This article brings up a good question: where is the Blu-Ray version of the XBOX? Let's face it, with ZERO software being sold in Blu-Ray format, it makes less sense to have Blu-Ray on your PC versus on something hooked to your home entertainment system.
The author of that article either (a) just graduated from college, (b) has ADD, (c) has amnesia, or (d) is ignorant of the subject matter. Microsoft supported Blu-Ray's losing competitor, HD-DVD. They even had an HD-DVD drive for XBox 360 (and it works with a PC too).
No software was made available on HD-DVD either.
Microsoft is just jilted because it lost the format war. Naturally, HD-DVD featured Microsoft technology for the menus and interactivity, which was replaced by BD-J in Blu-Ray. So Microsoft lost out on a lot of potential patent revenue. Eventually MS will come around to Blu-Ray once its hurt feelings subside.
And if you think Microsoft is visionary for not supporting Blu-Ray, well, this is the same company that shipped consoles with 20gb hard drives and didn't support HDMI because they didn't see a need for it (oops).
We are at the stage now where very little software requires a BD-ROM for distribution. However, Apple's high end products are among the software that would benefit -- Final Cut Studio requires 7 DVDs and Logic Studio requires 9, IIRC. It would be much nicer to have it on one or two BDs. If you would like to download 60GB of content from the Mac App Store, be my guest.
But none of this should surprise you unless you just arrived from Mars. I remember when very little software required a CD and it shipped on floppies. I remember when people scoffed at CD based game systems, after all a cartridge holds enough, right? I then remember the PS2 came out and none of the games actually used DVDs, they got by fine with normal CDs. I remember almost no software being on DVDs, people only had them for movies. Any of this sound familiar?
Then something funny happens. Someone pushes the envelope. Someone takes advantage of the extra space -- for higher quality in-game video, for more game levels, to eliminate disc swaps. It happened for CD. It happened for DVD. It will happen for Blu-Ray.
I remember OS/2 coming on 23 floppy disks and then they adopted CD distribution.
I remember video games coming on cartridges and stacks of floppies. I think Wing Commander was 5 floppies.
I remember, was it Myst, being the first big game on CD?
I remember, was it Final Fantasy, being the first console game to need a DVD.
Right now I see Apple software requiring a stack of DVDs. I see games becoming more and more complex and taking more space. I see that the copy of Mass Effect 2 for the XBox 360 I just bought requires two game discs. I see Microsoft just pushed out an XBox system update that introduces a new hack to the DVD file system to squeeze out an extra 1GB from a disc. Why do you suppose they are introducing a risky new firmware hack to squeeze a little extra space from a DVD? Hmm, perhaps they are running out of space. I remember when they did a similar trick for the floppy -- it signaled the end.
See where this is going?
linux2mac said:
Would BD quality really be worth it to watch on a 11" MBA ( I am looking to upgrade my current laptop at next 11" MBA refresh)? I am all about traveling light given that I am on the road 6 months out of the year.
Well, the display is 1366x768 and that's 3 times as many pixels as a DVD can give. So you tell me, sounds like it would be worth it.
Personally, I'd rather not have to (re)buy a 2nd copy of something I already own on Blu-Ray (you know, for proper watching in a home theater) just to watch it on a MacBook or iDevice. But if you like buying things multiple times, be my guest, and make sure to get the MacBook Air with built in 3G since you don't like carrying extra stuff
Oh wait, Apple doesn't offer any laptops with built in 3G. Dongle time!
