"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[Eternal_Sunshine]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

How many other companies can make Apple computers? How many non-Apple companies can have their desktops with Apple OS?

iTunes & iPod.

M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y

How many other companys can make Ford cars?

Ford M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y

[mark antony]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Sorry Mark, even in the broadest of time periods, I’m just not comfortable in revealing the proposed/predicted street date of any titles. I’ll leave that up to others to reveal/leak...

That's fair enough Penton, but how about another question on a similar topic.

When you have an "epic" film like G of N, which has built in technical expectation from the audience, and someone 40 or so years previously has not only damaged the OCN beyond use in places but has also junked all the audio stems and masters, what do you do?

The answer in the early 90's resulted in an analogue restoration having to be performed, using dupe footage where the OCN was unprintable and a collector's print being used for a source of 4 channel audio...but can this be improved further?

Did any of the lost material resurface? Can a DI process improve the picture further or are the elements that had to be duped damaged beyond salvation even with today's digital techniques?

If the only source of a soundtrack is a print, would Sony consider re-foleying an older movie such as this, as the music master's presumably still exist (as there was a soundtrack cd 20 yrs ago) and the dialogue can be lifted from the exisiting source (a la vertigo)?

Film restoration fascinates me, and on a key catalogue title such as this i'm interested in what Sony would do?

Regards

M

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Eternal_Sunshine

How many other companys can make Ford cars?

Ford M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y

This comparison falls flat.

You can still fill up with the same gas & oil from other companies, travel the same roads. Use the same garages.

Ford vs. Chevy is more like Dell vs. HP.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

This comparison falls flat.

You can still fill up with the same gas & oil from other companies, travel the same roads. Use the same garages.

Ford vs. Chevy is more like Dell vs. HP.

So when electric cars are all the rage will they have a m-o-n-o-p-o-l-y cause you can't put petrol in them?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by aygie

So when electric cars are all the rage will they have a m-o-n-o-p-o-l-y cause you can't put petrol in them?

Only if you can buy them from ONE manufacturer.

All this denial about Apple's monopoly. Sheesh.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

All this denial about Apple's monopoly. Sheesh.

That's because they don't have one!

How on earth does the Ford analogy "fall flat"? You get down the road in a car. You calculate figures with a computer. Ford is one of many cars on the market. Apple is one of many computers on the market.

OS X is definitely really neat, but it doesn't really do anything that other OSes don't; it just does the same stuff somewhat differently and often, IMO, better.

[Jeff Kleist]

How many other companys can make Ford cars?

Ford M-O-N-O-P-O-L-Y

They can make a car, that will drive the road with equivalent performance

If you make a Mac clone, Apple will sue you and win because they will not license the proprietary parts of their OS. You cannot license FairPlay and
make an MP3 player/Video player that will work with Apple DRM. Apple owns 80% of the portable market, and closer to 90% if you discount devices like PSP that play MP3s. Itunes sells over 7 out of 10 MP3s sold, and something like 90+% of digital copies are redeemed to iTunes.

They have a functional monopoly when it comes to portable devices, Sandisk has about 7% with everyone else splitting about another 5. And they have total control over who can make anything more complicated than a mouse or printer for Mac, because you must have Apple's blessing for low level system access (the only people off the top of my head who have gotten that blessing is people doing copy protection to be used on professional software packages). Hell they've even locked out third party video cables, charging you $50 for a component cable that costs them $0.30 to make by putting a chip in it. You can't even make a silcone protective case and sell it next to their materials at less than a 2000% markup (on sale)

If Apple would just collect a fair royalty to allow managed copy players to rip to iTunes, studios can save money on pressing DVDs. If they would simply allow people to have a rights locker on iTunes, then the digital copy discs would be re-rippable on the same account.

And they wonder why the entire content industry hates them. This universal DRM system is absolutely a direct threat to shut them down. No one renews their deals with iTunes and pulls their content. Or they open up, and collect a dollar from every MP3 player sold. I'm convinced the Jobs would rather stop selling iPods than do that though. He'll have to be dragged kicking and screaming into it.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

They can make a car, that will drive the road with equivalent performance

Hey- you get it!

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

If you make a Mac clone, Apple will sue you and win because they will not license the proprietary parts of their OS.

Oh, wait... you don't?

Jeff, why would you have to make a Mac clone, to sell something "that will drive the road with equivalent performance"? Do you think anybody should be able to make a car with a rotary engine without fear of reprisal from Mazda?

By the way, have you ever seen a company sell a computer with an unlicensed copy of Windows on it? Yeah, they get sued, too.

