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

[JamonBull]

I agree that digital downloads will eventually be the standard way of attaining films. However, four crucial things need to fall into place for me to even consider replacing my blu ray collection with digital downloads. By my calculation, the likelihood of these four progressions actually occurring is comparable to George Lucas deciding not to include computer generated imagery in his next feature film.

1) Digital download audio and video quality need to be comparable, if not equal, to blu ray specs. I was willing to budge on quality in terms of shifting from compact discs to digital downloads regarding the music consumption revolution. This is not the case with obtaining and viewing films. Basically, at the end of the day, I LIKE watching movies in 1080p with lossless audio, and yes I can notice the difference (something I couldn't do when comparing iTunes Plus to CD). This difference is especially noticeable on my 50" LED LCD with 7.1 Amp. In my estimation, it is going to be at least a full ten years before movies are able to be downloaded or streamed in 1080p quality at a reasonable speed. During the DECADE that people are waiting and salivating over Steve's vision, I will be watching Michael Jackson's This Is It on blu ray, having my chest pounded with the crisp LOSSLESS bass of Billie Jean.

2) Special features need to be offered alongside the films. Even if 1080p, lossless audio movies become available for download or streaming in the future, there is just something awesome about having supplementary material all stored in one location. Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD's are a prime example of this. They are an absolute pleasure to watch and a great encyclopaedia of the effort that went into creating those epic films. I would say the special features produced for those movies are as rewarding, if not more rewarding than the actual films. Until this sort of stuff is offered in conjunction with movies as digital downloads, blu rays own. Hands down.

3) Closed captioning. Bazillions of people all over the world need closed captioning. Some have hearing impairments, some speak a language other than english. Basically what Steve Jobs is failing to see is that his iTunes library is a pile of steaming crap, when taking into consideration current subtitle offerings on blu ray. It's actually offensive to me to think that he really believes iTunes movies suit everyone! On iTunes, subs are available if you're lucky, on a very very small amount of titles in the store. Hardly helps me and my Chinese gf to watch a film together. Did I mention blu rays come with an abundance of subtitle options? I'm talking like 20 different languages on some films!

4) 3D, BABY! We are about to hit another film revolution. All started by the stereoscopic brilliance of Avatar. Decent quality and reasonable priced 3D TV's are just about to hit the market. Do you think 3D movies are going to be available on iTunes to download? I don't think so. You know why? Because nobody wants to buy JUST a 3D movie. People want both 3D and 2D options in one package. This is possible with Blu Ray discs, and completely not possible with iTunes in its current user interface.

Steve has really pissed me off with his comments regarding blu ray. I really believe in the format for the above reasons. In the other cases in Apple history where he has pushed for a replacement of old tech with newer tech (floppy drive), there has been an adequate payoff and good reason for replacement (usb). In the case of digital downloads, there really is no payoff other than ease of accessibility, and even then, very few people around the world have uncapped download limits to justify only getting their film content via download! Steve is clearly wrong in this matter and it frustrates me to no end. Lucky I have a PS3.

 

[biggarthomas]

I Think That tJobs Is Correct

It's interesting. I would have thought that the video rental businesses would have pushed Blu Ray along to the point where their shelves would be chock a block with media however, the opposite is true. Blu Ray seems to have stalled. Last week, while in my local electronics store I noticed Blu Ray disks on sale for 99c each. The end is in sight when product gets shifted to the bargain bin. Streaming video has taken such a bite out of the new physical media that I fear that it may never achieve dominant status. I do think that Blu Ray will stick around for quite some time but it looks likely to be a sort of hi- fi niche format preferred by collectors and by those who want superior video playback or storage.

 

[bawbag]

1. During the DECADE that people are waiting and salivating over Steve's vision, I will be watching Michael Jackson's This Is It on blu ray, having my chest pounded with the crisp LOSSLESS bass of Billie Jean.


