Each time Steve Jobs takes the stage to announce a new Apple iPod MP3 player or MacBook notebook, the tech world pays close attention. During his most recent press conference in Silicon Valley, he launched several new MacBook Pros, but without the Sony-created Blu-ray format.
When asked about Blu-ray's exclusion, Jobs said the Sony technology is a "bag of hurt."
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt," Jobs said during the conference. "I don't mean from the consumer point of view. It's great to watch movies, but the licensing is so complex... We're waiting until things settle down, and waiting until Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace before we burden our customers with the cost of the licensing and the cost of the drives."
.jpg)
Analysts and bloggers immediately took to the Internet to discuss Jobs' comments about Blu-ray, and why the technology wasn't included in the new line of Apple products.
Apple's decision to remain on the sidelines until consumer demand increases and prices drop will only hurt Sony as the company continues its effort to get consumers to adopt Blu-ray. Acer, Asus, Lenovo and other manufacturers either have shipped products with Blu-ray drives, or intend to in the next six months.
Apple also may not be in a rush as it unveiled its own HD movie download service recently, which lets shoppers use iTunes to purchase content directly to their PCs.
Since there are so many new ways for consumers to get high-definition content, it could be time for Sony to try and do something drastic to help boost sales. As more HD content can be found through most cable and satellite services, and set-top boxes are becoming more popular, a growing number of consumers believe they don't need to purchase a standalone Blu-ray player at all.
But Blu-ray has several advantages over digital download services and other methods consumers can use to acquire HD content. The first advantage is the ease of use, as simply putting in a movie and playing it is usually simpler than trying to figure out how to order content over the Internet.
Many consumers also are discovering they don't have enough bandwidth to download an entire HD movie to their TV or over the Internet to their computer.
Finally, Blu-ray remains the highest quality video, at 1080p, while most digital download services only offer content in 720p.
I know some Apple fans didn't like the decision to exclude Blu-ray, but I think it was a smart marketing decision by Jobs and company. Why include a technology that only a small number of people currently want?
I'll be interested to see if Blu-ray makes it to Apple products in, oh, six or so months...
"It's great to watch movies, but the licensing is so complex..."
If he thinks that's bad- he ought to check out Apples licensing! What a hippocrite..
macs are expensive enough without lumbering them with unneeded blu-ray drives
crabby appleton:
"
"It's great to watch movies, but the licensing is so complex..." If he thinks that's bad- he ought to check out Apples licensing! What a hippocrite.." You are so dead-on. I wish someone would say that to his face, consumers dont speak up enough. Jobs should not be making disions for consumers, let them make there own.
Blu-ray is having a hard enough time as it is being adopted, and with the small amounts of computers Apple manage to shift (to a group of people who prefer style over substance, for the most part) then it's no wonder Apple are not including the drives. Also, the big boy manufacturers including blu-ray drives, are actually beginning to take them out, as people do not want to spend money on them - at the moment it's just pointless. Me ? I would prefer to use any type of computer hardware I choose, and with an operating system I choose - so let me dual-boot Windows XP and Leopard, or even throw Linux into the mix.... yeh, it's all possible, albeit a little messy.
You guys don't get it. It wasn't because of the licensing. Read the fine print....
"Apple also may not be in a rush as it unveiled its own HD movie download service recently, which lets shoppers use iTunes to purchase content directly to their PCs."
Thats why they didn't include it. If it has a Bluray drive then why download HD content from Itunes?Apple is so renowned for pushing and forcing their stuff on people not including the over priced electronics. Maybe one day, you Apple fans will wake up and smell the coffee and realize you have been screwed.
You can't compare Blu-ray HD content with iTunes content as the latter is clearly inferior in bitrate and quality. I think Apple is in no rush to push Blu-ray onto its products because they don't see Blu-ray having much of an installed base over DVD.
People are indeed foolish to buy into Apple products as they are clearly overpriced, cheaply made and have a very short shelf life. I should know, I started using Apple products since 1980 and ever since Jobs came back to Apple he has cheapened the Macintosh brand and destroyed any uniqueness it once had.
i love the ipod i get one every time i have a birthday from my rich daddy he loves me enogh to buy me one every year i have every ipod and i am 14 i got alot of the same ones in diffrent colors so i love the ipod
i love the ipod i get one every time i have a birthday from my rich daddy he loves me enogh to buy me one every year i have every ipod and i am 14 i got alot of the same ones in diffrent colors so i love the ipod
@ shanenae
You're not fooling anyone, Mr. Jobs. No fourteen year old I've ever met would write that poorly. You used absolutely no punctuation or capital letters. If this really is a teenager, I feel sorry for you and your school system.
@Bitrate
You are kidding right? Might be inferior bit rate but why should they care? They own Itunes. They want you to buy from Itunes not from somewhere else.
@dukenukem
I wouldnt be at all surprised if it was Blow Job's. Probably is!
Sony is forever finding new ways to complicate content with their hyper-paranoid copy protection. I have to say, I really hate this about Sony, it is anti-consumer if you ask me, but no one did, so....there it is anyway.
I've used apple products for some time in a professional environment and they are cheaper than having PCs, sure they cost more on start up but the time and money saved from not having IT configure one thing or another or have to fix a problem has been invaluable. The products Apple make are solid and cause very few problems. Usually problems are caused by cheap downloaded 3rd party apps. And considering the software you get i.e iLife etc its a bargain. Yes my company did use PCs but swapped them all for Macs. Good choice. Workflow is so much smoother. I do however think that not including Blu-ray is a mistake. who wants to wait up to 4hrs for a movie to download and miss out on the full 7.1 THX surround sound. Job's you suck for not adding Blu Ray.
