Not that this will change anybody's thinking, but licensing fee for a BD-drive, depending on which one you want, is between $4.50 and $7.00 per drive.
Expensive my ass.
Expensive my ass.
Not that this will change anybody's thinking, but licensing fee for a BD-drive, depending on which one you want, is between $4.50 and $7.00 per drive.
Expensive my ass.
I will also say that in some aspects BR is needed (video production). Tie this story to the one a few weeks ago about FCP and i can see Apple dropping all the hi end software to concentrate on selling toys for fools.
Perhaps because I want to actually own my content and not be subject to being in a place with internet access anytime I want to watch something? Perhaps because I don't trust hundreds of GB of movies to a fallable hard drive that both needs replacing every couple of years at best and can put me at risk for losing my entire library should the drive die? Perhaps because I like to be able to grab a disc and take it somewhere else to watch and not have to worry about if the other guy's player will "let" me watch it because iTunes dictates who is "authorized" or not? Perhaps because there is absolutely no rival for Blu-ray quality for the time being and relegating my choices to streaming and/or downloadable content means having to make compromises in my viewing experience?
Don't forget the cost of a 9.5mm Ultra-Slim Slot-Loading BRD.
Straight from El Jobso's mouth at today's notebook keynote: "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
TOKYO, Mar 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Four leading companies -- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (collectively, the "BD4C Licensing Group") -- today announced that they have commenced a worldwide joint licensing program beginning on March 1, 2010 for Blu-ray ("BD") and DVD patents essential for BD decoders, BD encoders, BD players, BD read-only discs, BD recordable discs, BD drives, BD/DVD hybrid discs and BD recorders ("BD Products"), including BD Products that incorporate DVD functionality.
The potential licensees will benefit from one-stop shopping for the essential patents owned or controlled by the four companies, which will facilitate the development of the BD market.
The license portfolio consists of BD and DVD patents, owned or controlled by the four companies, that are essential for BD Products. Licenses for the portfolio will be available for products that comply with the specifications for the BD formats promulgated by the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Interested parties are also free to negotiate separate license agreements, rather than taking a single portfolio license, with each of the four companies, which have committed to provide such licenses for their respective essential patents under fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions.
The companies have authorized Toshiba to act as licensor for the BD4C Licensing Group in licensing their essential BD patents for this joint licensing program.
Royalties under the terms of the portfolio license will be as follows:
Category Royalty
BD-Video Disc US$0.04 per disc
BD-ROM Disc US$0.04 per disc
BD-R Disc US$0.065 per disc
BD-RE Disc US$0.09 per disc
BD/DVD Hybrid Disc US$0.08 per disc (including BD/DVD Hybrid ROM Discs and BD/DVD Hybrid Video Discs)
BD Decoder US$1.00 per decoder, with an annual cap of US$10,000,000
BD Encoder US$1.50 per encoder, with an annual cap of US$15,000,000
BD-Video Player US$4.50 per player
BD-Video Combo Player US$6.00 per player
BD Video Recorder US$7.00 per recorder
BD-Video Combo Recorder US$6.00 per recorder
BD-ROM Drive US$4.00 per drive
BD Recordable Disc Drive US$6.00 per drive
BD-ROM Combo Drive US$5.00 per drive
BD Combo Recordable Disc US$5.00 per drive
Going from memory here so I might be mistaken, but didn't Jobs say that Blu-ray licensing was the 'bag of hurt'?
Found it! Yep, that's exactly what he said at the notebook keynote last October.
(From Engadget)
Since then...(from marketwatch.com)
BD Video Recorder US$7.00 per recorder
One stop shopping is a bag of hurt?
Okay then, I was expecting a drive no less than $500 since that is the minimum I see Sony or Dell (I forget which one, but the other charges $600) charge for an upgrade on their 9.5mm Ultra-Slim Tray-Loading BRDs. But you say it only costs $7, for a 9.5mm Ultra-Slim Slot-Loading BRD, I'll take that bet. I'll be waiting right here.
OSX doesn't support Blu-ray DRM. Final Cut Pro 7 and Compressor 3.5 support Blu-ray authoring.
