MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Feb 19, 08 - 11:41 pm Comment from: balanced

optical discs and drives will soon be old technology, if they are not already. doesn't mean they won't exists, they just won't be as important as a format. kinda like vinyl and turntables, they are still around but just not that important to the average consumer.

Feb 19, 08 - 11:43 pm Comment from: iYann

True that with iTunes Movie rentals they're in no hurry to ship Blu-ray Macs

Feb 19, 08 - 11:43 pm Comment from: MikeK

"Apple would much rather sell (or rent) you a HD movie than help you watch it with a Blu-ray drive.""

----------------------

I think that those longing for Blu-Ray equipped Macs are less concerned with watching Blu-Ray movies than they are with being able to author and write to Blu-Ray discs.... Namely video and graphic pros...

First to post !!!!!!!!!!!

I'd, "What's the rush. It'll happen !

Ahhh, foiled　by　a slow connection.

Feb 19, 08 - 11:57 pm Comment from: iYann

I think the Mac consumer market is bigger than the video editing pros market.
Granted, few consumers watch movies on their desktop, but laptop owners in numbers probably would embrace the ability to watch blu-rays these days.

Apple should just offer BD as an option for all Macs until it is cheap enough to make it a standard feature.

They are waiting for one that will fit in the "Air"

Blu-Ray in the Mac Pro's will be here very soon now that the format war is over.

It has nothing to with iTunes downloads or anything else, as the Mac Pro client base needs to be able to Author Blu-Ray discs for professional purposes.

Apple recognizes this and also recognizes that the Mac Pro attracts a very different client and set of needs relative to all of their other platforms.

Feb 20, 08 - 12:36 am Comment from: Bunsen Honeydew

maybe some people want to burn a backup copy of their digital life to a few Bluray discs instead of 100 DVDs

Movies blah -

Seriously, are you all that ignorant? Blu-ray players are horrendously fat. Apple would have to re-design the chassis in order for it to fit in an iMac, and I can guarantee you Apple will not release a product that's fatter than a previous model.

Feb 20, 08 - 12:46 am Comment from: DogGone

A BR writable drive is 500 bucks

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Panasonic/SW5582BK/

so it is doable for Apple to offer a BTO option.

They still have to make the DVD player and burning tools workable with BR.

Feb 20, 08 - 01:14 am Comment from: CheekyGit

@ DogGone

Roxio Toast 8 Titanium supports Blu-Ray burning up to 50 GB.

Feb 20, 08 - 01:14 am Comment from: jjjj

Once upon a time, Apple was an early adopter themselves. In my 1999 G4 Sawtooth 450MHz PPC, I have a DVD-RAM drive. That's a genius item. It also has a by-then well-established ZIP drive. Yes! ZIP FTW!!

Yeah, I think BR will be an option. It's all about backup, really. Some of us gots big ol' files to back up.

Feb 20, 08 - 02:27 am Comment from: ken1w

It's obvious the Mac Pro will get a build-to-order option for Blu-ray soon. When a thin enough version becomes available, it will become an expensive option for the MacBook Pro.

But even when the thin version of the drive becomes available, Apple will delay putting it in consumer models as long as possible. If Blu-ray ever becomes the default standard for media and software distribution like DVD is now, that's when Apple will put it in consumer Macs. Until that time (if it ever happens), Apple wants to build a sustainable base of customers who use Apple (iTunes Store) as their source for HD content.

Cheekgit,

I'm just wondering if you've use Toast 8x, because if you'd spent any time with it you'd realise that you just can't recommend this version. It's buggy and the video is crap compared to version 7.

The new version of Spin Doctor (which I haven't used) apparently add pops to previously clean music files

I tried Toast 8 and after two weeks I went back to my copy of version 7. I've since updated to 7.13 which is Leopard compatible. I've only been using this version for a couple of weeks but it just seems to do what the other versions of Toast 7 do.

Oh and for the record, I've been using Toast since version 5x. Likewise I've burned hundreds of dvds and cds using Toast and the latest version sucks.

Don't update to Toast 8 (yet) you'll just be wasting your money.

Dear Cheekygit,

I left the "y" out of your name. My apologies for this oversight.

BR not only for movies.
I'm only waiting for an easy way to backup on smaller devices than 3.5" harddrives piling... So, i'm glad to know BR is the actual choice for doing that.

Feb 20, 08 - 03:30 am Comment from: CheekyGit

@ Walter

I never said I "recommended" Toast 8. I just said that it's available. DUH!

Try reading the comments and digest what is trying to be said instead of typing gibberish.

"Apple has never been one for alliances, coalitions or other formal (or informal) industry-wide groupings."

What a crock, Apple have been in bed with loads of different industry-wide groups. Pioneered USB (when PCs were still using floppy discs), bluetooth, wireless networking, quicktime, pdf standard - the list goes on. Don't forget the deal they made with M$.

FTA "Beyond eschewing industry alliances, Apple's also never been a company to indulge in feature glut -- jamming the latest and greatest technologies into new computer just to say it has them. If anything, the company tends to omit features for the sake of simplicity and uniformity."

Apart from video hardware, Macs usually have the top end (ish) of hardware that's available. Nb PCI, Firewire 400/800, flat screens, processors, bus rates - more available to anyone willing to do the research.

Wired are spouting uninformed FUD as usual.

Feb 20, 08 - 07:24 am Comment from: Macromancer

@delta

I think the things you mentioned are less about alliances and more about being the first adopters of new technologies.

That being said, your rant could have included the biggest alliance of all, the PPC Alliance, with Moto and IBM.

Seriously,

Optical Discs SUCK!

