Ok 99% :)

Larger companies usually lead the way. Thats why no one cares who Anchor Bay, Lions Gate, Criterion, Blue Underground, or Image is backing on the movie side.

Apple supports HD-DVD
MicroSoft will support HD-DVD
XBox will support HD-DVD

I bet is with Blue-Ray not making the cut, HD-DVD should end up the winner.

This whole format war seems awfully familiar. Like we did it about 5 years ago or so.

:)

Well I guess we'll see which way they move. I would think (even for a larger porn company) they would want to reduce the costs of productoin as much as possible - therefore - HD DVD.

??? The thread title is "Apple backs Blu-Ray"... so we already know that Apple won't support HD DVD.

Microsoft may be supporting HD DVD, but they haven't said no to Blu-Ray yet.

The specs for the XBOX came out a few days ago - and it looks like it will come with a standard DVD Player... no high definition.

Off the top of my head, USB and GUI the interface are nothing that Apple developed.

PC's had USB before Apple did and you can thank Zerox for GUI interfaces.

I'd say that PDAs were something that would eventually come around whether or not Apple did it first. Their first PDA was far from a success and PDAs didn't really take off until the PalmPilot came out.

I think PDAs are something that would have been done until they were successful as they are a device that a large section of the population can use and not some technology that only a small percentage would find useful.

If we are just going to list techologies that Apple has used and been successful later on, you might as well add things like monitors which computers didn't have back in the days when we all used punch cards to post messages on the net.

I refuse to turn this into an Apple fight so I am banning myself from this thread, I just wanted to get some stuff off my chest.

If you mean a consumer-level Blu-Ray burner in Macs within a year, then yes, I think you're dreaming. A BR-ROM, though? Perhaps, though I'm even skeptical about that happening so soon. The players are simply going to be too expensive at the start.

I'm very happy Apple's supporting BR, though, as it's definitely the superior format.

Good thing b/c you obviously missed the "ushered" in part. Sure PCs had USB first, but why do they still have serial ports? Parallel ports? Adopt a standard. Apple made them standard long ago forcing consumers to change with the times while PCs still can't make up their mind. They have to 'baby' along every consumer.

Not sure about the GUI part but as personal computers go, there is a reason Bill Gates bought the OS interface from Apple.

And lastly, just b/c one idea doesn't become mass marketable, first PDA, doesn't make the originality of the idea any less for others to build on.

But anyway, I doubt BR will be found in any G5s anytime soon. Maybe a top of the line $3000 model next year. But one thing is for sure, it will be included in a mac long before you see it in a pc model. This is probably why Jobs wants in on it so early, so he can get his hands on the technology first, to get it to the Apple faithful.

Considering how few people own Macs I don't see this mattering at all.

I don't know which format will win and I don't have a favorite either way. However, I am not investing in any of the HD formats until there is a clear winner. My old DVDs will do just fine until this mess is sorted out. I've seen HDTV and watched movies and sporting events in HD and no it didn't make me want to run out and buy a HDTV. If they drop to the price of a regular TV when I decide to get a new TV in a couple of years I will get one, but the technology did not impress me enough to even consider replacing all my equipment or my 800+ DVDs.

Yeah, those few people that own and support Macs have not pushed DVI, USB, Firewire, the SuperDrive etc forward. They should be counted out. [END SARCASM]

That is like saying so few people have Mercedes, when they do something it probably doesn't matter. The Mac user base is not nearly as small as many think - and in general it isn't the mindless heard the PC base is. I figure the first computers to see BR are Sony and Apple. Probably both around the end of the year to the first of next year. It will be as expensive hell and only be available in the top models.

Are you honestly going to tell me Mac owners will make the difference in a HD-DVD format war. :lol:

I can see PC developers stealing good computer ideas from the Mac, but this is something entirely different.

I'm almost 100% sure that the above statement is incorrect.
So he didn't BUY it. He was inspired by it, just as Apple had been inspired by Xerox, who are officially the first company to produce a GUI.
I don't see how Sony will let someone else steal the limelight on technology that they pretty much invented and pioneered. Sony had the first DL DVD Burners on the market and I'd take a gamble on them bringing out the first PC based BR recorder (they have already released a HT one for the Japanese market).

Why wouldn't they. Those mac owners made a difference in the mp3 world - so much that they started making it available to PC counterparts. Apple's whole strategy is based on recording and editing movies and music at home, etc. Exactly what BR burners will be used for. Why would they not be a leader in shaping the future of the HD-DVD format. No offense, but even though you can do editing on a PC, they are not built in general with that in mind. The masses do not shape technology the herd follows the leaders. Apple is a leader despite its size. Just because you don't use and Apple does not mean they are not influential and important in the technology world.

Yeah, that is dead wrong. He stole it from them. There were court cases for years that ended in back and forth decisions which were finally ended when Microsoft invested in Apple a few years ago. As part of the investment, Apple stoped suing and the case was basically closed. That is the short version.

