Apple and Blu-ray support still MIA

[RangerSix]

At Macworld 2005, with a Sony FX1 in hand, Steve Jobs announced that 2005 was the “Year of High Definition Video”.

Blu-ray Disc Association Welcomes Apple to Its Board of Directors
CUPERTINO, California—March 10, 2005—The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced that Apple® will become a member of the consortium’s Board of Directors. Apple has been a leader in driving consumer adoption of DVD authoring since January 2001, with the introduction of its SuperDrive™, the industry’s first high-volume CD- and DVD-burning drive, and its revolutionary iDVD® and DVD Studio Pro® software applications. Apple is also helping bring High Definition (HD) to market with a complete line of HD content creation tools for consumers and professionals alike including iMovie® HD, Final Cut® Express HD and Final Cut Pro® HD editing software.

Additionally the next release of Apple’s QuickTime® software, QuickTime 7, will feature the MPEG developed H.264 Advanced Video Codec (AVC) which has been adopted for high definition DVDs. Apple will release QuickTime 7 in conjunction with the release of Mac OS® X version 10.4 “Tiger,” the fifth major version of Mac OS X that will ship in the first half of 2005.

“Apple is pleased to join the Blu-ray Disc Association board as part of our efforts to drive consumer adoption of HD,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Consumers are already creating stunning HD content with Apple’s leading video editing applications like iMovie HD and are anxiously awaiting a way to burn their own high def DVDs.”

“Apple has a long history of technical innovation around DVD hardware and software, and their support of the Blu-ray Disc format is a testament to their commitment of ongoing innovation. The Blu-ray Disc format provides the immense capacity and the revolutionary functionality that Apple’s loyal customer base will be sure to enjoy,” said Maureen Weber, chief BDA spokesperson and general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business. “We’re thrilled about Apple joining our 16-member board, and we look forward to working with them on the development and promotion of the Blu-ray Disc format.”

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/mar/10blu-ray.html

Now, fast forward to Macworld 2008 and amazingly Apple has yet to integrate a single BD device/drive or developed a single piece of software capable of burning digital video to Blu-ray. Affordable consumer/prosumer high-definition camcorders have been on the market for over three years, and yet it’s still impossible for Apple users to burn home video recordings to BD media. One has to go to third-party vendors for burners and software (i.e. Adobe Premiere Pro) to be able to accomplish that. For those of us using Final Cut Studio, to go this long without any decent means to transfer/burn our content to high definition media is disappointing and simply unacceptable.

So what happened? What's the hold up? Is there something that I am missing?

Super-thin notebooks and new download schemes are nice, but let’s not lose sight of commitments made in the past. Apple, a lot of us are still waiting for you. I'm tired of downgrading my HD video to SD.

[fonks25]

I think apple is not too hot on physical media formats...maybe one day the will include a BD burner on the macs just for the sake of technology

[docjan_uk]

Yup, this isn't really Apples war.

[Uxi]

Apple is really almost as bad as MSFT wrt this business. iTunes is no better than XBL as far as an audiophile or videophile should be concerned.

Why does Apple still have a seat on the board anyway? They need to put up or GTFO

[kamiller42]

Apple won't support Blu-ray with hardware till then can figure out how they can make a penny on the sale of every disc. That's what they love about iTunes and their TV hardware.

[ADIDAS]

That is what is keeping me from getting a MacPro.

Apple would probably just as soon have less people comparing highly compressed Apple TV to Blu ray.

[CptGreedle]

Apple is playing it cool right now.
They have allowed a FOX CEO to say Blu-ray is the next format, but the Warner change happened so soon to Macworld that Apple would have had no time to really react to it yet.
They did not want to pull a Micro$oft and support something that was only going to die in a few months. For a while, it was still a question of whether or not Blu-ray would win.
Now it is clear who the winner is (especially with numbers like 85/15) and they are far more likely to get into it now.
Apple knows they are the leader in professional artistic and film computing (Apple computers are the standard in graphic design, digital photography, film, etc). They know people want Blu-ray, so now they are ready to go in. Yesterday they announced new updates to Final Cut Pro that allows people to view and edit from a 4k digital camera but at a lower resolution, allowing the editors to keep the 4k quality but not bog down their systems trying to render the 4k images. This is only the first step in professional digital cinematography.
I assure you that this year we will see Blu-ray players in Apple computers. Apple is the leader in innovative computer technology, not only have they already joined the Blu-ray disc association, but they are also not ones to release something that is not ready yet, unlike Micro$oft.

