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

[bommai]

Cool - My story made page 1

Amongst the emails that Steve Jobs has been responding to, he also responded to an inquiry by a MacRumors reader Siva about future of Blu-ray on the Mac. While Blu-ray has been a long requested feature for Macs, Apple has described Blu-ray licensing as bag of hurt and hasn't made any moves to incorporate the drives into their desktop Macs.

That seems unlikely to change in the near future if Steve Jobs' recent email replies are any guide. Siva emailed Jobs about being disappointed that the recently revised Mac mini didn't include a Blu-ray drive. To this, Steve Jobs replied:Siva responded that even though this may be true in the long run, he argued the medium term benefits were substantial, including high density backups and high quality video. He also argued that high-end video formats have had a much higher uptake and points out the lack of DRM was in part what made MP3 take off. Jobs' final response, however, offered little hope:

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

Cool - this is the first time I have sent anything to Mac Rumors and it got to page 1. I was excited to get an email response from Steve, but I still don't agree with what he said. I guess most of this forum posters don't agree either. - Siva

 

[aaaaaaron]

everyone who doesn't want blu ray, get out

you don't have to have blu ray, you can keep on watching you dvds, you can keep your dvd players, and like i've already said, you can have my dvds to add to your collection. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang anyone?

but for everyone else, i agree. i don't need other people to have blu ray, i just want blu ray. i want to BUY a mac, connect it to my tv, and watch HD as it was intended. why does everyone have a problem with that? you don't have to be able to tell the difference if i can tell the difference. i want it to use as i see fit.

let us have blu ray!

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Vimeo? Youtube?

No thanks. Not for my folks. They want a disc they can pop into a machine hooked up to their tv and watch on their couch. I know, I know, they can get it on their computer and watch on their tv but they won't. They are old. We are lucky they can use a dvd player and many, many people still want an "old-fashioned" hard copy to whip out and play.

 

[trip1ex]

Jobs is going to ditch the optical drive altogether. That's one reason he isn't going BR. All that space the optical drive takes up would be better served by an extra battery or smaller laptop.

For storage needs, sd cards are large enough to take the place of BR. And will only get cheaper and larger. PLus they take up much less room.

ON top of it storage space on mobile devices is quite large and will only increase.

Hard drives have more than enough space right now as it is. 2TB are now just north of $100. They are getting large enough to hold thousands of hours of video. And there's nothing that takes up more room than video in the foreseeable future.

On top of it, many are satisfied with DVD resolution. The reality being that most screen sizes and viewing distances aren't big enough or close enough for most people to make out 1080p. A nice clear DVD rip is as clear as the HD cable serves up.

And downloads will be more convenient. Look at Netflix. Much more convenient to stream than to get DVDs in the mail. MUch less costly to Netflix as well.

And with the H.264 compression today you can get BR-quality at much smaller file sizes. Yes purists will argue it's not true 1080p if its a compressed file, but 99.5% of others won't care and would much rather have the convenience of digital files.

BR is on its way out already. JObs knows this. He'll put up with the some short-term pain to get a jump on future laptop design.

 

[potaco]

Personally I have little use for blu-ray. I rent blu-ray movies occasionally but I wouldn't pay $1 for blu-ray capabilities on a Mac.

BUT...

Steve, give the people what they want -- as an OPTION -- how is this going to hurt anything?

I agree. Anyone AGAINST Blu-ray is just trying to be difficult. The people that say, "internet streaming is just as good... I don't use Blu-ray, so nobody needs to" are just ignorant. There is an undeniably significant difference between DVD and Blu-ray, especially on any modern HDTV larger than 20". Comparing Blu-ray to almost all streamed content is laughable.

If it was offered as an option, those people could keep doing whatever they do and the people that want BR can pay a little more for it... What's the big problem? (besides the obvious encroachment on Apple's/Steve's profits)

 

[aaaaaaron]

He'll put up with the some short-term pain to get a jump on future laptop design.

will the laptops of the future have dvd drives?

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Jobs is going to ditch the optical drive altogether. That's one reason he isn't going BR. All that space the optical drive takes up would be better served by an extra battery or smaller laptop.

For storage needs, sd cards are large enough to take the place of BR. And will only get cheaper and larger. PLus they take up much less room.

ON top of it storage space on mobile devices is quite large and will only increase.

