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

[Speedy2]

Computers with optical media are on their way out. A lot of computers are sold without a drive already, mainly netbooks and subnotebooks (and iPads). So skipping BluRay is not a big deal for Apple. Watching movies on your computer was a geeky thing to do anyway, and the few cases in which non-geeks like doing it (on planes or trains) can't support an entire industry. Yes, I realize that a device like the iPad is not aimed at geeks, but could you imagine a tablet with an optical drive? I can't.

Having said that, BluRay is and will be a huge success in the entertainment industry and it will be around for many, many years. (It won't have a successor tho.) However, Apple has no foothold in the movie/TV business, and I don't see them entering it with easily replaceable low-margin, non-software-dependable devices like players and TVs. Until the cloud thing really catches on, it will remain a hobby. They might wanna buy Netflix to speed things up a little. Or strike a strong deal with a cable company in order to get into the food chain.

 

[yg17]

BR movies are awesome, but they haven't caught on for everyone because not only do you need a BR player (which are much cheaper now) you need a TV that can play 1080p.

A 720p HDTV will do just fine for Blu-ray.

 

[Butts M Biggilo]

I myself think of my CD & Movie collection as that, a collection. It's kind of hard to display files on a shelf.

As a graphic designer, I like having the packaging artwork that the discs come in and actually the discs are part of that artwork. Yeah you have "digital booklets", but it's not the same.

This is always a hard thing for me to "sell" to other people who have only grown up with digital music & movies. I don't know how old you are, but most younger people don't really care about packaging. I'm not trying to put those people down, because all they've known is files on an mp3 player.

I just don't like that music and movies have been heading the way that they have been. Fortunately vinyl is making a comeback. I just hope it lasts and I wish it would carry over into CDs and DVDs. I know I sound like an old geezer, but I'm only 29.

Im a designer too. Thats why they have pdf's. I much prefer the downloaded files and easy access and choice. And it saves space and saves the printing on trees and plastic trees. Im 42 and am an old geezer.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

I just don't like that music and movies have been heading the way that they have been. Fortunately vinyl is making a comeback.

I've noticed the local record stores are carrying more vinyl. There are many albums being reissued in that format now.

I've been saying for a while now that for music, vinyl will be the best option for physical purchases. CD's are digital and in direct competition with downloads. At 256kps, itunes store downloads are pretty good. That was my main concern for a while. But if you can match a CD quality or be close to it with a download, then the CD format will go away.

But vinyl gives you the analog option. This isn't important to many for sure but it's a unique option. The other option in buying vinyl is that it is a work of art (assuming its a good album). You get a larger album cover than you do with a CD. You can look at liner notes as you play the record too.

To me vinyl just offers an alternative for local stores to sell as CD's lose out to downloads. It won't beat out downloads for sales. But there will be a market for it.

 

[dexthageek]

I own a Blu-ray player and while i think the visual and audio quality are outstanding. Streaming video is the future of TV and Movies. However, a couple things IMO are holding it back especially in the U.S.

1. Average internet speeds throughout the country are not fast enough to handle a 1080p stream.

2. How is streaming Movies/TV in HD supposed to be affordable when all of our ISPs are moving toward a tiered pricing system. This will cause our internet costs to sky rocket to what the cable companies are charging for tv service.

The only company, in my opinion, to deliver quality streaming video, at affordable prices, is NetFlix. We don't even have a cable (comcast) anymore, the cost of cable today is ridiculous. My wife and I use Netflix streaming on the daily basis.

 

[GroundLoop]

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.

Thank you for your opinion. But, there's a big difference between your MBP screen and my 65" HDTV.

With the Mac Mini now having an HDMI output, it is primarily geared for being hooked to a TV. Not having proper media for use on the TV in a DD format is what this topic is mostly about. This is why Blu-Ray playback is a necessity in the OS. I don't care if Apple packages a BR drive in their computers or not, I just want the option to playback the media (using any number of BR drives on the market).

GL

 

[dexthageek]

...
I've been saying for a while now that for music, vinyl will be the best option for physical purchases. CD's are digital and in direct competition with downloads. At 256kps, itunes store downloads are pretty good. That was my main concern for a while. But if you can match a CD quality or be close to it with a download, then the CD format will go away...

I can't remember the last time I actually bought a physical Audio CD.

 

[dexthageek]

Thank you for your opinion. But, there's a big difference between your MBP screen and my 65" HDTV.

With the Mac Mini now having an HDMI output, it is primarily geared for being hooked to a TV. Not having proper media for use on the TV in a DD format is what this topic is mostly about. This is why Blu-Ray playback is a necessity in the OS. I don't care if Apple packages a BR drive in their computers or not, I just want the option to playback the media (using any number of BR drives on the market).

GL

If iTunes offered decent HD movies the Blu-Ray player would really not be needed. But instead they sell over compressed video with lossy audio.