Just wait, you will get what you want.

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by kamiller42

Apple won't support Blu-ray with hardware till then can figure out how they can make a penny on the sale of every disc. That's what they love about iTunes and their TV hardware.

That is not true at all. Apple already knows that people who want to own their movies do not want to download them, but want to have a disc. They know that they can't fight the disc market with digital downloads, but if they support BOTH, then they will get the best of both worlds.
Apple supports DVDs and CDs and they don't make a cent off those, so your statement is malicious and foolish.

[teunis]

Steve Jobs and Apple do not believe is disk media. In my opinion I think they will eventually put Blu-ray drives into some towers, but I certainly won't put it past them to never release one either. Read or watch about the new Macbook Air and you might get an idea of where they are going, hence where the future is going.
It sure is a long way off though.

[mystiksuicide]

Originally Posted by Uxi

Apple is really almost as bad as MSFT wrt this business. iTunes is no better than XBL as far as an audiophile or videophile should be concerned.

Why does Apple still have a seat on the board anyway? They need to put up or GTFO

Sorry but that just dumb. Apple will play a huge role in the near future.

[teunis]

Originally Posted by mystiksuicide

Apple will play a huge role in the near future.

Absolutely.

[monkeytap]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Apple is playing it cool right now.
They have allowed a FOX CEO to say Blu-ray is the next format, but the Warner change happened so soon to Macworld that Apple would have had no time to really react to it yet.
They did not want to pull a Micro$oft and support something that was only going to die in a few months. For a while, it was still a question of whether or not Blu-ray would win.
Now it is clear who the winner is (especially with numbers like 85/15) and they are far more likely to get into it now.
Apple knows they are the leader in professional artistic and film computing (Apple computers are the standard in graphic design, digital photography, film, etc). They know people want Blu-ray, so now they are ready to go in. Yesterday they announced new updates to Final Cut Pro that allows people to view and edit from a 4k digital camera but at a lower resolution, allowing the editors to keep the 4k quality but not bog down their systems trying to render the 4k images. This is only the first step in professional digital cinematography.
I assure you that this year we will see Blu-ray players in Apple computers. Apple is the leader in innovative computer technology, not only have they already joined the Blu-ray disc association, but they are also not ones to release something that is not ready yet, unlike Micro$oft.

Just wait, you will get what you want.

exactly, im as frustrated as anyone that is hasn't come yet, BUT patience is in order when dealing with apple. they won't just include a blu-ray drive only because they can. the software will have to be essentially perfect before the hardware is included.

maybe we will see more info in the upcoming system update.

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by teunis

Steve Jobs and Apple do not believe is disk media. In my opinion I think they will eventually put Blu-ray drives into some towers, but I certainly won't put it past them to never release one either. Read or watch about the new Macbook Air and you might get an idea of where they are going, hence where the future is going.
It sure is a long way off though.

Excuse me, but the Air is not the future of computing. It is a very specific computer for a very specific purpose. It has a small hard drive, little memory, small screen, etc.. They have a combo drive for it anyways, but they found a way around it, since most users will be using this for presentations and travel only.
Apple recently added 2 optical drives to the MacPro, a first for Apple. Suggestion that Apple thinks the future is completely disc free is ignorant. Perhaps more wireless features will be introduced, but discs will be around for a very long time and apple knows this!
You are just getting too impatient thinking every major company can release Blu-ray just like that. Well sorry, but they have a lot of other obligations to meet, and Blu-ray is just one of them. REMEMBER we are STILL considered early adopters! Apple rarely caters to the early adopter like this.
As demand grows (as it has already started to this year), supply will grow with it, and Apple is a key supplier to allow BD drives.
Just cause they released an ultra-portable computer does not mean they are giving up on optical disc media. They not only will have to someday add Blu-ray, they will be glad to and will advertise it when they do.

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by mystiksuicide

Apple will play a huge role in the near future.

This decade?

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by Uxi

This decade?

I think this year. We still have 11 months to go.

