Asked in October 2008 why Apple wasn’t yet offering Blu-ray DVD drives as an option on machines, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the licensing issues were too complex to make doing so worthwhile. “Blu-ray is a bag of hurt,” he quipped. Well, no longer. Because Apple is planning to refresh its iMac desktop computer in the next few weeks, and when it does, it may well offer a Blue-ray drive option.
2009 may prove to be the year that Blu-ray caught on. Sales of the high-definition DVD players, sluggish throughout 2008, are surging in 2009. According to the latest metrics from the NPD Group, sales of standalone Blu-ray disc players in the United States rose 72 percent from the first quarter of 2008, driven by an increasing awareness of the technology.
Mac clone maker Psystar isn’t letting its uncertain future undermine its product road map. Though embroiled in a nasty legal spat with Apple over the legality of its use of Mac OS X in its Open Computer, Psystar this week defiantly began shipping Mac clones with both Blu-ray drives and GeForce 9800GT video cards, neither of which is available in official Macs.
Fielding questions from the audience after Tuesday’s MacBook launch event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked why the company isn’t offering Blu-ray DVD drives as an option on its newer machines. A reasonable question. Apple was an early backer of Blu-ray, but hasn’t exactly been an early adopter of the technology. Hewlett-Packard and other PC makers are offering their systems with a Blu-ray option, why not Apple?
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
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