[Jeff Kleist]

Jeff, why would you have to make a Mac clone, to sell something "that will drive the road with equivalent performance"? Do you think anybody should be able to make a car with a rotary engine without fear of reprisal from Mazda?

Is that proprietary to Mazda? Last I checked Mazda also didn't control 90% of the car market. Regardless, they can produce a car of equivalent performance that doesn't violate any patents

By the way, have you ever seen a company sell a computer with an unlicensed copy of Windows on it? Yeah, they get sued, too.

You can't sell a Mac clone. There's a chip on the motherboard that says "I'm a Mac" and OSX will not run unless it sees that chip. Since you cannot produce motherboards containing that chip without Apple's permission (or patch the OS, which is what that company was doing), which won't be given, even if you include a retail copy of OSX, then you're stuck. All of their systems are locked down out of the box, and it's a DMCA violation to change that. Licensing their DRM is good for Apple's wallet, good for the industry, good for competition, and only bad for Steve Jobs' god complex

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I heard about it but, haven’t had the opportunity to listen to it as of yet.
Thanks for providing the link for everyone. I must say that is quite a coup for Scott Wilkinson to procure a sit-down interview with Don, as he is generally doing four or five things at the same time. Scott must have gotten Don at home or on a real slow day at the office…..like when it was ‘officially closed’ over the holidays and only the most dedicated came in to get something finished. Who does Scott have scheduled for his next Q & A?

Don is a valued V.P. at SPHE, who is extremely well-versed technically on a broad range of topics/issues at the same time always demonstrating integrity beyond reproach and I’m happy to call him one of my closest friends. I will say on a personal note (unbeknownst to the membership here) I had surgery prior to the Christmas holiday and developed a rather significant severe postoperative complication which could have led to a lifelong disability and Don was the first person to call and check on my status. Good Man.

b.t.w., I don’t want to seem to be a spelling nitpicker but, sometimes correct spelling is warranted . First of all, my dear Crystal misspelled a well known soccer team in England. It is Manchester (not “Manchister”) United……just in case our soccer challenged readers desire to accurately learn about English football during these thread musings between doctorossi, sharkshark and myself because it’s a given that at least one member from that particular club will be playing and starting on England’s National team this coming summer at the World Cup.

Secondly, the last name is ‘Eklund’ rather than “Edlund”. But don’t feel badly, as I’ve seen Don’s name misspelled on internet forums as often as I see ‘principal photography’ misspelled as “principle photography”……which is quite often. Perhaps, you , having a deeper insight into the industry than most, might have been thinking/typing at the same time of Richard Edlund, ASC who is no slouch in the techie world either (which is probably the understatement of the year) having been one of the first people involved in the special effects work on Star Wars, the development back-in-the-day of the Industrial Light and Magic effects facility, multi-Oscar nominee and winner, and currently co-chairs the ASC Technology Committee, etc.

Anyway, thanks again for providing the link to everyone who might otherwise not have known of its existence. I’ll eventually give it a listen and if I can add to or otherwise expound upon any topics which may have arisen during the interview, I’ll post my $0.02 worth.

That was a typo on my behalf...I know its Eklund

The interview was done live on January 4th from his office via Skype. If you caught it live there was video, but I believe you can only download the podcast of the show. Regardless, it's very informative and Don certainly knows his stuff!

As to your health problem, I hope you're feeling better!

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Is that proprietary to Mazda?

Yep.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Last I checked Mazda also didn't control 90% of the car market.

Wouldn't you know, last I checked, Apple didn't control 90% of the computer market.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

You can't sell a Mac clone.

You can't sell a Mazda clone, either.

If I want to make and sell a car and I ask Mazda to license me their engine-management software for my car and Mazda says no, am I facing a monopoly? No, of course not. I can still make and sell a car with my own proprietary engine-management software in it or I can license some from someone else.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

There's a chip on the motherboard that says "I'm a Mac" and OSX will not run unless it sees that chip. Since you cannot produce motherboards containing that chip without Apple's permission (or patch the OS, which is what that company was doing), which won't be given, even if you include a retail copy of OSX, then you're stuck. All of their systems are locked down out of the box, and it's a DMCA violation to change that.

That's right. Apple sells computers. The OS is part of that computer. Many other companies also sell computers with OSes. Some of those OSes, just like Apple's, are proprietary; some are licensed. They all compete against each other and none of them (except maybe Dell) have anything close to a majority market share.

Mac OS X is not a product category. In fact, it's not even a product that Apple sells; it's a part of a product that Apple sells. How does Apple have a "monopoly" on Mac OS X any more than Sun has a "monopoly" on Sun OS or Solaris or than HP has a "monopoly" on their particular flavor of Windows with proprietary HP desktop widgets?