Steve has really pissed me off with his comments regarding blu ray. I really believe in the format for the above reasons. In the other cases in Apple history where he has pushed for a replacement of old tech with newer tech (floppy drive), there has been an adequate payoff and good reason for replacement (usb). In the case of digital downloads, there really is no payoff other than ease of accessibility, and even then, very few people around the world have uncapped download limits to justify only getting their film content via download! Steve is clearly wrong in this matter and it frustrates me to no end. Lucky I have a PS3.

1. No big deal - just buy a Blu ray player and watch it on TV. Let the chest pounding commence...

2. I think that Apple is trying to force data providers towards actual 'unlimited' data download limits rather than the current trend which is 'unlimited - with a download cap'. In years to come, if the majority of HD media is delivered over networks, then consumers will naturally move towards providers with faster infrastructure and more generous tariffs. Perhaps that is why Apple will be focussing on that area and using their influence over the data providers.

 

[tatonka]

If you can't give us BlueRay, Steve, you could at least make iTunes downloads worth the money. And I am not even talking about the quality, I am talking about the fricking option to switch languages or have subtitles?

I would love to download more movies of iTunes .. 720p seems alright enough at the moment for my setup, but I would like some convenience with the sound .. maybe surround? Any stupid 2$ DVD has more options that iTunes.

T.

 

[Manzanito]

Since Apple doesn't seem that interested anymore in computers, it makes complete sense.

I would very much prefer if Jobs didn't plainly lie though. He's only protecting iTunes store, that's the only reason. No 'bag of hurt', no 'resource hog' or any other **** coming out of the random crap generator he uses to reply emails.

I'll get an external bd drive, just give us the friggin' Mac Pro refresh!

 

[teme]

I agree that digital downloads will eventually be the standard way of attaining films. However, four crucial things need to fall into place for me to even consider replacing my blu ray collection with digital downloads. By my calculation, the likelihood of these four progressions actually occurring is comparable to George Lucas deciding not to include computer generated imagery in his next feature film.

1) Digital download audio and video quality need to be comparable, if not equal, to blu ray specs. I was willing to budge on quality in terms of shifting from compact discs to digital downloads regarding the music consumption revolution. This is not the case with obtaining and viewing films. Basically, at the end of the day, I LIKE watching movies in 1080p with lossless audio, and yes I can notice the difference (something I couldn't do when comparing iTunes Plus to CD). This difference is especially noticeable on my 50" LED LCD with 7.1 Amp. In my estimation, it is going to be at least a full ten years before movies are able to be downloaded or streamed in 1080p quality at a reasonable speed. During the DECADE that people are waiting and salivating over Steve's vision, I will be watching Michael Jackson's This Is It on blu ray, having my chest pounded with the crisp LOSSLESS bass of Billie Jean.

2) Special features need to be offered alongside the films. Even if 1080p, lossless audio movies become available for download or streaming in the future, there is just something awesome about having supplementary material all stored in one location. Lord of the Rings Extended Edition DVD's are a prime example of this. They are an absolute pleasure to watch and a great encyclopaedia of the effort that went into creating those epic films. I would say the special features produced for those movies are as rewarding, if not more rewarding than the actual films. Until this sort of stuff is offered in conjunction with movies as digital downloads, blu rays own. Hands down.

3) Closed captioning. Bazillions of people all over the world need closed captioning. Some have hearing impairments, some speak a language other than english. Basically what Steve Jobs is failing to see is that his iTunes library is a pile of steaming crap, when taking into consideration current subtitle offerings on blu ray. It's actually offensive to me to think that he really believes iTunes movies suit everyone! On iTunes, subs are available if you're lucky, on a very very small amount of titles in the store. Hardly helps me and my Chinese gf to watch a film together. Did I mention blu rays come with an abundance of subtitle options? I'm talking like 20 different languages on some films!

4) 3D, BABY! We are about to hit another film revolution. All started by the stereoscopic brilliance of Avatar. Decent quality and reasonable priced 3D TV's are just about to hit the market. Do you think 3D movies are going to be available on iTunes to download? I don't think so. You know why? Because nobody wants to buy JUST a 3D movie. People want both 3D and 2D options in one package. This is possible with Blu Ray discs, and completely not possible with iTunes in its current user interface.

