In a possible gigantic “oh no!” moment for Mac users, MacNN.com reports that the possibility of having “custom built” Blu ray-capable iMacs may have been a last minute “no go” on the upcoming iMac refresh. Looky here:
Blu-ray drives were pulled as an option for upcoming iMacs with little time to spare, anonymous sources claim. People described only as “close” to Apple say that Blu-ray support was originally anticipated for a near-future iMac refresh, but that it was nixed just before the computers went into production last month. Regardless, buyers would only have been able to get a Blu-ray drive as part of a custom order.
Here’s the full article at MacNN.com.
Blu-Ray remains a dream for Mac users?
You know, we here at Mac PC Wiz are starting to wonder what the big freaking deal is. As for Steve Jobs‘ it’s-really-very-complicated-and-we’re-weighing-all-the-variables reply, we say “Crap.” A very discerning commenter on the article above put it very well. Read on, Mr. Jobs. Is this really why you don’t want Blu-Ray on your Macs?
comment by testudo:
So what’s the problem? Easy. Apple doesn’t want people having blu-ray, because it interferes with their video plans. They want you to download from them, not buy disks from other people. There’s no after-market money in offering Blu-Ray drives.
Sure, Steve will go on and on about how its ‘so restrictive and complicated’ (I’m sorry, you can’t find five programmers at Apple to figure out how to make it work? And, seriously, Microsoft was able to implement it in their OS. Are they more capable than you? And they have to deal with third-party computer manufacturers. You guys make the whole widget!) And the only ‘restrictions’ are on the hardware side. It isn’t like the consumer has to login to an account in order to play the content, like they do with iTMS video content.
Listen well, Cupertino. If those monkeys hired by Bill Gates are able to incorporate this into Windows7, there is absolutely no excuse for you to withhold Blu-Ray technology from your users. It’s not just the high-def capability, it’s a freaking technology jump, and because of whatever marketing schemes you have, your users are not going to be able to partake in 25GB/disc goodness.
Oh well, beloved Mac users, it looks like you’re staying with that external USB Blu-ray burner for a little longer. We all hope it’s not that much longer, though. The whole of Mac PC Wiz commiserates with y’all.
