Apple Snubs Blu-Ray...Again

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.edn.com/blog/400000040/post/410035241.html' target='_blank'>http://www.edn.com/blog/400000040/p.../410035241.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Jobs may claim that 'Blu-ray is a bag of hurt', and I don't disagree (keep reading), but even if it wasn't, why would Apple incur additional system cost (versus red laser optical drives) that the format's miniscule market share suggests wouldn't translate to proportionally incremental revenue and profit...and that would detract from the company's primary revenue and profit mission going forward? For the content creation professionals and bleeding edge enthusiasts that demand Blu-ray capability, Apple can continue to rely on third-party hardware from companies like Amex Digital and LaCie, coupled with third-party software from folks like Adobe and Roxio."</em></p><p>I'm a bit surprised Apple doesn't offer Blu-ray drives on their higher-end Apple Pro computers, given that many of those people are the media-creating type, but seeing as Blu-ray is currently a disaster, I can't blame Apple for leaving it off of their consumer-grade products.</p>

[Macguy59]

In Jobs own private Idaho, he probably sees it as competition to the iTunes store HD movie rentals

[Jason Dunn]

In Jobs own private Idaho, he probably sees it as competition to the iTunes store HD movie rentals

Yup, exactly. He thinks the future is already here with HD downloading/streaming. It's not, it's still quite a few years away. Most consumers are not savvy enough to connect media streaming boxes to their TV and only stream content. Physical media still rules the world.

[gdoerr56]

Of course the people that are not technically savvy enough to connect the streaming media boxes probably couldn't connect a Bluray player either. Or, as is probably more likely, they don't care enough about the increased resolution to bother.

We'll see what happens in November with the Xbox 360 update with Netflix. If they can make it seamless enough for the average Joe and back it up with a good selection of titles they might be on to something.

Otherwise people will just keep buying DVDs because they're "good enough"

[Jason Dunn]

Of course the people that are not technically savvy enough to connect the streaming media boxes probably couldn't connect a Bluray player either. Or, as is probably more likely, they don't care enough about the increased resolution to bother.

Maybe...but a Blu-ray player isn't any more complicated to hook up than a regular DVD player. And once you get it hooked up, the hard part is over. Using streaming media requires various levels of management.

I agree with you about them not caring though in the first place. The fact that Blu-ray isn't "better enough" is a huge element keeping people away from buying it.

[Cold Flame]

Maybe...but a Blu-ray player isn't any more complicated to hook up than a regular DVD player. And once you get it hooked up, the hard part is over. Using streaming media requires various levels of management.

I agree with you about them not caring though in the first place. The fact that Blu-ray isn't "better enough" is a huge element keeping people away from buying it.

Most people are smart enough to hook them up, like you said. I think a major factor is that Blu-ray's are still somewhat cost-prohibitive. Sure, they've come down a long way, but they have a ways to go yet.

There's a lot more than just the cost of the player itself. Most consumers have their DVD players hooked up with the standard RCA cables that their DVD players came with, so they're going to have to spend some fairly large money getting decent cables (HDMI or whichever), plus they need an HD TV capable of 1080p. THEN, on top of that, if they don't already have a home theatre system, they are going to want one of those too. Not much point in having Blu-ray if you don't have a good sound system to go with that pristine picture.

Just my $0.02 anyway. I'll upgrade when they've come down in price a bit and when I upgrade my TV. The 1080i I have will probably display it just fine, but I'd much rather be able to use it to its full extent.

Cheers,

CF

[Darius Wey]

Most consumers are not savvy enough to connect media streaming boxes to their TV and only stream content. Physical media still rules the world.

Also, some countries still have slower connections and quotas in place, which in my opinion, are far bigger restrictions.