Steve has really pissed me off with his comments regarding blu ray. I really believe in the format for the above reasons. In the other cases in Apple history where he has pushed for a replacement of old tech with newer tech (floppy drive), there has been an adequate payoff and good reason for replacement (usb). In the case of digital downloads, there really is no payoff other than ease of accessibility, and even then, very few people around the world have uncapped download limits to justify only getting their film content via download! Steve is clearly wrong in this matter and it frustrates me to no end. Lucky I have a PS3.

Yeah, and most countries don't even have iTunes videos available at all. In Europe only few larger countries have videos available on iTunes. I know it's mostly movie studios' fault, but what should all those potential Apple's customers do if they can't download or stream movies digitally?

 

[teme]

It's interesting. I would have thought that the video rental businesses would have pushed Blu Ray along to the point where their shelves would be chock a block with media however, the opposite is true. Blu Ray seems to have stalled. Last week, while in my local electronics store I noticed Blu Ray disks on sale for 99c each. The end is in sight when product gets shifted to the bargain bin. Streaming video has taken such a bite out of the new physical media that I fear that it may never achieve dominant status. I do think that Blu Ray will stick around for quite some time but it looks likely to be a sort of hi- fi niche format preferred by collectors and by those who want superior video playback or storage.

There's no DVDs available in bargain bin? If there is, does that mean that end is in sight for DVDs also? In my opinion, Blu-rays in bargain bin means that there is so much selection that store don't have shelf space for all of it.

 

[kendo88]

Ok guys, first post, go easy on me!

The way I see it, is that while steve is partly correct, and downloadable video will take off massively in the next few years, there will always be a demand for physical media.

Even today, when I would think most music sales are digital, I know many people who go out and buy an album on release day, they feel it much better to actually hold the CD in their hand, read the CD inlay, and do what they want with the disc (import to iTunes, play in car CD player, lend to a friend), and in many ways I dont blame them.

The main problem with digital distribution (from iTunes) is the cost. here in the UK, i just looked at the iTunes music chart. Number 1 is Eminem, £7.99, physical media album is available for £1 more, higher quality, CD inlay, playable in the car, can lend to friends, and obviously your paying the costs for the physical part, the case, inlay, cd etc.

This problem is even greater with Video. I chose Avatar from the store, I didnt even realise HD is not available in the UK. Well there is your first problem Steve, its not even available to be, in the UK, not exactly a third world country! If i was to hazard a guess at price, considering the US price for a HD film, I would guess £15, which is only about £1 or so away from what you can get a Blu-Ray movie for. Again the physical media will be better quality, have hours and hours of extra content, and more and more likely come with a DVD and digital copy in the box. For me, Blu-Ray wins that hands down.

Now if you said to me the film was £10, I would consider, but the digital prices are to close to the actual physical media.

And the worse thing about Digital media, is you can never pick up a bargain, you can go down to your local Tesco/Best Buy and pick up a cheap Blu-Ray for £5, or a CD for £2. I have a Blu-Ray collection of about 60 or so, and maybe only 1 or 2 of them I have bought for more than £15, most were, £6,£9,£12 in multibuy deals, you just dont get this kind of thing online.

So your paying the same, and in some cases more, on iTunes for less of a product. That is the number one problem for me

 

[BornAgainMac]

I predict Apple will drop the DVD player & burner on all their Macs by 2011. It will still be available as an option with the external thin superdrive.

I almost feel that Steve is just having revenge. Back when Windows 95 came out, there probably was comments like "People don't need Macs anymore".

 

[pepitko]

Personally, I don't see why is Apple so much against it, it's just a piece of accessory afterall. Why not offer it as an optional upgrade?

Sure, I agree that downloadable formats are the future, and I use my externall HDD to store everything myself, but I don't see the reason for blocking something the users want.

