Blu-ray and Apple (1 Viewer)

Ted Todorov · Jun 23, 2009

Didn't want to derail other threads, so continuing the discussion here.

Shane D said:
i believe downloads are dead as soon as isp's get all the caps in place. Also, hard drives fail, authentication servers die, companys go belly up. I can still play vhs tapes i own and the very first dvd i bought 10 years ago. How easy is it to use a piece of software from 10 years ago?
Now im not against downloads. I have tons of mp3's. 90% ripped from my cds, the rest from itunes and amazon. But i am definately in the camp of liking to own physical media. I think downloads are great for rentals though.

Shane I agree with you about the desirability of physical media -- all you have to do is look at my DVD & CD collections

But I think you are totally wrong about ISPs (or any other force) killing downloads. First, IMO the current administration in DC will kill via regulation or arm twisting any serious attempt at imposing bandwidth caps. They are already concerned about how far behind US end user bandwidth is compared to many Asian and European countries. Second, if current ISP somehow manage to get their way Apple/Google have more than enough cash and ability to raise more money to buy/build a national ISP that will have no caps. Probably just threatening to do it will be enough to stop the current ones from playing games.
So, the bottom line is that downloads will be the most popular way for distributing (HD) movies/tv shows. The only question is when.

Shane D · Jun 23, 2009

i finally went blu this weekend and i was in the camp that downloads and dvds were 'good enough'. i was wrong. So far i've watched dark knight, transformers and the original superman and no download i;ve had has even came close to the physical media. But then im also in the camp that audio is as important as the video.

DaveF · Jun 23, 2009

Considering Apple and Blu Ray support, I hope they will support it for those that want it. There is a small contingent of pros and hobbyists that need or want it.
But for myself, and by extension many others, Blu Ray in the computer is irrelevant. Movie watching is on the living room TV, not the office computer; done with remote-controlled player not keyboard-and-mouse computer. Blu Ray can't be ripped and re-played on an iPod, eliminating the last use of a "movie" media on the computer.
As for storage, I gave up two years ago managing backups on discs. It's easier to use 500GB+ hard drives with a good backup program. Or upgrade the internal drive if you're otherwise removing data due to storage limitations.
For the typical consumer, I think Blu Ray has no value and it may be Apple agrees.

pitchman · Jun 23, 2009

DaveF said:
Considering Apple and Blu Ray support, I hope they will support it for those that want it. There is a small contingent of pros and hobbyists that need or want it.
But for myself, and by extension many others, Blu Ray in the computer is irrelevant. Movie watching is on the living room TV, not the office computer; done with remote-controlled player not keyboard-and-mouse computer. Blu Ray can't be ripped and re-played on an iPod, eliminating the last use of a "movie" media on the computer.
As for storage, I gave up two years ago managing backups on discs. It's easier to use 500GB+ hard drives with a good backup program. Or upgrade the internal drive if you're otherwise removing data due to storage limitations.
For the typical consumer, I think Blu Ray has no value and it may be Apple agrees.

In theory, I buy much of what you're saying. Right now, I do all of my Bu-ray viewing in the family room. This is out of necessity since I only have one player and that is where it's located. That said, I think it would be incredibly convenient if I could watch one of my many (and rapidly growing library of) Blu-ray discs on my iMac or Macbook. If I am traveling or just relaxing in a different room, I don't think it is unreasonable to pop in a Blur-ay disc (just like any CD or DVD) into a Macbook and expect it to play. The fact that Apple's QuickTime player already supports 1080p and the company aggressively promotes its full HD 1080p movie trailers on their Web site leads me to believe that with the right kind of drive, it should be a fairly low lift to facilitate Blu-ray support on the Mac.
I'm not complaining mind you (I love my Mac gear,) but as Blu-ray continues to proliferate, I think not supporting it may be unwise, because in the future "average" consumers will be specifically looking for this feature and it may well impact on their buying decision.

Shane D · Jun 23, 2009

pitchman said:
The fact that Apple's QuickTime player already supports 1080p and the company aggressively promotes its full HD 1080p movie trailers on their Web site leads me to believe that with the right kind of drive, it should be a fairly low lift to facilitate Blu-ray support on the Mac.

i don't think it has anything to do with the hardware/software and the ability to do it, i think its all about money and licensing. Few things i've read, bluray is very expensive with all the fees.

Ted Todorov · Jun 23, 2009

Shane D said:
i don't think it has anything to do with the hardware/software and the ability to do it, i think its all about money and licensing. Few things i've read, bluray is very expensive with all the fees.

More to the point, Apple is competing with Blu-ray for "HD" supremacy, and may, along with others, consider Blu-ray to have already failed. See this:
I, Cringely Blog Archive Is Blu-Ray a Failure? - Cringely on technology
What Cringely is saying is that promises were made by Sony, in order to end the format war, about BD/PS3 market penetration that have not been met. He says that likely BD will survive as a 5% cinephile format, but that something very similar to HD-DVD will make a comeback as a higher capacity computer data media (and possibly video media). His logic (and factual basis) seem sound to me.