^That is the biggest load of crap that I have read for some time. If it were true- 95% of the worlds workforces would NOT be using a PC. Macs are expensive and they "historically" had few problems because of the closed system Apple "provides" for their products. If we only had Macs the computer industry would be 20 years behind where it is now. "Third party apps" is also known as innovation and without it neither Apple or MS would know WTF to do next.
If third party apps are the problem at your "professional environment" then maybe you all need to hire an IT manager for chrissakes!
Where would we be in gaming for instance if it were not for Doom and 3DFX? GIVE ME A BREAK! Any Apple users are tools if they think they are superior to other platforms such as Windows and Linux.
The icing on the cake is when this guy says the lack of a bluray drive is a mistake for this Apple platform.
What crabbyappleton fails to understand is that the os x environment is a much more stable environment period. Its saved man hours and in a fast paced newsroom the last thing you need is the infamous blue screen crash or the fact that for some reason that windows just doesn't respond. I also didn't say anything about linux which I've found to be sound working platform, but not enough available. And you really need to do your research you'll find that Apple is at least 2 years ahead of the game when it comes to innovation and technology as the DVI connector is a spin off from the ADC which was on my almost 9yr old Mac which still works oh and it came with a 1200X1600 res apple monitor at a time when pc were and some still do use vga. Not to mention it was WiFi ready. The fact that we use Macs at work and I do at home and trust me I've been through a few PCs in my time what with one thing not working with another. When I say cheap 3rd party apps. I don't mean money value I mean badly coded. (Should of clarified that!)
Show me a pc that can match the spec of a Mac tried to buy a PC with a 2Xquad core processors(8 int total) and 16 gigs of ram with 4tb HD couldn't find one.
But the fact is though it doesn't mean I can't be disappointed with certain aspects. Calling someone a 'tool' just because they find and many others do too one system better than others because they use it and find it easier and speeds up work flow is just sad. I suppose people who use Windows is a MS 'tool'. P.S. 95% percent of the world use PCs because of the way it has been marketed and certain populations and people aren't even aware that other options are available also some IT dept have been using PC for so long they can't change what they have. But that is changing now and that is a fact.
make that 32gigs of Ram.
@schwing
Have to disagree, been working in IT for several years now in environments that have used PCs Macs or both, the simple fact is that the Macs do not operate as well in a corporate environment, and the time spent trying to make them work far exceeds the time spent on Windows based PCs, the problems you outlined in regards to poorly coded apps only applies in an environment where the desktop and apps are not controlled if all apps that exist on the network are properly tested before they are rolled out you will see very few issues also the level of knowledge is not around in the general community for Macs the way it is for PCs especially in a corporate environment. The reason that 95% of businesses use Windows is because Microsoft offer a far more complete solution from the server level down than Apple do.
The only real benefit I see with Macs is they do tend to use higher quality components than standard PCs but even with this factored in you still pay far more for the same quality Mac than you do a PC.
In regards to the specs that you outlined you could get one but it is probably a server for a Windows system and these specs are not rtelevant to 99.9% of users in a corporate environment as it is just not necessary in pretty much any environment I have worked in.
You are entirely entitled to your opinion and I am glad that macs work for you, but this has not been my experience anywhere I have seen Macs in a corporate environment
@schwing
You have to think about market penetration bud. PC has at least 3/4 of the total market. If positions were reversed, Mac would suffer the same woes as MS because of the amount of people developing for that OS. Another thing, you want people to develop for your OS. I mean for christ sakes, thats why system programmers make an API. If you have alot of people developing for your OS, that means you have alot of consumers buying your OS and computer. To me, Apple inflates their prices too much because they think it is "kool" to have something of theirs. They keep their stuff under lock and key. It kind of reminds me of the NES back in the 80's. Nintendo didn't allow any 3rd party developers on their console. Well they got sued and it actually turned out to be a good thing for Nintendo and for the consumer because it was also found that Nintendo was charging sometimes upwards of %1000 for some games if I remember correctly. If there is no competition, then the sky is the limit when it comes to sticking it to the consumer.
@Zachariah @shaolin007
Both are fair and valid comments.
I guess it does come down to personal prefs.
I can only speak from personal experience and from what I've read.
I have found Apple at the fore front of innovation that makes life just that bit more simpler.
Apple's base unit is better than most mid ranged PCs and I guess thats what you're paying for.
I am a logical purchaser where I would way up the options whether it is a Mac or PC I have also found Macs to do that bit more. Yes even if they do cost more, but you can get up to 50% when you sell it in 3yrs, no PC is going to do that!
In todays current climate I don't think it really matters what os you have as long as it works for you, thanks to devs such as adobe, apple, ms, sun microsystems etc etc.
A recent study done at Canary Wharf (Londons financial and business area) showed that for corporate environments Apple have hit the mark with the iPhone it was chosen over other various devices i.e blackberry, nokia, sony ericsson etc etc. Now is that just good branding or is that because it just works? Balls in you court.
@schwing
PC originally was a business machine to start out with. Back in the day, they were called IBM PCs until they started coming out with clones. Things have changed over the years of course but backwards compatibility and hiccups caused by that compatibility still reign on till today with PC. Now days, PC processing power is just as much if not more than a price comparable Mac. I spent a few years ago around $2500 on my PC that I built. I got 4GB of RAM, Quad CPU, 500GB HDD, 7.1 HD Sound, ect.. If I had that in a Mac, that would of cost me double if not more than 2 and half times what I paid for it.
I think you might be getting a bit of a raw deal in the US? I've just tried to configure a PC and In comparison to a Mac... first of all i'd like to point out that they're not exactly the same I've tried to get them near as possible. Secondly PC and Macs are about the same price in the uk...Talking pro end though. HD Video editing 8 +GB ram etc
Also check out http://www.macvspc.info/
Top news