 

[a.jfred]

Season 1 of True Blood via iTunes: 12 eps @ 2.99 each (plus 8.25% sales tax) = $38.84, or you can "buy" it for $34.99+tax ($37.87)

Season 1 of True Blood, on Blu-Ray via Half.com = $32 shipped (what I paid when I bought it; looking now, it's about the same as buying it on iTunes). I'm sure you can probably find it for less on ebay.

The only extra I get with the iTunes version: "the making of True Blood". Whoopee.

Keeping it on par with the used market is all well & good, but until they can offer some of the extras & the quality I can get on an actual disk (don't even get me started on network lag), I think I'll stick with the DVDs.

Sorry, I'm not a big believer in the Cloud. Sure, I think it's convenient, BUT I'd rather keep my data closer to home.

 

[frozencarbonite]

I refuse to download movies or TV shows from iTunes or any other digital movie store. If I really want to own a movie, I would much rather have the physical media. I have Netflix for the other stuff I just want to watch one time.

The lesser the amount of money I can give to Jobs, the better. He is a greedy, mean person. For Jobs this all boils down to him losing money from iTunes downloads. Another reason I buy my music in record stores.

 

[Plutonius]

No interest in paying a Blu-ray premium for both the player and the disc. DVDs look great on the MBP screen and I have no need for a Blu-ray player in my MBP.

 

[Gakboi]

I sold all of my disks 2 years ago. I prefer not to have a bunch of them lying around. Call me minimalistic.

Longer term, not having a blu-ray player pushes the rest of the industry to improve their digital content strategy. By allowing blu-ray players into the mix, it allows content owners (studios) to not have to do anything digital.

just my $0.02

+1

Assuming you mean digital distribution when you say digital

 

[baryon]

You work with photoshop and you don't have enough money for a 2nd external hdd? You need to start charging more.... most graphic pros i know earn enough in an hour to afford a top of the range 2tb hdd. And yes you are correct ... keep one backup by computer for use and another somewhere safe in case of fire. No big deal but I seriously can't see how blu-ray will help you.. the disks will only become corrupt after 3 years of sitting around.

Yes I'm just a student so I don't get payed for anything, I do work so that I can later earn money with even more work one day maybe

But if the disks would go corrupt after some time anyway, then indeed there is no point. But each time I buy a new hard drive, I think it's amazingly huge and after a year or two I'll have to buy something 4 times larger, and doing that with 2 drives is even more expensive...

 

[alent1234]

Personally, I don't see why is Apple so much against it, it's just a piece of accessory afterall. Why not offer it as an optional upgrade?

Sure, I agree that downloadable formats are the future, and I use my externall HDD to store everything myself, but I don't see the reason for blocking something the users want.

supposedly a lot of the software you need to play blu ray's is patented. everything from the codecs to the the graphics card drivers. large parts of OS X are open source and no one wants to release this stuff to the world. I think this is the same reason linux doesn't have blu ray either. no one wants to open source the software used to play them.

SJ can't say that so he goes on an attack of the format. just like flash. Google just said that HTML5 has too many limitations and that they will continue using flash

 

[Gakboi]

Get over it, Jobs. We want 1080p streaming, nothing less!

1080p isn't even that good... in a few years you will be saying you want more

 

[Cloudane]

Non issue. Just stick to DVDs.

Steve.

People people, please... OS X as it is, supports Blu-Ray stations. Just buy the cheapest Blu-Ray reader you can find, stick it in an external case, hook it up through USB/Firewire, and your done.

I thought it was more complicated than that, like you needed some sort of Blu-Ray codec built into the OS to actually make it do anything? Not sure on the specifics, I figured it was a DRM type issue like with DVDs on Linux before that DVD Jon came along. If all you have to do is add a third party drive though, then fair enough.

 

[Piggie]

I can see the headline now:

Steve Jobs drops dead due to sudden massive heart attack.

Apple announce BluRay support coming in the fall in new iMac range.