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

How many other companies can make Apple computers?

I'm sorry, Peter, I just can't get over this comment. Please try to give yourself a listen from another perspective and try to imagine some direct substitutes for your question:

How many other companies can make McDonald's hamburgers?

How many other companies can make Levi's jeans?

How many other companies can make Sharp microwave ovens?

How many other companies can make Crayola crayons?

I think the word you're looking for is "trademark", not "monopoly".

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

After briefly scanning some of the comments in the News section related to the 3D announcements coming out of CES and reading some of the posts on the various 3D related threads on this forum in the past, I sincerely hope that this time around, people on internet forums *up their game* regarding the discussion of this new technological topic and it doesn’t degenerate into yet another internet fanboy format war, this time between the 2D snobs and the 3D free-thinkers.

You know what I mean, all the upcoming implied *I know this for sure* public prognostications regarding 3Ds future and the individual posturing either to reassure each other of their own personal purchasing decisions and/or sway the opinion of others toward their own personal viewing preferences. I’ve already had enough of online religious zealousness being applied to home theater applications over the past couple years.

I think I’ll sit out this potential 3D vs 2D internet foray and just provide very limited accurate, informative tidbits and only when I’m motivated to do so…..like giving you all (with the help of Crystal ) that preview of the tone (3D) of the Sony CES Press Conference, for those who may have had some interest in this year’s main theme and desired to catch the online live video feed of the event while it was streaming.

I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D. Before that, I was pretty much like "Meh, who cares" regarding Blu-Ray 3D. Now I am actually kind of interested. I have yet to read all of the details of how this is going to work at home. I do think the studios have to make sure we have the option to do standard 2D "as is". I think it will be interesting how big the impact is in 3D at home when the screen, or "field of vision", is so much smaller vs. the theater.

As I was considering a new & larger TV, I'll probably just wait until later this year. That Panasonic 65" 3D capable TV with the Kuro technology might be just the ticket, and it sounds like the PS3 will be good to go with a firmware upgrade for 3D capability.

There needs to be more "real life" 3D content (most of the advertisements/previews before Avatar seem to be animation related or heavily use CGI). I'd be more interested in that kind of stuff.

We shall see before the end of the year I guess...

-Esox

[Jeff Kleist]

Wouldn't you know, last I checked, Apple didn't control 90% of the computer market.

Not talking about the computer market. I'm talking about portable media devices, and the ability to play media. Anyone who buys an Apple computer should know they're being screwed already. This is about control over the media market. Their behavior before their iPod Empire is indicative of the patterns we're seeing now.

If I want to make and sell a car and I ask Mazda to license me their engine-management software for my car and Mazda says no, am I facing a monopoly? No, of course not. I can still make and sell a car with my own proprietary engine-management software in it or I can license some from someone else.

Your car/branding analogy is disingenuous at best. These are not flavors of the same thing. People can still make jeans/cars/hamburgers/hamburgers etc. They have a proprietary DRM they're using to hold the rest of the industry hostage. 90%+ of Digital copy redemptions are to Itunes. They control 91% of the video sales market, over 25% of the music market as a whole and 75% of the digital market is tied to their DRM (yes I know they claim they stripped it. They didn't, many of my songs are still DRM'd that I bought recently). (All this from that last few years of NPD reports I could dig up on google).

And I'd like to remind you that Wal-Mart manages to hold the US video industry hostage quite well with only 35% of the home video market. No one dares piss them off because they can cut your revenue by a third any time they want to.

In a nutshell to the original question- No, Apple doesn't care about Blu-ray until they're given a financial reason to do so that also massages Steve Jobs' ego, or until such time that market forces require its inclusion (a bare mimimum of 2-3 years). Universal DRM rights lockers are the way of the future (Look at Disney's KeyChest, and yes Stevie isn't happy about that) as a good trial run for that ecosystem)

[Eternal_Sunshine]

As soon as the music labels let them, Apple started selling music without DRM. If, as you claim, Apple only claims that the songs are DRm-free and they are indeed not, where is the uproar on the internet?

Apple is obviously not a monopoly in the computer market, but a closed system. To be a monopoly they would have to have a much larger share of the computer market.

With digital media, Apple is also not a monopoly as you can buy all the digital content they sell from many other places as well. And since the music is sold DRM-free, even the lock-in argument lost all value. Folks stick with the Apple/iTunes/iPod ecosystem, because it is extremely convenient and "just works". Just because the other players on the market are not able to establish another ecosystem that works equally well doesn't make Apple a "monopoly".