Physical media ownership is a much smarter decision. What most people on this thread fail to realize is that there are more options than: Blu-ray, download, or streaming. Blu-ray is physical media, but it's optical, and soon to be obsolete. Many companies offer solid state options, hard drives, and network solutions for home theaters and media management, so you still own all your content, and you can get HD that way. Will this please videophiles? Probably not, but honestly, for a true videophile, what will?
As far as "fallible" hard drives, if your disks are only working for 2 years at best, it's either a PEBKAC or you're buying the wrong HDDs. Also, anyone in their right mind will backup their data.
As for the future, we can hope that instead of "grab[ing] a disk," we can just grab an SD card and go. Seriously, no one has constant uninterrupted high speed access to the internet. Solely streaming or downloading your content are two of the worst concepts I've ever heard.
It only cost $7 to license the drive. Those are the licensing prices. Those have nothing to do with how much Sony or Dell charge you.
I typed this real slow. Does that help?
The cost of drives is not a factor in this discussion at ALL. Take your pick. And we all know that good 'ol SJ would pass the cost onto the user anyway; it wouldn't hurt them in the slightest. All this nonsense about expense and licensing is total garbage. The bottom line is that they don't want anything taking away from their precious iTunes base. That's fine, I guess... I just wish they'd be straight about it instead of making up lies to make them seem less douchey than they've already become.The cost of drives is still very, very, very high for what Apple would need for it's most popular machines.
Again, the licensing isn't the ONLY cost to consider. Jobs' statement clearly pointed a finger at the poor licensing at the time. That has changed, but the cost of drives is still very, very, very high for what Apple would need for it's most popular machines.
So if you are going to end a statement with "Expensive my ass." implying that the cost for a 9.5mm Ultra-Slim Slot-Loading BRD is minimal then you better have some fraking proof to back up that claim.
Of course, which we know purely from their lack of inclusion of AACS. That don't to supply a signal Blu-ray drive to any customer and they could still play Blu-ray movies with their own drive. If they don't offer that support it's obviously because they are backing other methods overODDs for the future of PCs.The cost of drives is not a factor in this discussion at ALL. Take your pick. And we all know that good 'ol SJ would pass the cost onto the user anyway; it wouldn't hurt them in the slightest. All this nonsense about expense and licensing is total garbage. The bottom line is that they don't want anything taking away from their precious iTunes base. That's fine, I guess... I just wish they'd be straight about it instead of making up lies to make them seem less douchey than they've already become.
I didn't imply anything about further cost of the drive. I never mentioned anything other than the cost of the licensing. I followed up with some fraking proof that licensing is no longer the 'bag of hurt' Jobs alluded to last year. And Jobs has never stated that the cost of a slot loading drive is what is keeping him from having it added to the Mac line. So what the hell does that have to do with anything?
Reading comprehension really isn't your thing, I see.
I wish we had RED Ray drives!We're stuck with red ray
You think he's going to say, "The licensing is a huge pain right now, but we also can't get any manufacturer to make the drives we need at a cost that makes sense. It's still going to be another year before a drive that fits our ridiculously thin machines even hits the market. That's the problem. We just don't want to machine huge notebooks with tray-loading drives."
How about a little critical thinking before you start quoting comments from nearly two(?) years ago with prices from just a few months ago, regarding a topic that then easily shifted the blame to someone else. The fact is, Apple stopped thinking about Blu-ray long before Jobs' statement when the HD-DVD/Blu-ray war allowed digital streaming to take hold and pave a decent path that wins on convenience. Again, the license reasoning was just a scape goat for other real issues at play. Critical thinking is your friend~
Quality.Why in the world would we want physical media when we can store and stream everything digitally?
I think you are vastly over estimating the number of people who are interested in purchasing the necessary equipment and willing to subject themselves to wearing ridiculous looking 3D glasses.
Blu-ray is largely an enthusiast format and 3D Blu-ray is going to end up a niche within a niche.
Right.. that's why ESPN is launching a 3D only channel this year, to satisfy a niche within a niche.
There sure are a lot of people in this thread who apparently know very little about blu-ray.
Optical media is not "obsolete" and Flash storage is not the wave of the future. You can play an optical disc for years back to back and it will not wear out. Let me know how that works out with a flash card. They have a defined read/write limit. Optical formats are still the top in archival media. They are the longest lasting storage option we have.