The only thing made available to PC counterparts by Apple were iPods and iTunes. The MP3 revolution was started long before Apple jumped on the bandwagon with their iPod.

Yes, but would you like to argue that iTunes Music Store and iPod are not key and integral parts of mp3 revelotion. Being first is not always the most important thing.

Sony will probably be first with BR. Apple and DELL and HP and others will be key to success though. Apple is more likely to give a heavy early push than the others since Apple does not sell or build based price like the others. They build based on performance and technology and then et it filter down as it becomes more affordable. They will likely be one of the first to offer it no matter what the price. That is why it "could" be a very big deal to have them on board.

I am not saying this is the savior of BR. I am just saying this could be a big step for Sony. As more and more people get on the BR bandwagon, Sony has a better shot at winning with BR and a key technology driver like Apple is a good friend to have. Mac users are loyal and have deeper pockets often times - that is the right kind of customer to seek out when you are in a format war.

Apple does not invent technology. Its successes have been taking relatively new devices and technologies and packaging them in a stylish, easy-to-use way that's marketable in simple language and concepts.

Sometimes they are wildly successful at this, and sometimes they're not. The iPod was more wildly successful than anybody could have predicted, but there was nothing really new there.

Apple adopting blu-ray by itself signifies little. After all, Apple put DVD-RAM drives in a series of desktops a few years ago, and look what that did for the format (nothing).

We haven't seen how Apple intends to integrate High-Definition video into the Mac platform, or if they plan to introduce some new home/portable product line that will leverage blu-ray technology into the public eye.

If all they do is stick blu-ray readers into next year's Mac desktops, we can all yawn.

If we see some whole new Apple product concept ("iDef"?) based on blu-ray -- and who knows exactly what it might be? -- then there's the potential for Apple to be a huge player in the market and locking the gate on HD-DVD. But not if it's just putting BR drives in their desktops because they got a good price from Sony.

RichC

I can agree with that for the most part - a player will not accomplish much - it needs to be a burner and incorporate movie editing software. I would like to see Apple do more than just stick roms in them. Maybe, Maybe not. I at least look for burners to be integrated for use with HD version of iMovie sometime in the near future if not at first - I think Jobs refers to this in the press thing anyways.

In reference to the DVD-RAM statement - I was an IT guy and we had some. Nobody knew what to do with them and media was expensive. We toyed with them for backup purposes, but they were ahead of their time - we found the server to be better for our backup needs and eventually just forgot about them.

A multimedia box (iDef sounded like a good name) would be nice. There have been rumors for years about a set-top box project but nothing ever comes of it. Sony and Apple should team up and make one. It could, like you said, give BR the push it needs to win. Apple has been pushing towards lifestyle items and this would fall in that category.

And you can thank Apple for going to Xerox and legally purchasing. That gave Microsoft the ability to then steal it from Apple so you could have Windows.

You could say that about any invention. Oh, and I loved my Newton.


Anyway, Apple 85% of the time has some great ideas on how to use different technologies, so I will be watching.

How about the rumored Tivo purchase? Combine an HD-Tivo & Blue Ray and you have a solid product. By purchasing Tivo, Apple could go against not allowing you to rip programs to the PC. Making it possible and having an iDef software to rip it, burn it and mix it with your HD shows. That would be sweet.

The wrinkle here is that the studios and networks don't want you to be able to time shift, nevermind record your shows. They want you to watch as they air, commercials and all, and then buy when it is released.

exactly. Apple is not a part of Hollywood, per se. Nevermind pixar.

Apple will take the technology and do what they want with it. Look at them right now, iMovie, iDVD, Final Cut Pro, iTunes, and the iPod. They will build software around the technology, studios be damned.

What is your definition of "the mp3 revolution"? Only if it is wholly defined as the online sale of music does the iPod become integral.

One possibility -- which would hinge on blank media getting real cheap real fast -- is Apple getting into HD camcorders using the mini-BR disc that Sony is developing. (Sony BR camcorders have already been announced.)

A small, slick "iCam" that could record a couple of hours of HD or half a day's worth of SD video, plus function as a webcam and a multimedia source, combined with "iMovieHD," could conceivably define yet another new market.

Thinking out loud...

RichC

I disagree. Apple sells more MP3 players than everybody else combined, and has been doing so for three years. Something like half of all the player sin use are iPods.

The reason this matters is that nearly all of these players are owned by people who were new to portable music formats before they got an iPod.

Yes, Apple *also* changed the face of music retailing with iTunes, but if there was an "MP3 revolution" it was turning a niche format that was mostly the realm of geeks and techies into a booming market, and then owning that market.

I'm not a fan of the iPod and don't own one, but you have to give credit where it's due. Apple did for MP3 players what Bose did for expensive table radios: created a huge and lucrative market that hadn't previously existed.

RichC

I'm sorry, but Napster and Kazaa did more to spread awareness and use of mp3 files for music than the iPod. And predated the Apple product to boot.