Failure on BOTH Apple's and Sony's parts.
I can list several reasons, why BluRay is not as popular as it is supposed to be. Apple not adapting it is not a major issue, I think. After all, with around ten percent of the computer market, Mac users can claim more of a sentimental or prestige value, if you like, than real market force. With recent shambles about the FireWire, you might get the impression that even Apple is not giving a toss about its most dedicated core users, design and media professionals. I'm sure that some will see this point differently, but that's how I feel.
I remember, in between 2001 and 2004 I spent a large chunk of my money on DVD's. Now I think it was rather pathetic to spend an absolute fortune just to have a hardly watched collection. It was an obsession and now I see that it was at least as much about owning a particular format than appreciating the films themselves. It's too expensive to show off and it's a burden to have when it comes to moving, adapting new technology and so on. For me, with DVDs came small size and digital technology over the chunky, heavy, grainy and unsophisticated VHS. It was on a known format of some kind - CDs have been widely available from the mid-eighties - but with a new trick - they could play films, extras, trailers, with the ability to skip scenes and changing sound or subtitle configuration. At that time, in this context, DVD WAS the future as it was a huge improvement on the available mainstream technology of the time.
I also believe, that the popularity of the DVD format explains the current struggle behind the popularity of BluRay. Choosing the CD size disc was a mistake. Suddenly, people do not see it as a major development on the standard DVD. The term of 'HD-DVD' hardly helped, at least Sony recognised the power of naming devices. No wonder that Toshiba is not associated with any brand that come close to Walkman, PlayStation, Vaio or even BluRay.
Furthermore, BluRay and HD quality only makes sense if you have at least an HD-ready TV set. Even then, the sound system should be upgraded to have full benefit of the technology. Perhaps those, who kept in pace with the 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, etc. game, got tired or are again, not a major driving force. Ordinary people do not want to spend an absolute fortune for the full HD sound experience. I can imagine that most of them do not even use their home cinema sound systems some of the times. VHS could not do DTS, DD 5.1, but DVDs can. And it seems, that is enough for most of us.
What I think is a generally understated reason behind the failure of BluRay is the players' ability to upscale DVDs. Here, in the UK BluRay players start at around £150. For £50, you can get a very good upscaling DVD player from the same manufacturer. Suddenly, the biggest practical and widely needed benefit of a dedicated BR player can be had for third of the price? Of course, it devalues the whole BR institution. I never wanted a BR player. But I really wanted an upscaling DVD player and I would just wait to see, whether broadband internet becomes a reality for most of us.
Another important but regularly overlooked reason is the lack of high speed internet and the pricing of storage devices. Frankly, Sony's biggest hope is that Telecom providers stick to the good old and dead telephone cables, rather than upgrading to optical technology. At the moment, 25GB is an awful lot to download. Our monthly allowance would not be enough for two films. That is pathetic. Add the average price of 100 USD for a TB external drive that can store 40 films and it is obvious that HD download is not for the masses. Not even in the US, letting alone emerging markets.
So my conclusion would be that neither BluRay or HD digital download is worth worrying about at the moment. In a few years' time, you might regret that you caught up with a new technology that is actually not that groundbreaking at all. If you take my advice, you stick to the DVD-ish quality and enjoy the films for their artistic value rather than getting lost in an expensive format struggle.
Yes, I can imagine that in a few years time BR will be more popular and still around. But it will be a lot cheaper too. It is annoying, that Apple is arrogant enough not even to offer the possibility of a BR drive on its computers. Having said that, I remember that I hardly used the optional DVD writer on my white MacBook. It seems, Apple made it a tradition to lag behind the competition, when it comes to optical drives.
Don't worry, though! Nobody expects high specs from a computer that is not overpriced at all, not crippled by an Apple-tax and comparable to any PC product in price! If they offered a BR drive in an Apple portable, than apart from the fancy case and trackpad, what would distinguish the hardware from a PC?
So, nice try Sony, I get the logic. If Apple did not put BR on its Macs, Sony put Apple on its BR. But at the moment it only highlights the desperation of Sony and the confusion and arrogance of Apple.
