Blu-Ray/HD on a Mac Pro ??

Question

The purpose of this thread is to consolidate the topic of "lack" of BluRay on the Mac Pro, and also discuss HD software, and HD authoring. I found bits and pieces of the BluRay topic in many posts, but wanted to try to discuss this in more detail, all in one thread.
In review, much as been said in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1377728&tstart=0

Answer 1

Rufus wrote:
.. Apple Mac business is not hurting, in fact, they're selling more Macs than they ever have in their 30 year history.. Their US market share has gone from roughly 4% to nearly 8% in the past two years.. They've done nothing fatal, and the pro video market has not abandoned them..<</div>
Their market share is at an all time high, but I think your forgetting that this is probably due to OSX and iLife. Many people switched because OSX makes anything MS makes look like pure trash. Also, iLife made handling the most popular media chores (music, digital photos, digital video, dvd authoring) easy and in a well thought out integrated package. This simple idea didn't exist on the PC side. This no longer exist for HD video/dvd authoring for the masses on the Mac.
Yeah, OSX and iLife is better than anything MS is currently producing, I'm not arguing or forgetting anything.. I agree with that.
I don't know what Apple's reason for not including Blu-Ray drives are.. Maybe they were waiting for Blu-Ray tech spec standards to be set.. Maybe they were waiting for the format war to play out... Maybe they are waiting for prices to come down... Maybe they are leary about embracing the next gen of optical media when everything else in their business model is pushing away from optical media. Maybe it's a combination of all or any of the above... Who knows...<</div>
solsun, you are very disconnected to this subject to try to be so profound on the matter.
* BluRay specs have been set for many months now....drives exist, media exist.... it's no longer on the drawing board.
* The format war was over a year ago, when BluRay had 40% more capacity. It was a no brainer.
The only people who didn't understand this was the ones that invested millions in HD-DVD.
* Prices to come down??? Are you kidding?? When the original Superdrive appeared it was a $1000 item. People bought them like candy. The Pioneer BluRay burner sold for about the same $1k a year ago and now sells for around $600. Are waiting for it to get to $30?
* The only people pushing away from optical are the ones that are salivating to make a buck, or to protect a buck from it's disappearance. Logically it makes very little sense as we have already discussed.
Whatever the reason, I'm sure they have one. I seriously don't think Steve Jobs said 'Hey, let's ** off the pro vid user base and not put Blu-ray drives in the Mac Pros" for no good reason..<</div>
As also discussed, the only reason possible is a political one, in the sense of making a deal with the studios for the "movie rental" idea, in return to hold off putting HD authoring in the hands of everyone while the studios are geared up for making a killing by selling BluRay discs commercially.
Message was edited by: Rufus
Actually, I'm neither "disconnected" nor trying to sound profound, just suggesting possibilities. But as I said, no one really knows why we haven't seen Blu-ray drives yet.... But for the record:
1. Blu-Ray specs have changed as recently as Oct 07. Yes, drives and media exist, and yes, in some instances, there have already been some incompatibilities with the older vs. the current Blu-Ray drives and media BECAUSE of the changing specs.
2. The format war HAS NOT been over for a year.. In fact, most would agree that tipping point was only last month when Warner declared Blu-Ray exclusivity going forward.
3. I suppose you're right, there will be some willing to pay, but it would be a very limited pro-market demographic in contrast with Apple's current user base. And it is a possibility that Apple feels it may not be worth it to invest the $$ for such a limited market.. I don't know..
4. You couldn't be more wrong on this one.. I know that there are still needs for optical media in the near term, I'm not saying otherwise, but a change is happening and Apple is leading the way more than ANY other tech company for the demise of optical media by providing alternate solutions... Examples:
---Don't buy a music CD, buy songs from iTunes...
---Don't buy a DVD, rent or buy movies from iTunes.
---Made a movie on your computer or have some photos to share? Don't burn them to CD, publish them on the web with .mac, or better yet, stream them to your TV with Apple TV, or take them with you on your iPod or iPhone.
---Need to back up your computers hard-drive? Don't backup to DVD, automate and stream your backups wirelessly using TIme Machine and Time Capsule..
---MacBookAir
Get the picture? Apple is moving away from optical. There are still some hurdles to conquer, but it's happening..
Remember in the iLife 08 keynote when Steve was introducing the new apps? He spent a lot of time on iPhoto, iMovie and the rest, but when he got to iDVD, all he said was "For those of you who still use DVD's," we've added some new... etc, etc..
Message was edited by: solsun