Ok. So back to my problem. Giving a physical copy of my videos to family members to play back in their living rooms on their tvs. No hook up from a computer. If BR is on the way out, do you think I'll be copying my kids videos onto a sd card and my parents will have some sd card player hooked up to their tv and that will work like a dvd player works now. Fine with me. Lets invent it! I still want a way to take my hd video from my mac and give someone an hard copy of it to play on their tv. Period. (Would it kill Jobs to make a version of the superdrive that would burn hd video, I WOULD PAY EXTRA FOR IT!)

 

[sockdoggy]

Well I'm not reading through 30 pages of posts, as I'm just catching up with this topic. But I have to say it's a bit unfair for professional videographers like myself. We have clients that want their deliverables on a BLU-RAY disc. It's annoying that we have to switch to a PC, use the PC's crappy software just to burn a BD. For me, it's not about watching BD's on my computer, it's about giving my clients what they want, in whatever format they want. And it would be nice if we could at least have some kind of drivers that will support Blu-Ray on OSX. That way we could at the very least buy an external BD drive (or an internal for the Mac Pro), on our own. The option would be nice.

One of the most relevant posts of this thread.

Apple itself offers professional software solutions for 1080p video (Final Cut Pro/Express) but no way to distribute it?

Movie watching aside (which is difficult to get over when one thinks of Blu-Ray), it is absolutely imperative that the Mac at the very least gets support for BD drives.

 

[dgree03]

Jobs is going to ditch the optical drive altogether. That's one reason he isn't going BR. All that space the optical drive takes up would be better served by an extra battery or smaller laptop.

For storage needs, sd cards are large enough to take the place of BR. And will only get cheaper and larger. PLus they take up much less room.

ON top of it storage space on mobile devices is quite large and will only increase.

Hard drives have more than enough space right now as it is. 2TB are now just north of $100. They are getting large enough to hold thousands of hours of video. And there's nothing that takes up more room than video in the foreseeable future.

On top of it, many are satisfied with DVD resolution. The reality being that most screen sizes and viewing distances aren't big enough or close enough for most people to make out 1080p. A nice clear DVD rip is as clear as the HD cable serves up.

And downloads will be more convenient. Look at Netflix. Much more convenient to stream than to get DVDs in the mail. MUch less costly to Netflix as well.

And with the H.264 compression today you can get BR-quality at much smaller file sizes. Yes purists will argue it's not true 1080p if its a compressed file, but 99.5% of others won't care and would much rather have the convenience of digital files.

BR is on its way out already. JObs knows this. He'll put up with the some short-term pain to get a jump on future laptop design.

What evidence is there that Blu-ray is going out?

http://hd.engadget.com/2009/01/06/blu-rays-first-two-years-outpaces-dvds/

 

[potaco]

will the laptops of the future have dvd drives?

Well... they'll have to have some sort of drive until OSes start shipping on read-only USB sticks...

 

[sockdoggy]

Well... they'll have to have some sort of drive until OSes start shipping on read-only USB sticks...

With Jobs' logic, it is difficult to understand why the new Mac mini even has a DVD drive. I suppose this could be a reason.

 

[KhanakXersahk]

You're a stupid, stupid, petty, vindictive, greedy, bitter old man, Steve.

Blu-ray Goes Beyond Movie Distribution With New Format



http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...eyond_movie_distribution_with_new_format.html

But I guess you'll just create your OWN proprietary format and extort users into accepting it (a la an 'iTunes 2').

Actually creating an HD movie on blue ray requires enough effort and know-how that you'd want to be a professional videographer. In which case, you could special build it into your Mac Pro. Why put an expensive useless piece of machinery in a computer? The handful of people who actually could use it don't need to be using it in a Mini Mac or iMac. Blue Ray players and burners tend to be expensive additions to any computer. If you want a Blue Ray player/burner, stop being a whiny baby and go buy one.

 

[clank72]

But I bet that Steve Jobs is enjoying a good BR movie with 7.1 audio in his own home right now. You Apple fanboys? Enjoy iTunes

Ever herd of Apple TV?

Bluray is the delivery of HD in a disc medium. Same as HDDVD, but Sony won the format war a few years ago, so everything is Bluray now. Bluray is NOT HD, it is a (now) standard format. So with that said, anything you see and get with a BR disc can be downloaded or made at home.