DaveF · Jun 23, 2009

pitchman said:
Right now, I do all of my Bu-ray viewing in the family room. This is out of necessity since I only have one player and that is where it's located. That said, I think it would be incredibly convenient if I could watch one of my many (and rapidly growing library of) Blu-ray discs on my iMac or Macbook. If I am traveling or just relaxing in a different room, I don't think it is unreasonable to pop in a Blur-ay disc (just like any CD or DVD) into a Macbook and expect it to play.

I'm not opposed to BR on the Mac. But I think your goals represent a vanishing number of customers.
Who says they wish they could watch their HD movies on the office computer through tinny laptop speakers instead of the big, living room TV with surround?

How many people travel with a laptop to watch a DVD, let alone a Blu Ray? Travel-movie watching has moved to iPods and portable players. Until Blu Ray can be ripped and put on an iPod it's worthless on the computer. In fact, since there aren't portable Blu Ray players yet (??) this argues further to Blu Ray's weaknesses.
I suppose the counterpoint to my assertions is that Mac has a large youth / urban demo. This group tends to not have big TVs and houses and watches movies on laptops in dorm rooms. And being young, they don't have pressing financial constraints and spend more of their money on Mac stuff than the middleclass suburban family types. And so there is a big market for Blu-Ray in laptop / desktop computers.

Ted Todorov · Jun 23, 2009

DaveF said:
I'm not opposed to BR on the Mac. But I think your goals represent a vanishing number of customers.
Who says they wish they could watch their HD movies on the office computer through tinny laptop speakers instead of the big, living room TV with surround?

How many people travel with a laptop to watch a DVD, let alone a Blu Ray? Travel-movie watching has moved to iPods and portable players. Until Blu Ray can be ripped and put on an iPod it's worthless on the computer. In fact, since there aren't portable Blu Ray players yet (??) this argues further to Blu Ray's weaknesses.
I suppose the counterpoint to my assertions is that Mac has a large youth / urban demo. This group tends to not have big TVs and houses and watches movies on laptops in dorm rooms. And being young, they don't have pressing financial constraints and spend more of their money on Mac stuff than the middleclass suburban family types. And so there is a big market for Blu-Ray in laptop / desktop computers.

You are correct, although I would posit there are other users as well: anyone with an HTPC (HTMac) connected to their HDTV/projector. There are many reasons to want to rip disks -- frequently watched children's films, concert/music stuff, etc. BD ripping is done on the PC side, and would no doubt be done on the Mac side as well were playback supported.

pitchman · Jun 23, 2009

DaveF said:
Until Blu Ray can be ripped and put on an iPod it's worthless on the computer.

Huh?? This must be a generational thing. I have two iPods, my wife has an iPod, and my son and daughter have two iPods each. Ripping a movie to iTunes so I can synch it to my iPod is the absolute last thing I want to do. I would much prefer to simply insert a BD disc into my 24" iMac or my Macbook and watch it. Why would I want to go through all kinds of gyrations just so I can watch a movie on a tiny iPod screen and listen to it through ear buds? If I'm on a plane, then sure, but otherwise, I don't think so. What if I decide ten minutes into a film I don't care for it? IMO, doing anything with iTunes and an iPod takes time and requires a commitment that I find myself increasingly unwilling to make. As always YMMV, and I guess I am really far away from the norm, but I still prefer the convenience of clunky old physical media...

Ted Todorov · Jun 23, 2009

From another thread concerning a claim by a Harris poll that 7% of those surveyed had BD; 11% had HD-DVD.

Sam Posten said:
Do one in ten familes that you know own an HD-DVD player? Even a closeout one bought AFTER the format died? I bet in my circle it's not one in forty...

If I were to look at my circle of (flesh and blood, not virtual) friends ONE has a PS3 (for kids gaming) and has never bought a single Blu-ray disc -- his only one is the Taladega Nights BD that shipped with the machine. I have more BDs, and I don't even have a player! So by my anecdotal evidence, both formats are colossal failures. I do not claim my friends to be a representative sample, but it is telling that many people I know were eager DVD early adopters in the late '90s. A similar rush to BD just didn't happen. Not at all.