I can list several reasons, why BluRay is not as popular as it is supposed to be. Apple not adapting it is not a major issue, I think. After all, with around ten percent of the computer market, Mac users can claim more of a sentimental or prestige value, if you like, than real market force. With recent shambles about the FireWire, you might get the impression that even Apple is not giving a toss about its most dedicated core users, design and media professionals. I'm sure that some will see this point differently, but that's how I feel.
I remember, in between 2001 and 2004 I spent a large chunk of my money on DVD's. Now I think it was rather pathetic to spend an absolute fortune just to have a hardly watched collection. It was an obsession and now I see that it was at least as much about owning a particular format than appreciating the films themselves. It's too expensive to show off and it's a burden to have when it comes to moving, adapting new technology and so on. For me, with DVDs came small size and digital technology over the chunky, heavy, grainy and unsophisticated VHS. It was on a known format of some kind - CDs have been widely available from the mid-eighties - but with a new trick - they could play films, extras, trailers, with the ability to skip scenes and changing sound or subtitle configuration. At that time, in this context, DVD WAS the future as it was a huge improvement on the available mainstream technology of the time.
I also believe, that the popularity of the DVD format explains the current struggle behind the popularity of BluRay. Choosing the CD size disc was a mistake. Suddenly, people do not see it as a major development on the standard DVD. The term of 'HD-DVD' hardly helped, at least Sony recognised the power of naming devices. No wonder that Toshiba is not associated with any brand that come close to Walkman, PlayStation, Vaio or even BluRay.
Furthermore, BluRay and HD quality only makes sense if you have at least an HD-ready TV set. Even then, the sound system should be upgraded to have full benefit of the technology. Perhaps those, who kept in pace with the 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, etc. game, got tired or are again, not a major driving force. Ordinary people do not want to spend an absolute fortune for the full HD sound experience. I can imagine that most of them do not even use their home cinema sound systems some of the times. VHS could not do DTS, DD 5.1, but DVDs can. And it seems, that is enough for most of us.
What I think is a generally understated reason behind the failure of BluRay is the players' ability to upscale DVDs. Here, in the UK BluRay players start at around £150. For £50, you can get a very good upscaling DVD player from the same manufacturer. Suddenly, the biggest practical and widely needed benefit of a dedicated BR player can be had for third of the price? Of course, it devalues the whole BR institution. I never wanted a BR player. But I really wanted an upscaling DVD player and I would just wait to see, whether broadband internet becomes a reality for most of us.
Another important but regularly overlooked reason is the lack of high speed internet and the pricing of storage devices. Frankly, Sony's biggest hope is that Telecom providers stick to the good old and dead telephone cables, rather than upgrading to optical technology. At the moment, 25GB is an awful lot to download. Our monthly allowance would not be enough for two films. That is pathetic. Add the average price of 100 USD for a TB external drive that can store 40 films and it is obvious that HD download is not for the masses. Not even in the US, letting alone emerging markets.
So my conclusion would be that neither BluRay or HD digital download is worth worrying about at the moment. In a few years' time, you might regret that you caught up with a new technology that is actually not that groundbreaking at all. If you take my advice, you stick to the DVD-ish quality and enjoy the films for their artistic value rather than getting lost in an expensive format struggle.
Yes, I can imagine that in a few years time BR will be more popular and still around. But it will be a lot cheaper too. It is annoying, that Apple is arrogant enough not even to offer the possibility of a BR drive on its computers. Having said that, I remember that I hardly used the optional DVD writer on my white MacBook. It seems, Apple made it a tradition to lag behind the competition, when it comes to optical drives.
Don't worry, though! Nobody expects high specs from a computer that is not overpriced at all, not crippled by an Apple-tax and comparable to any PC product in price! If they offered a BR drive in an Apple portable, than apart from the fancy case and trackpad, what would distinguish the hardware from a PC?
So, nice try Sony, I get the logic. If Apple did not put BR on its Macs, Sony put Apple on its BR. But at the moment it only highlights the desperation of Sony and the confusion and arrogance of Apple.