Plastic disc are OLD and outdated. This is 80's technology. Plus 25 gigs on one disk is a joke and hardly useful for a real backup medium anymore. It's a terrible decision to "depend" on it for the future. But besides that it's just not practical in modern day convenience. Blockbuster will be out of business, if they are not already, Hollywood video will be CLOSE soon and gone. Best Buy will only carry hardware. There will be no games, no music, no movies on discs anymore. Like I said before, anything that can be placed on a disk can be DOWNLOADED. And, the faster speeds we have in our homes, the higher quality we get. We still do not have a network standard for the delivery of Movies and TV shows. Steve Jobs would love to win that standard, or try to make it one anyway. And Like I said before, Steve is thinking in terms of the future which makes total since why we don't have BR in our laptops. That's all you need to know. You don't have to come back to this thread anymore.

 

[potaco]

Actually creating an HD movie on blue ray requires enough effort and know-how that you'd want to be a professional videographer. In which case, you could special build it into your Mac Pro. Why put an expensive useless piece of machinery in a computer? The handful of people who actually could use it don't need to be using it in a Mini Mac or iMac. Blue Ray players and burners tend to be expensive additions to any computer. If you want a Blue Ray player/burner, stop being a whiny baby and go buy one.

So... what if you don't care about video editing, but just want to watch a Blu-ray you purchased/were given by a family member/etc while on the road?

 

[aaaaaaron]

Well... they'll have to have some sort of drive until OSes start shipping on read-only USB sticks...

i'm already in line at apple waiting for the iUsb, the storage medium of the future. Anyone want my PS3? I don't need it, seeing as how the world is moving so quickly away from blu ray....

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Actually creating an HD movie on blue ray requires enough effort and know-how that you'd want to be a professional videographer. In which case, you could special build it into your Mac Pro. Why put an expensive useless piece of machinery in a computer? The handful of people who actually could use it don't need to be using it in a Mini Mac or iMac. Blue Ray players and burners tend to be expensive additions to any computer. If you want a Blue Ray player/burner, stop being a whiny baby and go buy one.

If and when I buy an HD camcorder and I want to edit and then share those videos with my family... what should I do? Because I know what will happen... I'll buy a third-party br burner and it won't work properly. The burner tech support will blame apple.... Apple tech support will blame the burner company.... And I'll lose. I switched to apple because I was sick of PCs and the old "we didn't built that printer so its the printer companys fault" and "oh no, you have a problem with your computer thats why your sound card doesn't work." Is it so much to ask and hope and pray (ok a little much) for a built in br super drive that, you know, works perfectly because Apple built it and the os it runs with?

 

[bushido]

Actually creating an HD movie on blue ray requires enough effort and know-how that you'd want to be a professional videographer. In which case, you could special build it into your Mac Pro. Why put an expensive useless piece of machinery in a computer? The handful of people who actually could use it don't need to be using it in a Mini Mac or iMac. Blue Ray players and burners tend to be expensive additions to any computer. If you want a Blue Ray player/burner, stop being a whiny baby and go buy one.

see u cant even get the spelling right, it isnt bluE-ray

 

[neoelectronaut]

I kinda see where Steve-O is coming from here.

I haven't bought a CD in months, probably years, so whenever I roll around to actually buying a HDTV I'll probably just buy an Apple TV instead of a Blu-Ray Player. The only place I would view content is my computer, iPod, and TV anyway.

 

[sockdoggy]

... Actually creating an HD movie on blue ray requires enough effort and know-how that you'd want to be a professional videographer. In which case, you could special build it into your Mac Pro. Why put an expensive useless piece of machinery in a computer? ...

You are onto something here...

I don't think there is a huge demand from average consumers to use BD's for storage/video authoring.

And personally, I have no interest in watching a BD movie on my iMac (even if it was 27") when I have a proper home theatre setup.

It just comes down to having the options there. Whether it would be a BTO or after-market solution, Mac users should have the choice. I think it's difficult to argue otherwise- but not for Mr. Jobs.

 

[potaco]

Ever herd of Apple TV?

Bluray is the delivery of HD in a disc medium. Same as HDDVD, but Sony won the format war a few years ago, so everything is Bluray now. Bluray is NOT HD, it is a (now) standard format. So with that said, anything you see and get with a BR disc can be downloaded or made at home.