Sam Posten · Jun 23, 2009

On that I will agree with you Ted, sort of. Most of the people I know who have HDTVs but no High Definition Disk Player of any kind have not bought one for one of the following reasons:
-It is clear the PS3 is the best BluRay player and it is further clear that the PS3 is long overdue for at least a $100 price cut.
-Verizon FioS for sure and Comcast to a lesser extent have fixed many of the dumb things they were doing in removing bandwidth from HD broadcasts and increased the number of HD channels. And the cable cos are doing VOD. AND bundling in DVRs. DVD brought with it the pleasure of random access, but people really missed the ability to record. Don't expect them to give that feature up a second time now that they got it back.
-$30 BluRay new releases indicates the studios are still on crack. Even 2 year old releases do not make it into a bargain bin where browsers can pick up a stack of $5 movies to build a library and share the excitement with friends. Blu will have finally arrived when you can reach into a trash barrel in BestBuy and come up with a handful of guilty pleasures.
-For the most part, even with limited bandwidth channels broadcast HD looks pretty damn good, at least as good as DVD to the average user.
-DVDs look damn good on HDTVs to the average user. Even being the HD snob I am, I personally am content to watch a DVD on my sister's 52" 1080p screen in a pinch. Show the average user a BD and a DVD head to head and they will go with the full detail Blu, but show them the cost differential and they will think twice.
-Netflix has made getting BluRays harder and dumber than it should not to mention more expensive
There's plenty of blame to go around here. I don't think it's necessarily Apple being evil or trying to get people hooked on downloads. If that really is their strategy then I expect them to regret it when Hulu and Boxee start to eat their lunch on those paid downloads by giving the people what they want for free at best or a couple of ad views at worst. When that happens expect to see Apple swing back to blu for the higher quality.

Ted Todorov · Jun 23, 2009

Sam Posten said:
Quote:

Apple cares about selling hardware. iTunes is there to sell hardware (and prevent standards incompatible with Apple hardware from being established). Basically Apple is not adding BD to their systems because it doesn't believe it will help them sell any hardware. And they see no reason to help a competitor who is failing on their own. If BD was a profit center, Sony wouldn't be posting gargantuan losses.

Ronald Epstein · Jun 23, 2009

Basically Apple is not adding BD to their systems because it doesn't believe it will help them sell any hardware.

Let me put it this way....

As much as I want a laptop with BD capability, I would happy

to buy an expensive Apple Macbook Pro without it rather than

go back to a PC.

I think most Apple customers agree with that. However, at the

same time, they certainly aren't going to win over any PC users

that want BD functionality.

Click to expand...

pitchman · Jun 23, 2009

^ Thank you Ron! That is pretty much the point I was trying to make... but you did it a whole lot more succinctly. :laugh:

DaveF · Jun 23, 2009

Ted Todorov said:
BD ripping is done on the PC side, and would no doubt be done on the Mac side as well were playback supported.

Please PM me. This is news to me.

Sam Posten · Jun 23, 2009

Besides the regular ripping he is referring to, look up BD Managed Copy:
ManagedCopy -- Engadget HD
You guys are all missing the point tho. Macbook Pros are NOT consumer laptops. There is no reason in the world today to deny media professionals access to larger storage disk formats that BD-R provides other than their association to the assclown restrictions that come bundled with BD-Rom. Which have been proven time and time and time and time again to be ineffective.
Locks only keep the honest people out.

Ted Todorov · Jun 24, 2009

Sam Posten said:
You guys are all missing the point tho. Macbook Pros are NOT consumer laptops. There is no reason in the world today to deny media professionals access to larger storage disk formats that BD-R provides other than their association to the assclown restrictions that come bundled with BD-Rom. Which have been proven time and time and time and time again to be ineffective..

Sam, the thing is, as a professional (I do 100% of my work on my MacBook Pro), I have never had the urge to burn something to a BD-R. Indeed I never burn anything on DVD/CD due to work.
OK, "Media" professional? Again, I don't see it. I don't think I ever upgraded past Toast 6 or 7 (which one was current during the Tiger/Leopard transition)? and haven't used it to burn a DVD in years. Is Toast 10 reliable? Considering the number of coaster DL -DVD-R+- (even the Verbatim ones) generated, the idea of using even more expensive BD-R disks for backups seems crazy. (there is also the question of how long burned disks of any kind last post successful burn/verification).
Hard Drives are at < $100 per terabyte. Why bother with BD-R? For anyone who doesn't author Blu-rays for a living, I just don't see it. At work we have done away with media backups -- everything happens over the network, to other off-site disk drives. That way, if a backup becomes unreadable due to HD failure, we know immediately, cause the HD failed and generated errors -- if a tape or CD/DVD/BD sitting in a box fails, no one knows about it until you need it, and then -- oops.

Sam Posten · Jun 24, 2009

Because you don't send hard disks in the mail or to customer sites.

Shane D · Jun 24, 2009

i burn a ton of dvd back ups of all the images we've shot. 2 copies. one for here and one for offsite

Sam Posten · Jun 24, 2009

Me too. But using 8 GB cards 1 card > 1 DVD. And whenever the D700 replacement comes out with video capabilities I expect to move from 8GB cards to at least 16GB cards if not 32s. And the 32s will be bigger than a single bluray and fill more than 4 DVDs!

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