Just look at Microsoft. They have all the resources in the world, they form an alliance with a lot of vendors in their "PlaysForSure" initiative that is supposed to guarantee compatibility between a big range of devices – and then they make the Zune which itself is incompatible with "PlaysForSure"... No wonder people stick with iTunes.

And comments like "Anyone who buys an Apple computer should know they're being screwed already" show a rather strong anti-Apple bias and do not help your credibility in this discussion, methinks...

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Eternal_Sunshine

As soon as the music labels let them, Apple started selling music without DRM. If, as you claim, Apple only claims that the songs are DRm-free and they are indeed not, where is the uproar on the internet?

What about not being able to load, offload MP3s onto iPods without iTunes?

Apple is obviously not a monopoly in the computer market, but a closed system. To be a monopoly they would have to have a much larger share of the computer market.

Yet Microsoft is? They don't make computers. You can buy a Dell, Sony, HP, Acer, etc. Just because they have a "small market share" doesn't mean they aren't. For their OS they are.

With digital media, Apple is also not a monopoly as you can buy all the digital content they sell from many other places as well. And since the music is sold DRM-free, even the lock-in argument lost all value. Folks stick with the Apple/iTunes/iPod ecosystem, because it is extremely convenient and "just works". Just because the other players on the market are not able to establish another ecosystem that works equally well doesn't make Apple a "monopoly".

No, they get it because it's what everyone else has. Plenty of MP3 players "just work".

And people stick with iTunes because they have to.

And comments like "Anyone who buys an Apple computer should know they're being screwed already" show a rather strong anti-Apple bias and do not help your credibility in this discussion, methinks...

As opposed to the pro-Apple bias that refuses to acknowledge their equally, if not more, anti-competitive behavior?

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No, they get it because it's what everyone else has. Plenty of MP3 players "just work".

Oh, I see. Market-leading feature innovation and competitive pricing have nothing to do with people's choices, we've all just spent billions on iPods because they're 'what the neighbor bought'. Gimme a break.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

And people stick with iTunes because they have to.

Right- because iTunes doesn't have dozens of competitors.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

As opposed to the pro-Apple bias that refuses to acknowledge their equally, if not more, anti-competitive behavior?

Name it and I'll acknowledge it. Yes, this is a dare.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Oh, I see. Market-leading feature innovation and competitive pricing have nothing to do with people's choices, we've all just spent billions on iPods because they're 'what the neighbor bought'. Gimme a break.

Competitive pricing???

Right- because iTunes doesn't have dozens of competitors.

How many other applications besides iTunes can you use with an iPod?

Name it and I'll acknowledge it. Yes, this is a dare.

Already been done. The cult mentality won't allow you to acknowledge it.

Again, I ask you to name another company that can produce computers that can run OSX.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Competitive pricing???

Well, lots of people are buying iPods and there are many, many alternatives on the market, so... yes- apparently competitive pricing.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

How many other applications besides iTunes can you use with an iPod?

How many do you need? Point being?

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Already been done. The cult mentality won't allow you to acknowledge it.

Oh, so it's just invisible to me? Nice excuse! I guess that's the religious evidentiary model: no, you can't see God, but you can't prove he doesn't exist!

I repeat: name it and I'll acknowledge it.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Again, I ask you to name another company that can produce computers that can run OSX.

I can't name one because there aren't any, but... what does that have to do with anything?!

Quick! Name me another company that can make graphing calculators using the Texas Instruments graphing calculator operating system!

Aha! You can't! MONOPOLY!

[neo_reloaded]

iTunes is a free software download that acts as an interface to the iPod. Saying that needing that software to use an iPod constitutes a monopoly is like saying needing nVidia drivers to use a nVidia video card is a monopoly. iTunes is 100% free, and available for both OS X and Windows (and please don't bring up Linux, there are THOUSANDS of other products that do not operate on Linux). And even then, there are dozens of other unofficial software packages to facilitate iPod use without iTunes.

As for the actual songs you'd put on an iPod, you don't need to purchase them from iTunes. You can rip CDs with any of hundreds of free programs and put those tracks on your iPod. You can download DRM-free tracks from most any music service and put them on the iPod as well. And conversely, if you wanted a song from the iTunes Music Store and didn't have an iPod, you could get the DRM-free version from iTunes and put it in any software program or hardware device you wanted.

I don't say this to defend Apple. I don't like OS X as a development platform or a user experience. I hate Apple's smarmy image and marketing. And I dislike the iTunes Music Store as I feel it and other services like it are killing the concept of the album and making everything focused around single tracks. But I don't think they have a monopoly.