[teunis]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Excuse me, but the Air is not the future of computing. It is a very specific computer for a very specific purpose. It has a small hard drive, little memory, small screen, etc.. They have a combo drive for it anyways, but they found a way around it, since most users will be using this for presentations and travel only.
Apple recently added 2 optical drives to the MacPro, a first for Apple. Suggestion that Apple thinks the future is completely disc free is ignorant. Perhaps more wireless features will be introduced, but discs will be around for a very long time and apple knows this!
You are just getting too impatient thinking every major company can release Blu-ray just like that. Well sorry, but they have a lot of other obligations to meet, and Blu-ray is just one of them. REMEMBER we are STILL considered early adopters! Apple rarely caters to the early adopter like this.
As demand grows (as it has already started to this year), supply will grow with it, and Apple is a key supplier to allow BD drives.
Just cause they released an ultra-portable computer does not mean they are giving up on optical disc media. They not only will have to someday add Blu-ray, they will be glad to and will advertise it when they do.

Greedle, I'm not sure if I upset you in some way, but I feel a little attacked by your statement.
I did not say that the Macbook Air itself is the future, it is only the beginning. Yes, it is for a small market. Yes it has a small screen, etc, like you said, but these will grow. I'd like to see nice aluminum keys at some point. But, when comparing a Macbook Pro and a Macbook Air I know that I will purchase a Macbook Pro. Why, because of the optical drive, hard drive space, etc. The Air is a second computer at best. It can only be a second computer. Yes, Apple will eventually install Blu-ray drives, but I still won't put it past them to not do it, though the chance is very small. The one thing that makes me curious to know if they won't do it is the release of a new product... Time capsule. Built-in Airport Extreme. It's a single-unit wireless harddrive that backs up your computer and can used as a regular external hard drive. No need for two units anymore. Wish I knew this way coming, picked up Airport Extreme not all that long ago. Maybe Appple sees that everything will be backed up to one of these unts in the future. Consider wireless servers in your office. Shoot, we've been backing up wirelessly here for months now and nobody knew. I just found out yesterday. It's that good.

When I say "where the future is going" I still mean it. And I still believe it to be a very long way off.

I want to let you know that my opinion is not fully evolved. The last person I spoke to on this topic was our IT guy, who like most of us are complete Apple freaks. When he said Steve does not believe in Disk media, I believe him. Why, because he backed himself with very good facts. Most notably, watch Steve Jobs keynote, again.
I love, and will support Blu-ray to the end, hopefully the full 15 years of the 10-15 years that Bill Hunt sees it sticking around for, but please do not attack me in suck a way that you think you can make me feel small for my opinions.

I stuck up for you in the past, even on michaelbay.com. Being on the other side of you is no fun. I hope that it never happens again, and I hope we have a better conversation at some point... in the future.

[camper]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

I think this year. We still have 11 months to go.

Yeah....I'm really curious to know what we'll see. Macworld, the mecca for all Apple followers, is now over. I would think that they would have announced the 'something' that will make their 'huge role' for Blu Ray more apparant at this venue, rather than after. There isn't even anything new rumored to be coming from Apple (that I've been able to find, at least).

Too hard to come up with a Blu Ray drive, even though the technology has been existant for a while now and more have been announced by other companies; but Apple was able to come up with a successor to iTV for downloads which is even FARTHER out in the realm of possibility and applies to an even smaller niche market than HDM?

Honestly, I don't expect much out of a computer company in the realm of consumer electronics anyway, but I hardly think they're going to announce something 'big' after the platform to do so has passed by. That's like waiting for Toshiba to announce their planned game changer after CES.

I think there is more profit in iTV than HDM for Apple, and like a good company who wants to make their shareholders happy, they are pursuing that instead.

~Camper

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by teunis

Greedle, I'm not sure if I upset you in some way, but I feel a little attacked by your statement.
I did not say that the Macbook Air itself is the future, it is only the beginning. Yes, it is for a small market. Yes it has a small screen, etc, like you said, but these will grow. I'd like to see nice aluminum keys at some point. But, when comparing a Macbook Pro and a Macbook Air I know that I will purchase a Macbook Pro. Why, because of the optical drive, hard drive space, etc. The Air is a second computer at best. It can only be a second computer. Yes, Apple will eventually install Blu-ray drives, but I still won't put it past them to not do it, though the chance is very small. The one thing that makes me curious to know if they won't do it is the release of a new product... Time capsule. Built-in Airport Extreme. It's a single-unit wireless harddrive that backs up your computer and can used as a regular external hard drive. No need for two units anymore. Wish I knew this way coming, picked up Airport Extreme not all that long ago. Maybe Appple sees that everything will be backed up to one of these unts in the future. Consider wireless servers in your office. Shoot, we've been backing up wirelessly here for months now and nobody knew. I just found out yesterday. It's that good.