Plastic disc are OLD and outdated. This is 80's technology. Plus 25 gigs on one disk is a joke and hardly useful for a real backup medium anymore. It's a terrible decision to "depend" on it for the future. But besides that it's just not practical in modern day convenience. Blockbuster will be out of business, if they are not already, Hollywood video will be CLOSE soon and gone. Best Buy will only carry hardware. There will be no games, no music, no movies on discs anymore. Like I said before, anything that can be placed on a disk can be DOWNLOADED. And, the faster speeds we have in our homes, the higher quality we get. We still do not have a network standard for the delivery of Movies and TV shows. Steve Jobs would love to win that standard, or try to make it one anyway. And Like I said before, Steve is thinking in terms of the future which makes total since why we don't have BR in our laptops. That's all you need to know. You don't have to come back to this thread anymore.

1) "anything you see and get with a BR disc can be downloaded or made at home" LOL. Have fun downloading 35GB 1080p videos over your xx Mbps internet connection from your ISP who is more than likely either already enforcing download caps or pushing for them.

2) If this is all '80s technology, why'd we waste 30 years with CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray? Why didn't you just tell us years ago??

3) Physical media cannot die out completely until internet access is ubiquitous. Digital downloads are only more convenient when you have a decent connection. In other cases, they're more of a burden than anything.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

Well I'm not reading through 30 pages of posts, as I'm just catching up with this topic. But I have to say it's a bit unfair for professional videographers like myself. We have clients that want their deliverables on a BLU-RAY disc. It's annoying that we have to switch to a PC, use the PC's crappy software just to burn a BD. For me, it's not about watching BD's on my computer, it's about giving my clients what they want, in whatever format they want. And it would be nice if we could at least have some kind of drivers that will support Blu-Ray on OSX. That way we could at the very least buy an external BD drive (or an internal for the Mac Pro), on our own. The option would be nice.

You can install an internal blu-ray drive into a Mac Pro. I'm pretty sure you can also burn blu-ray discs using finder, toast, and Adobe Encore. I don't have first hand knowledge of burning a blu-ray, but I have heard it's a bit of a pain. I've only installed a blu-ray drive in my mac pro.

You can also watch blu-rays, kind of. If you have MakeMKV, it'll make an MKV file of the blu-ray in about 30-45 min, keeping the native resolution and HD audio, and then you can play it back on (or from) your mac. Again, it's a work around but it's possible.

It would be really nice though if we didn't have to find work arounds and there was just native support in OS X.

 

[Augure]

Jobs says "we don't need Flash anymore" a lot of people amongst whom lots of stupid iSheep says "we don't need Flash anymore"

Jobs says "there's no antenna problem" a lot of people amongst whom a majority of stupid iSheep says "meeh, u can return it"

Jobs says "we don't need Blu-ray anymore" and you can definitely see all the remaining iSheep fanboi apologists

 

[trip1ex]

Ok. So back to my problem. Giving a physical copy of my videos to family members to play back in their living rooms on their tvs. No hook up from a computer. If BR is on the way out, do you think I'll be copying my kids videos onto a sd card and my parents will have some sd card player hooked up to their tv and that will work like a dvd player works now. Fine with me. Lets invent it! I still want a way to take my hd video from my mac and give someone an hard copy of it to play on their tv. Period. (Would it kill Jobs to make a version of the superdrive that would burn hd video, I WOULD PAY EXTRA FOR IT!)

No you don't want to give people a hard copy. What you really want is an easy way for others to watch your movie. And an easy to back it up etc.

Instead of grandma buying a BR player she'll buy a media streaming device and watch you movie over YouTube or Vimeo etc.

 

[Carniphage]

That is blatantly false. Normal sofas are between 5 and 8 feet away from your TV. With screen sizes of 40 to 50", 1080p is a noticeable difference at that range :

You have a 50" TV and you have your sofa 5' away! You can watch TV wearing reading glasses!

I find that very amusing!

C.

 

[aaaaaaron]

No you don't want to give people a hard copy. What you really want is an easy way for others to watch your movie. And an easy to back it up etc.

Instead of grandma buying a BR player she'll buy a media streaming device and watch you movie over YouTube or Vimeo etc.

actually, grandma is out dated, so let's just say good bye to grandma, blu ray, 1080p, and say hello to future, locked down macs with all of YOUR data on apple servers. there is no room for grandma in Mac OS!