Oh, and for the record I'd rather go without than pay to download any movie ever from iTunes.

It's such a shame it all comes down to money again and not what loyal Mac customers might like.

Tell you what Steve, if you honestly believe Mac customers don't want BluRay for an extra $50 in their new iMac's

Then give them the option, let them choose when ordering their new iMAc if they want the optional BluRay drive or not.

Give YOUR LOYAL customers the chance to choose for themselves for once as adults, as opposed to what YOU personally feel.

 

[Carniphage]

I refuse to download movies or TV shows from iTunes or any other digital movie store. If I really want to own a movie, I would much rather have the physical media. I have Netflix for the other stuff I just want to watch one time.

The lesser the amount of money I can give to Jobs, the better. He is a greedy, mean person. For Jobs this all boils down to him losing money from iTunes downloads. Another reason I buy my music in record stores.

Movies are just files.

Owning the file on an optical disk is less convenient for me than owning a file on a hard drive.

C.

 

[Homerpalooza]

Hmmm...

Alright then Steve

1) Fix Front Row. It looks like crap right now.
2) What if I live in someplace I can't get good download speeds through cable? (i.e. Most of Mexico)
3) What if I want to take Blu Ray and watch in on the plane to Hawaii?

I don't want my video constrained by having to be "in the cloud"

Ridiculous. This is why Boot Camp is so nice. There are still tons of things you can do on a PC that you can't do on a Mac.

 

[doctor-don]

It's interesting. I would have thought that the video rental businesses would have pushed Blu Ray along to the point where their shelves would be chock a block with media however, the opposite is true. Blu Ray seems to have stalled. Last week, while in my local electronics store I noticed Blu Ray disks on sale for 99c each. The end is in sight when product gets shifted to the bargain bin. Streaming video has taken such a bite out of the new physical media that I fear that it may never achieve dominant status. I do think that Blu Ray will stick around for quite some time but it looks likely to be a sort of hi- fi niche format preferred by collectors and by those who want superior video playback or storage.

Are you referring to commercial movies or blank BDs? I have seen no quality movies at this price, only DVDs of low quality and poor selling movies that I would not want in my home.

 

[Gakboi]

Yes I'm just a student so I don't get payed for anything, I do work so that I can later earn money with even more work one day maybe

But if the disks would go corrupt after some time anyway, then indeed there is no point. But each time I buy a new hard drive, I think it's amazingly huge and after a year or two I'll have to buy something 4 times larger, and doing that with 2 drives is even more expensive...

Yeah that's just the way it is tho. Always chasing never leading when it comes to power and memory. I learnt the hard way with dvds (also as a student).. the long term cost is much cheaper if you invest in hdd rather than disks

 

[Homerpalooza]

Non issue. Just stick to DVDs.

Steve.



I thought it was more complicated than that, like you needed some sort of Blu-Ray codec built into the OS to actually make it do anything? Not sure on the specifics, I figured it was a DRM type issue like with DVDs on Linux before that DVD Jon came along. If all you have to do is add a third party drive though, then fair enough.

It is. There are no Blu Ray Software players for Mac OSX. This is why you run Boot Camp.

 

[shaunymac]

When I buy something, or own "media" I am after less clutter. To me, that means less, jewel cases, cd's, dvd's, blu-ray's, etc. to clutter up the house, not to mention the resources it takes to create them and then dispose of them.

I took out my superdrive in my MBP about 6 months? ago and opted for 2 HD's because I 1) never used it and 2) could store massive amounts of media and photos on that drive.

Now, I am all for are media coming to us in HD. Heck, it may prevent "some" from pirating as much due to the fact that they can download a file instead of being forced to buy a disc. My only problem with apple at the moment is that they have left all of use somewhat stranded until they make up their minds on what to do. It has been about 2 years and still nothing. How much longer will it take?

Those are just my thoughts. If I was running a mac mini as my home theater to a 60" 1080p screen to with 7:1 surround sound, I may be a bit pissed, but I haven't made that purchase yet.