Is Apple's Next Move Blu-Ray?

Amid the flurry of brand-new Apple products -- including new iMacs, updated MacBooks and Mac Minis, plus more -- sometimes details go unnoticed and slip through the cracks. One such detail was Apple's decision to change the display ratio on its new iMacs to 16:9 -- which would then allow Macs to play 1080p, the Blu-Ray dimensions. Was this slight modification a tease of what's to come with next year's possible reworking of Apple's line?

The history between Apple and Blu-Ray hasn't exactly been . . . friendly. Last October, Steve Jobs infamously declared that Blu-Ray was a "bag of hurt" and that his company would wait until it took off in the marketplace to even consider adopting it as a built-in technology. Well, Steve, that time may be now. Blu-Ray player sales have risen dramatically; people have realized this is not a fad, and that Blu-Ray is the next step in home entertainment.

Now that that's established, the next step is for Apple to build Blu-Ray support into its line of computers. First stop: the iMac. The iMac has distinguished itself as a solid computer and, what's better, has a cheap(er) monitor. Now that at its biggest the iMac stretches to 27 inches, it'll be competing against standard HDTVs in terms of what the boob tube in your bedroom is going to be.

Adopting Blu-Ray as a built-in technology would have been a superior move for Apple yesterday, but it dropped the ball. It looks like if Jobs is ever going to drop his "bag of hurt" complaints, we'll have to wait until next year to see it. Meanwhile, there are PCs out there that support Blu-Ray and Windows 7 . . . Just sayin'.

» posted by ITworld staff

PC World

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine