserDisc, CED, etc...

It was always available on the current format (and in different incarnations ).

Beta is the one format missing from my collection.

 

[mpaul]

"So now we have ThunderBolt. You can push content at 10Gbps. It's amazing. Imagine pushing your 1080p Blu-ray and full 7.1 audio content to your projector or plasma TV."

"Sweet. Really?"

"Psyke! Enjoy 720p iTunes content at Blu-ray prices. In stereo. Sucka."

Yeah, the ThunderHell.
It's just a waste for those "tasty" GPU's :

Macbook Pro "15 Radeon HD 6490 ("The HD 6400M series integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g. für Blu-Ray videos)").

Macbook Pro "17 Radeon HD 6750 ("The HD 6700M series integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g. für Blu-Ray videos)").

 

[pr5owner]

Yeah, the ThunderHell.
It's just a waste for those "tasty" GPU's :

Macbook Pro "15 Radeon HD 6490 ("The HD 6400M series integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g. für Blu-Ray videos)").

Macbook Pro "17 Radeon HD 6750 ("The HD 6700M series integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g. für Blu-Ray videos)").

video and audio through graphics port? WOW welcome to 2006
even netbooks have had hdmi for the last 2 years or something
it wasnt until late 2010 that macbook's supported audio through display port

 

[toke lahti]

From ArsTechnica

Maybe you should jump to the present decade with your news?

 

[blairh]

Hmm, interesting. You mentioned repulsion to seeing media on display. I think that speaks to the different schools of thought here.

I grew up with books in a house of readers. Books were on shelves, as were vinyl records in my childhood home, and I find them comforting. On another level, I am comforted by the knowledge that I will own these things until I decide not to own them any longer. Since I'm not clumsy and I take care of my stuff, I don't have any issues with scratching discs or ripping pages, and it lasts well beyond my lifetime. I might give a book or a movie away, or sell them, but otherwise it's mine, and I can browse them on the shelf. If the power goes out, I can read my books via candlelight if need be, or perhaps watch a movie on battery power...whatever. If I want to get really crazy, I can tell myself that in the event of a nuclear EMP blast, my things will still be useful. Problem with that line of thinking is, the world is totally safe from nuclear war, and all electronics will last forever.

On the other hand, we have your line of thinking. (Nothing wrong with it, but another viewpoint.) Possibly the IKEA type, but instead of books and media, you display trophies, rare artifacts (maybe a chunk of spaceship debris?) and photos of you and your family on the peak of K2. Anything but media, which you much prefer to store in the form of 1's and 0's on some type of drive or better yet, The Cloud. Some of you won't ever read a book or watch a movie twice, so it's no biggie. Watch on huge screen or read on iPad, delete and move on to the next consumable.

The only thing that seems off here, is the rah-rah cheer to eliminate physical media. Burn the books, melt the gun... er, discs, and push everyone away from ownership of anything that can't be updated with the movement of electrons. There seems to be this thinking that somehow, this is for our own good, and dissenters are holding back the mighty Scepter of Progress. Throwing in a smug "disclaimer" that you don't "mind" people having options, while ribbing people with comments such as, "What century is this again LOL" fails to elevate you above anyone else, and in fact does the opposite. There are some that go off the handle in favor of Blu-ray and other physical media as well, and they are just as silly.

The point is that we can have it both ways, just like we can have more than one religion or flavor of ice cream. As soon as one is lifted above the others, it creates that awesome, magical cancer-causing negativity that can ruin everything.

Please, think of the kittens.

I absolutely cannot knock your enjoyment to physical media, however I can't help but respond to this.

I certainly see nothing wrong with someone enjoying, preferring, or finding any sort of comfort in having their media in physical form displayed in their home, etc. That is entirely your decision of course and it truly is a matter of taste and preference.

However at the same time I completely understand why people are excited about what technology now allows us to change in our lives with respect to consuming and displaying (or not displaying) our media. Certainly I am not sticking up for anyone on this forum who scoffs at anyone who still prefers physical media, but if you sense an excitement or giddiness by fellow MR members over how technology has enhanced the way we consume media these days, I think that should be expected.

My move to a digital only path really started when I ripped my 500+ CD collection to my external drive a few years back. I was able to rid myself of the CDs hanging on my shelf. More room came in the form of ripping my 400+ DVD collection to another external. And lastly ridding myself entire of novels and using my ereader instead (I do have a dozen prized picture books but would love to replace them via digital formats on an iPad one day). I have reduced an enormous amount of clutter from my home and am a lot happier.

Home improvement aside, these moves have also made my life on the road that much better. All my movies are at my fingertips on a plane or train. All my books on my ereader. And all my music on my iPod. I can literally bring along my entire media collection in my carry-on.

So while my fellow MR member might have toed the line of obnoxious with his "decade" comment, I understand and relate to where he is coming from. I really don't think the excitement people exude on this forum about ditching physical media will ever subside. If anything it will only grow as we can do more and do it faster (ex. Thunderbolt). But at the same time we must not tease or look down upon others who choose to still embrace physical media.

 

[linux2mac]

The only thing that seems off here, is the rah-rah cheer to eliminate physical media. Burn the books, melt the gun... er, discs, and push everyone away from ownership of anything that can't be updated with the movement of electrons. There seems to be this thinking that somehow, this is for our own good, and dissenters are holding back the mighty Scepter of Progress. Throwing in a smug "disclaimer" that you don't "mind" people having options, while ribbing people with comments such as, "What century is this again LOL" fails to elevate you above anyone else, and in fact does the opposite. There are some that go off the handle in favor of Blu-ray and other physical media as well, and they are just as silly.

The point is that we can have it both ways, just like we can have more than one religion or flavor of ice cream. As soon as one is lifted above the others, it creates that awesome, magical cancer-causing negativity that can ruin everything.

Please, think of the kittens.

Mea culpa.

So while my fellow MR member might have toed the line of obnoxious with his "decade" comment, I understand and relate to where he is coming from. I really don't think the excitement people exude on this forum about ditching physical media will ever subside. If anything it will only grow as we can do more and do it faster (ex. Thunderbolt). But at the same time we must not tease or look down upon others who choose to still embrace physical media.

+1

I edited my comment on previous page. Yes, I was a little too excited thinking about the many possibilities with a farm of Mac Mini's connected via Thunderbolt.

(http://www.cringely.com/2011/02/attack-of-the-minis/)

 

[xbjllb]

At this point does it really much matter if Apple supports Blu-ray or not?

Absolutely. If they do, they will survive. If they don't, they will not beyond 2015.

I suppose some people will say "But I want to be able to watch Blu-rays on my screen with DVD Player!" but who wants to do that really? Other than on a plane? If you're at home, play it on that nice big high-def flatscreen TV you have

Do you have any idea how much business is done on a plane or in an airport? Or how many presentations are made on laptops?

Or how many limited-run 20-1000 Blu-ray promotional discs record companies, video companies, bands, video producers, directors, and ANY BUSINESS THAT UTILIZES PROMOTIONAL VIDEO and want the HIGHEST QUALITY/LATEST TECHNOLOGY have to GIVE AWAY?

Quality is not for everyone.

You can say that again.

Actually I am in the same boat as you. I too am done with buying physical media. Digitizing keeps my home entertainment room free from the clutter of jewel boxes and makes travel easier. Seeing a wall of BDs is unsightly for my decor. Plus doesn't look too cool either.

Sorry you live in such tight quarters. My house has one dedicated library room for books, one room for LP's, one room for optical discs I'll most likely never fill up.

Then there's the main entertainment room hub with the disc changer that feeds the entire house...

And the maid puts everything away should I leave it out (and often do).

Of course Apple doesn't need me or my M - O - N - E - Y .

And I have no need of their stock either.

 

[linux2mac]

Absolutely. If they do, they will survive. If they don't, they will not beyond 2015.

Great joke. This is better than Comedy Central! I believe you made similar claims in 2009 and here we are in 2011. Below is an excerpt from your marvelous clairvoyance back on January 22, 2009.

If you are correct Apple won't be implementing Blu-ray ASAP, I'll meet you back here in two years to dance on Apple's grave.

And I won't be alone.

aH

Apple is alive and doing very well! *Cough* *Cough* Thunderbolt! Apple is paving the way with far greater industry innovations than a dying format like BD. I wonder how many others will be dancing with you in 2015? Or will you be like Billy Idol and "Dancing with Myself?"

Do you have any idea how much business is done on a plane or in an airport? Or how many presentations are made on laptops?

I have yet to attend a conference where the attendees huddled around the presenter's laptop like football players.