It's a flawed concept and a flawed design. One good scratch and that $25 Blu-Ray movie's kaput?

I abslutely hate DVDs and CDs that skip, lock up and/or freeze completely while you're watching or listening. A disc with one scratch in just the right place might not even be recognized at all.

WHY are we sticking to this paradigm? Maybe it's still to expensive, but imagine content on NAND flash being sold commercially. If we're going to be selling physical media, why not have it be something reliable?!

Apple has the right approach - all digital content with no optical discs involved!

Wow, sorry about all those typos (for those of you that might care).

Feb 20, 08 - 09:02 am Comment from: Cubert

@Cheekygit,

Wow. Earning your nickname today, huh?

@ Kevin

Stop sticking the disks in the spokes of your bike tires and they will work just fine.

with no DHCP on the cinema displays would we even be able to play (view) a blu ray disk?

Feb 20, 08 - 09:44 am Comment from: Think

@ Kevin

I have three kids under 13. We have had a PS2 for over 5 years.
Right from the getgo I taught them how to handle the discs. Every game we own still works and not one scratch on any discs.

If you handle them like rocks, they will scratch. Can't believe how many houses I visit and I see a stack of CDs and DVD piled up by the computer or TV not in cases. Idiots.

Feb 20, 08 - 09:46 am Comment from: Ampar

I could be wrong but I don't think plopping meets ISO standards.

Feb 20, 08 - 10:11 am Comment from: silverhawk

Apple TV 3 with a Blu-ray player. That would be nice.

Feb 20, 08 - 11:06 am Comment from: CheekyGit

@ Cubert

That's nothing. You should hear me when I haven't had any caffeine for a couple of days.

Feb 20, 08 - 11:13 am Comment from: Woody

@ silverhawk: that or an add-on drive for that USB connection on the back. Is that even possible?

Blu-ray's have an extra protective coating. They are much more difficult to scratch than a normal dvd.

Optical backup will always have a place in the market. Sad reality is hard drives fail. So the only real alternative for hard drive back ups is MULTIPLE hard drive back ups. I'd rather just burn it to a 50gb disc (or 250gb if ritek releases their 7 layer br), than just back up to an accident prone hard drive. I work on my mac and I want to know my back ups will be there 5 years from now. Just like they are currently on CDs and DVDs.

Kevin.

The industry likes the fact that if you scratch your media and ruin it you are potentially going to buy it again.

Feb 20, 08 - 01:19 pm Comment from: iYann

Sony had it with the MiniDiscs.
Well, that format failed, but I mean they were affordable, yet protected in a thin plastic enclosure... nothing could happen to them and they would have the capacity of a CD if the diameter was identical.

It's got the benefits of a cd, is as secure as a hard drive... but doesn t need to be plugged
Just put a Blu-Ray in a thin standard case, and make a standard for blu-ray slots.

Anyway, never gonna happen...

Feb 20, 08 - 01:45 pm Comment from: donnie

I just don't get all this fuss over a blurry disc.
I like mine shiny.

Pro Video guys will obviously now want BR to produce end-to-end HD-projects, but man, I'd love just to be able to do system back ups.

Does a "Super-Duper" drive exist yet that can record CDRs, DVDRs and BRDVDRs?

re <Granted, few consumers watch movies on their desktop>

well, I am one of those folks who DOES watch movies on their desktop. Because my iMac 20" is larger than my 13" TV (CRT) and has better resolution. Admittedly, my setup is not typical.

But point being that I think a lot more folks do watch video on their desktop, esp if iMacs, and so may be a market there for the blu-ray drive eventually

I think when CDs and DVDs first came out they were more scratch resistent than they are now. Over time they got cheaper (in quality).
DVD RAM discs come in a protective 'cartridge' type case, thats how BRay should be made. But yeah wont happen. More plastic needed, and tiny screws and moving parts. Plus you couldn't have a slot loading cartridge drive, although come to think of it I have a RAM disc that is removable from the case, Verbatim 9.4gig (orange), hmm....

Man I just pick up my MacPro this week,I knew should of waited a bit longer, hope I can buy the Blu-ray drive by itself.

I know I am in the EXTREME minority in what I am about to say, but here it goes.

When I watch a movie at my home, I want to experience this movie as the director intended. If the original screen format was 2.35:1, 1.85:1 or whatever screen ratio; I want to view it as such. The same goes for the audio track (Dolby Digital, DTS et all); I want the audio and video to be compressed as LITTLE as possible.

When I looked through the iTunes video rental/purchase titles, I noticed that they read anywhere from about 1.25GB to maybe 1.6GB per feature length movie. Now it doesn't take a genius to realize how much information is lost when you see a DVD movie will occupy anywhere from 5GB to 8GB. Keep in mind that this is Standard Definition content, and is already compressed so that it will fit on a single side (dual layer of course).

Now comes the question of HD content: how will they serve/hack this information up just so they can sell it to me in a reasonable file size? I am willing to purchase media; CD's(which is sonically SUPERIOR to mp3, and yes I can hear a MAJOR difference), DVD's(I have over 250 titles), computer software and eventually Blu-Ray's. If I am going to pay for High Def content, then by God I want all of it (1080P, Dolby True HD, DTS Master HD et al)!

By purchasing this material, I believe I should be able to view this content on my Home Theater PC; providing I have the appropriate software and hardware. If Apple refuses to accommodate consumers/users like me, then I think they are loosing a potentially strong market niche for their systems. Apple has convinced the world that they are the "friendlier" option for home users, as well as the "premium" option for professional media users. If this is true, then they should be the "best" option for home entertainment users. This will only happen if they allow their systems to playback HD content the best it can be, and right now that's Blu-Ray.