 

[kernkraft]

Crowded island makes pathetic headlines

Erm... no, I said it was quasi-socialist, meaning there's residual stuff left over from the social democrats' era. A socialist's utopia, that would be... I dunno, Cuba?


According to this list, the three countries where broadband is the cheapest are South Korea, Sweden and Japan.

I loved your comment about how 'socialism' in Sweden contributes towards decent internet speed, compared to the US' corporate games; but I have to point out here that this list is outdated by about three years, making the comparison even worse. Besides, even if I look back to three years ago, I know that the list is misleading.

I actually know that some of the countries on the list have far superior and cheaper broadband internet. Just like any press, The Telegraph can make mistakes. As usual, they haven't done their homework properly. In the UK, people getting away with all sorts of misleading information without any scrutiny. If they feature the UK behind some European countries, then nobody seems to care whether the rest of the information is correct as the mob rule is already fed. It is the same with this misleading and populist 'crowded island', 'too many immigrants', 'the UK not making anything anymore' arguments. I have clients in Central Europe and they are getting 20Mbs+ in the cheapest, basic package. Meanwhile me, in rural Hampshire cannot get my upload speed above 350kbps and my download speed above 0.6-0.7Mbps.

There is economic liberalism for you in another Anglo-Saxon country. In the end, the consumer gets screwed.

People outside the UK don't realise the pathetic tendency here of self-loath and misplaced sense of superiority.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

I can't remember the last time I actually bought a physical Audio CD.

I'm still buying them. I find I can get them from amazon for less usually. It only takes a minute to import into itunes.

I had imported all of my CD's years ago at 128 kps. Now I'm glad I held onto them because I have found a big improvement at 256 kps. So its an on going project to reimport them all. Smart playlists help identify what needs to be "upgraded" still.

Another reason I used 128 kps years ago was HD space. Of course you get larger drives for less money these days.

I remember trying napster once and hating it. Sure you could find music but it was at low bit rate. If I want such poor quality I'll dial in an FM station from across the state that my radio barely picks up.

 

[i worship apple]

Steve needs to get out of his little bubble in Cupertino and go see the rest of America. You know, the parts of America where people are still stuck on dial up and can't download movies even if they wanted to.

Steve is just making himself look like a selfish prick with this decision.

Steve sucks but his products are awesome

 

[2499723]

Sometimes...

...we just want ownership of a physical product. While I am fine with downloading or streaming a video I only intend to watch once, I typically like to own a hard copy of something I really like. To me, something purchased online does not seem like it's mine. I also like to know that in twenty years, I can stick it in a player and it will still work. Video codecs change. Hell, computers might change drastically. Sometimes it's nice to have physical media like records or 8mm film. They still play and haven't been completely swallowed up by technological change. Hulu media will go extinct in five years as will the iTunes video formats and there will be no player left to play them. When I'm eighty, I won't be able to enjoy my favorite episodes of the A-Team. Or I will have had to buy them on twenty different formats between now and then. Give me something tangible! That said, I have yet to buy a blu-Ray disc, mainly because my Mac doesn't play them and the video quality is not worth the $150 for a player. I'll spend that money on other things. Thanks.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

Apple could make it a build-to-order OPTION. Just as they once did with SuperDrives. Standalone Blu-ray players are now selling for less than $100 and those companies are making a profit at that price point. Apple's cost would probably be less than $30 per unit, including licensing fees. Apple could sell it as an option for $100 and make plenty of profit.

Mark

We all know this, at this point Apple stonewalling Blu-Ray is about Politics, not what consumers want.

 

[Padraig]

Computers with optical media are on their way out. A lot of computers are sold without a drive already, mainly netbooks and subnotebooks (and iPads).

Outside of netbooks/ultalights - which is a size/weight issue - I can count on one hand the amount of new laptops that come without an optical drive option.

 

[Gakboi]

I'm so honored

On a serious note, I could care less about "carbon footprinting". So what, I enjoy collecting CD's & Movies.

I hate all of this "go green" crap. Yes, I try to do what I can to help the environment. I recycle. I try to use the least amount of energy that I can, but I'm not going to stop living my life just to save a few "carbon footprints"

Haha fair enough and I agree most of the "go green" crap as you call it is nonsense... I'm sure the servers which are used to stream movies eat up enough energy. Am in the same boat as you regarding lifestyle changes and going green.... technology should adapt to our habits and not vice versa.

On the other hand I love a minimalist non clutter environment. I used to hoard stuff like you but I have to say my living space is much more enjoyable and relaxing without all the crap cluttering it

 

[Eduardo1971]

This has got to be one of the longest threads in recent memory.
As of this post it is 28 pages long. Blu Ray on the Mac is a hot button topic.

 

[anomie]

Shock

Hi everyone!