 

[jonwilson1988]

Physical media will be dead within the decade. Its all going to go cloud and digital storage. Fiberoptic broadband connections and super fast interdevice communications for your home network such as Thunderbolt or any other future I/O will make disks redundant. All your media will stream off the net to your TV, as will your movies. The future is the cloud, not Blu-Ray.

I will say that the sooner Apple have 1080p HD movies on their servers the better.

 

[janstett]

Remember, I am not arguing against Blu-Ray but instead trying to possibly shine some light on why Apple has not rushed to embrace the medium.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

Ironically you and I have very similar thoughts on the usefulness of the Mini as a HTPC (whereas others for example Linux2Mac, see no need). We just disagree on the final step of Blu-Ray support or non-support. I'm encouraged that the Mini adopted HDMI and multichannel audio, but that begs the question -- what can you play on it? Seems to be crying out for 1080p and lossless surround, and there's only one place to get that.

All of my audiophile formats are ripped to high-res/multichannel FLAC, so my problem is not so much the physical media part so much as not having the best quality without it. This goes to my apprehension of Apple's "good enough" attitude with regard to compressed audio on iTunes and 720p video on iTMS.

On Linux2Mac's disdain for physical media, or Wonderspark's defense of it -- I can see both sides. My hundreds of CDs are long since banished to the basement never to be seen, and honestly I should get rid of them. At very least they are a physical backup.

As for audiophile formats, it sure is easier to play a high-res FLAC rip than to pull out a disc.

Video's a little different. As decorations in my home theater room I have framed my favorite LaserDiscs and hung them on the wall (they are the same size as vinyl records), not at all dissimilar from having a movie poster oneset. There is something to perusing a rack of movies that you don't get browsing a directory listing. I would still like to rip my DVDs and banish them to the basement too, disk space requirements ignored for the moment. Maybe I can pare my physical discs down to the Blu-Ray subset.

Then there's the problems of digital media that nobody is talking about. Hard drives fail all the time, so get used to buying lots and lots of hard disks and constantly backing up your collection. I have 6 TB on a RAID 5 NAS as my working copy, 4 TB of offline, disconnected storage as my primary (with overflow on a 2TB drive), and a 4TB offsite backup. And forget about selling anything you buy down the road. If you buy Star Wars and get bored, you can sell it. Anything you buy on iTunes can never be sold to somebody else or lent away. Finally, realize that the road we are going down may, and probably will, lead to pay-per-view DRM restrictions. This is the most sinister consequence I am concerned about.

But also there's always that intangible Wonderspark spoke of -- a shelf full of books. Thumbing through an old book with its dog-eared pages. Picking up an album and pouring over the art and lyrics. Picking up a slipcase and taking in the packaging.

I mentioned my home theater room, where I also have spools of film and film cameras on display. Some day I want a lighted marquee and velvet rope. Completely eliminating everything tied to the film experience is, well, not my style.

I guess it's the derivatives of the experience, and not entirely the media alone, and whether you enjoy them. I'm willing to make a compromise and live in the middle.

Again to the Star Wars experience most of us this age share. Can you live with just the memory of seeing the film? Or do you get a kick out of seeing the movie poster, artwork, discs, et al?

 

[blairh]

Sorry you live in such tight quarters. My house has one dedicated library room for books, one room for LP's, one room for optical discs I'll most likely never fill up.

Then there's the main entertainment room hub with the disc changer that feeds the entire house...

And the maid puts everything away should I leave it out (and often do).

Of course Apple doesn't need me or my M - O - N - E - Y .

And I have no need of their stock either.

My desire to not have physical media taking up space in my house has nothing to do with not having enough space and everything to do with the fact that I simply don't need it to be there (along with the portability element). I also hope you realize how pompous you come across here with that reply.

 

[xbjllb]

I have yet to attend a conference where the attendees huddled around the presenter's laptop like football players.

Yes, and we know deals have never been made on planes or in airports between two businessmen "huddled around a laptop".

Physical media will be dead within the decade. Its all going to go cloud and digital storage. Fiberoptic broadband connections and super fast interdevice communications for your home network such as Thunderbolt or any other future I/O will make disks redundant. All your media will stream off the net to your TV, as will your movies. The future is the cloud, not Blu-Ray.

I will say that the sooner Apple have 1080p HD movies on their servers the better.

And they said that about vinyl LP's. STILL around and will be for the foreseeable future.