When I say "where the future is going" I still mean it. And I still believe it to be a very long way off.

I want to let you know that my opinion is not fully evolved. The last person I spoke to on this topic was our IT guy, who like most of us are complete Apple freaks. When he said Steve does not believe in Disk media, I believe him. Why, because he backed himself with very good facts. Most notably, watch Steve Jobs keynote, again.
I love, and will support Blu-ray to the end, hopefully the full 15 years of the 10-15 years that Bill Hunt sees it sticking around for, but please do not attack me in suck a way that you think you can make me feel small for my opinions.

I stuck up for you in the past, even on michaelbay.com. Being on the other side of you is no fun. I hope that it never happens again, and I hope we have a better conversation at some point... in the future.

Sorry if I sounded pugnacious with my last post there, I sometimes get a little overly aggressive when talking about Apple since most of the people I talk to are either totally for, or totally against Apple. Usually I have to fight tooth and nail with pro-M$ people about Apple, and they can be very stubborn. Reminds me a lot of supporters of a certain format... I will be more careful with my Blu-brethren from now on.

I have to point out that the Air does seem to be intended as a second computer only. I for one have no intention of buying it, no matter how thin it is. I do not think the Air will "grow" their screen, etc.. and the market is already there for it or they would not have released it yet. There is a reason the Macbook Pro and the Macbook are both still available, he did not replace one of them with this. The Air is solely for portability, and I doubt anyone would want to keep that as their main computer. Especially if you need a second computer to install software.
I would be very very surprised is Apple does not release optional Blu-ray drives on their computers within a year. It seems something that Apple would be glad to add to their computers, since this option would only be added if it is ordered, and would not be standard.
The Time Capsule is more of an upgrade to an existing product than a new product. The Airport extreme (the model right before the Time Capsule) has a USB port that is capable of not only supporting a printer, but also a USB hub for many printers, and hard drives! Yes, you can hook up a hard drive to your airport and use it as a network drive. I see no reason this could not be a backup drive. All they did was install the drive into the Airport. So now it is made for backups, and I think will be the next thing I get from Apple, along with a computer.
Yes, wireless is becoming a much bigger market than it was, and yes the Air and the Time Capsule both reflect this, but that does not mean optical discs are going away.
I can not agree with the statement that Steve Jobs "does not believe in Disc media". Steve Jobs knows that his place is to guide people, but not tell people what to do when it comes to computing, unlike Micro$oft who seems to want to control everything everyone does. Jobs already saw that the appleTV essentially failed as it was, so he is changing it to better reflect what the market of digital downloads does best, rental.
I might consider renting a movie from itunes someday if I am ever unable to get the disc or on the go, but I am far more likely to still buy the disc.
I think Steve understands that he needs to adapt to what people want, and that he thinks people want wireless, but after that uproarious applause over the word "Blu-ray" in the keynote, he can not ignore the fact that people will also want discs still. In fact I think he will find most people will still want discs.

We will see what the future brings in terms of computers, but I think discs will be in them for many many years to come. As long as people still watch DVDs, there will still be DVD burners.
Again, sorry about that last post, no harm intended.

[WickyWoo]

There is no question that Apple and MS both want to be the gatekeepers of movie downloads, and as such neither one will get agressive with physical media any more.

They are equally evil in this respect, and both should be treated as the enemy
I'm sure Apple, like Microsoft, will offer a Blu-ray drive at some point in the next year, but unlike MS, no one can write playback software except Apple, because they refuse to give out the hooks for it (which is why InterActual, crappy as it may be has never worked on Mac)

So whenever BD Studio Pro is ready (I assume they're working on it), they'll add it to their desktops, until that time, watch just like the floppy drive, for them to phase optical drives out of all their laptops on the excuses of "thinner" and "looks more attractive" in the next 18 months.

[inaz4sun]

Apple is always behind the curve on most things. They pretend like they invented everything and they invent nothing, just repackage it and make it "hip" and sell it for twice as much as anything else.

Examples:
iPhone: (I had my tmobile Dash before which does virtually everything an iPhone does at about 1/3 price, okay the interface its as flashy but whoopdy doo)
iPod: MP3 players were out years before this came around

I just recently priced out computers. Got a Dell with a Blu-ray burner and tons of other stuff for $1700, similarly equipped Mac (without a BD player or burner mind you) was like $3000.

Its almost always been form over function.