I am kinda shocked cause this sounds so definitely. I am using a 105" screen for my projector and since I bought it, I hoped for a blu-ray mac mini one day.

Now I am stuck with my HTPC.

 

[yg17]

Steve sucks but his products are awesome

Not anymore. They're falling behind the curve and their competitors are out-doing them.

 

[Drag'nGT]

From a consumer perspective there are a number of customers who at least want blu-ray drives as an option. Even if they are read only drives. We will see blu-ray drives in Macs in a few years. The drives and the format need to start outselling DVD.

I see blu-ray's benefits from a storage perspective. However, that and burning your own HD home movie are the real benefits. Consumers, not "techy" people, rule our products. Backups are a new idea to most people and those people are buying external hard drives because that's what most people view as the most economical. How many people do you know that still buy dvd and occasionally buy a blu-ray if it's a movie they think will be 'really cool' on it? Like Avatar?

That said, why hasn't a program been written to allow blu-ray playback on a Mac?

Also, not giving the people buying your product an OPTION to buy the blu-ray drive is just a flat out slap in the face. Apple shouldn't ban us from buying something configured how we want just because they don't like it.

 

[derek4484]

Jobs is an ***** tool

This is just another case of steve jobs not being able to figure out a way to monetize having blu-ray on macs, so you won't get blu-ray on macs.

Even though blu-ray is about to pass DVD's in overall sales, he doesnt want to give it to you so that way if you want to watch HD content on your apple product you have to buy it from itunes store.

Apple/Jobs is quickly becoming the most greedy corp of all time.

 

[2499723]

And if everything will be downloadable, Steve, why include optical drives at all? It makes better sense to me to include the latest in optical technology if you're going to include a drive at all. Why stick with the old? Just release your system software on a USB stick and you've eliminated the need for a DVD drive. Or is USB 3.0 not going to 'take off'? How did Firewire work out for you in the end? Oh...it didn't.

 

[beegee225]

100% Agree, too...

Steve's on the right track. Movies and video will be seen when and where we want, probably sooner from an online source/storage. That way, display technology will advance along with the distribution of software. You just upgrade your display unit (iMac. iPad, iPod). Who stores stuff they watch once, maybe twice anyway? Get real. We're just storing too much stuff these days, slowly becoming warehouse supervisors of outdated archives. Buying online maybe could get you rights to share with one other computer on the local network?

 

[derek4484]

Hi everyone!

I am kinda shocked cause this sounds so definitely. I am using a 105" screen for my projector and since I bought it, I hoped for a blu-ray mac mini one day.

Now I am stuck with my HTPC.

Yes, a new mac-mini with HDMI output and a Blu-ray drive would be an awesome HTPC setup, almost perfect.

Yet, then Jobs couldnt make a buck off of all the HD content you watch. By withholding Blu-ray drives, he can assure that if you want HD content you have to buy it from the itunes store.... or just go the windows route.

Which, with win7-64 is just as good as the apple route. Jobs needs to realize that. People are realizing that overpaying for an apple product that is now subpar to a win7 box is ludicrous. Of course, you'll always have the diehard fanboys that would buy a box of iPoop if steve jobs sold it.

 

[chezhoy]

We talk about 1080p, 720p...I have a Samsung LED HDTV 1080p 120 Hz and Verizon FiOS and even my DVD player only put out 1080 60 Hz (FiOS) and 1080i 60 Hz (DVD player) repsectively. Can anyone confirm if a Blueray player actually can output 1080p 120 Hz? If not, why have this stuff?

I even check my FiOS settings and it's on the max at 1080p 60 Hz. I called Verizon and said no one broadcasts in 1080p. I am a little confused.

Now, I think Jobs is wrong in not putting Blueray in any Mac. Why have a DVD/CD drive then? I also think that DVDs/Blueray is not on the way out anytime soon. Our kids watch DVDs in vehicles...what kind of media will take the place of vehicle DVD players? Just a thought...

 

[Rafterman]

Physical media is on the way out. Sure, right now you can't get the highest quality video from streamed sources, but I think within the next 5 years with faster access and better streaming technology, we'll be there. I don't even buy physical media anymore. iPad for books/audiobooks, magazines, Netflix, Hulu, iTunes. For me, I have zero need for Blu-Ray. On top of that, unless you have a large screen to playback the content, it's really pointless on a laptop.

Forget Blu-Ray Steve, and put your efforts into better technologies.

I don't buy physical media anymore either. But there are millions of people with Macs and PCs who are not technogeeks and don't know how or don't care to use online media sources. They will continue to buy DVDs and bluray.

Just like flash, Stevie is ignoring a current technology used by millions in order to force his view on the environment. And he may be able to force his way on HTML5 over flash. But he will not win the DVD/bluray war. Improved internet infrastructure will happen, but so will increased demands on it, especially if people are streaming HD as Jobs envisions it.