Sorry but as usual, you and all physical media naysayers are dead wrong.

Every bit as wrong as the visionaries who swore in 1961 we'd all be flying around in personal jet cars by 1975 because of a cartoon show.

My desire to not have physical media taking up space in my house has nothing to do with not having enough space and everything to do with the fact that I simply don't need it to be there (along with the portability element). I also hope you realize how pompous you come across here with that reply.

And I hope you realize that it was intended to be pompous. Perhaps I should have added the big screen in my helipad so I can watch Apple stock drop in real time on CNBC everytime I take off.

Then there's the completely duplicated entire collection of physical media in the private jet...

What is amazing is how many rich, having come from nothing, can visualize and understand and remember the needs of those who have less.

While it's almost impossible for anyone who is not rich to ever begin to understand their needs.

The trouble always comes from those who inherit wealth and don't earn it.

 

[JAT]

Physical media will be dead within the decade.

So will millions of people. Probably shouldn't stop feeding them now, though.

 

[linux2mac]

Yes, and we know deals have never been made on planes or in airports between two businessmen "huddled around a laptop".

The golf course wins over the laptop.

 

[pundit]

Physical media will be dead within the decade. Its all going to go cloud and digital storage. Fiberoptic broadband connections and super fast interdevice communications for your home network such as Thunderbolt or any other future I/O will make disks redundant. All your media will stream off the net to your TV, as will your movies. The future is the cloud, not Blu-Ray.

I will say that the sooner Apple have 1080p HD movies on their servers the better.

This is pure bluesky: despite the potential, the reality is that even broadband is not ubiquitous in the US. The even bigger issue with streaming is that most broadband in the US has some degree of data caps... say you wanted to watch a bluray quality stream of a SINGLE LAYER quality movie. You're talking 20GB of a... say... 250GB cap: thus only a dozen full HD quality streams would soak up your cap.

Now, the truth is that even if you're streaming 1080p, you're not getting bluray level bitrates. I identify the best streaming of today with something close to DVD quality.

Streaming is a nice idea but it has a tremendous degree of logistical and technical hurdles to overcome to become ubiquitous. I'm not buying a subpar stream when I can have a bandwidth cap free, DRM-free physical bluray available to place shift to wherever I want.

 

[PaHtSaN]

.

 

[blairh]

And I hope you realize that it was intended to be pompous. Perhaps I should have added the big screen in my helipad so I can watch Apple stock drop in real time on CNBC everytime I take off.

Then there's the completely duplicated entire collection of physical media in the private jet...

What is amazing is how many rich, having come from nothing, can visualize and understand and remember the needs of those who have less.

While it's almost impossible for anyone who is not rich to ever begin to understand their needs.

The trouble always comes from those who inherit wealth and don't earn it.

Your maid remark came across as serious. And if you really do have rooms dedicated to physical media (which I'm not entirely clear if you were being serious or not) that's great, but it really has nothing to do with people opting for a digital path with their collections.

 

[xbjllb]

The golf course wins over the laptop.

Yes indeed, but what are the quality of those deals (usually made while intoxicated) vs. those made by people traveling to and from work and WORKING while they do it?

One honest look at Boehner....

But do we ever digress.

Your maid remark came across as serious. And if you really do have rooms dedicated to physical media (which I'm not entirely clear if you were being serious or not) that's great, but it really has nothing to do with people opting for a digital path with their collections.

The point I made is that Apple has many high-end high-ticket business and private customers who will opt for physical media and be doing so for the foreseeable future no matter what the turtlenecked overlord decrees.

 

[marksman]

Absolutely. If they do, they will survive. If they don't, they will not beyond 2015.

LOL. You don't seem to have a very keen insight into the future of technology.

Blue-Ray at best is a stop gap as the last bastion of disc based media we will ever see... It is certainly not going to be relevant in 10 years. In 2015 it will still obviously be in wide use, but it will be becoming irrelevant.

It is almost like you ignore the entire history of computers when you make your comments in this thread.

It would be like saying if in 1983 that a company stopped using 5.25" floppy drives that they would be out of business by 1987. LOL.

 

[iEdd]

Blu-ray's successor will be another optical disc format.

The quickest way to get HD content manufactured is to stamp discs. Flash memory is too slow to write to, and until even when everyone has 100Mb/s+ broadband, there will still be demand for physical media.