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ehh, until we can stream blu-ray quality videos over the internet i doubt it's going anywhere soon.

by ookblah 16y ago

pak 16y ago
The wireless Internet, no less. The Air doesn't have an Ethernet port and many devices in this category are commonly paired with (3,4)G data modems for mobility beyond the range of your own hotspot. I don't think there's a decent way of getting 40 GB of movie onto an Air without plugging something in... and USB memory is still too costly in that range.
- chroma 16y ago
  802.11g or n is faster than most consumer Internet connections. Nobody's suggesting streaming HD movies over the cell network... yet. Blu-ray discs are 25-50GB, but they contain lots of stuff besides the movie (bonus material and other stuff). Dropping extra features, using newer codecs, and slightly decreasing encoding quality can pare a 720p movie down to 5-6GB. Over a 20Mbit connection, that's a 30-40 minute download. Definitely streamable. In fact Apple, Netflix, and Amazon all do this already. They sacrifice some quality compared to blu-ray, but unlike blu-ray, you don't have to transport a physical disc to your home. Even though blu-ray is higher quality, you have to ship discs or travel to a store to get them. Video on demand is so much more convenient, and the quality is only going to get better as connection speeds and codecs improve.
  - alextgordon 16y ago
    Over a 20Mbit connection, that's a 30-40 minute download. Definitely streamable. Unless you're in Korea, 20Mbit connections are far from commonplace. And in many countries download caps are the norm, which would preclude watching more than a handful of movies a month.
    - chroma 16y ago
      I used 20Mbit in the example because that's what I have. I'm on Comcast, which has a soft cap of 250GB/month. I'd have to watch a movie every day to get close to their limit. A 10Mbit connection would double the download time to 60-80 minutes, which is still fast enough to stream.
      - alextgordon 16y ago
        Here in the UK there's a large variance, but caps start at 10GB and those in the region of 40GB are commonplace (there is also a good selection of unlimited providers). And IIRC the average connection speed is 5Mbps, but again many people have 2Mbps or slower. International internet infrastructure has a long way to go before optical media is anywhere near irrelevant.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
ugh 16y ago
That assumes that people really care whether something is blu-ray quality. I don’t think they do. (Also, technology progresses while blu-ray stays the same.)

ehh, until we can stream blu-ray quality videos over the internet i doubt it's going anywhere soon.

by ookblah 16y ago

ehh, until we can stream blu-ray quality videos over the internet i doubt it's going anywhere soon.

pak 16y ago

The wireless Internet, no less. The Air doesn't have an Ethernet port and many devices in this category are commonly paired with (3,4)G data modems for mobility beyond the range of your own hotspot. I don't think there's a decent way of getting 40 GB of movie onto an Air without plugging something in... and USB memory is still too costly in that range.

chroma 16y ago
802.11g or n is faster than most consumer Internet connections. Nobody's suggesting streaming HD movies over the cell network... yet. Blu-ray discs are 25-50GB, but they contain lots of stuff besides the movie (bonus material and other stuff). Dropping extra features, using newer codecs, and slightly decreasing encoding quality can pare a 720p movie down to 5-6GB. Over a 20Mbit connection, that's a 30-40 minute download. Definitely streamable. In fact Apple, Netflix, and Amazon all do this already. They sacrifice some quality compared to blu-ray, but unlike blu-ray, you don't have to transport a physical disc to your home. Even though blu-ray is higher quality, you have to ship discs or travel to a store to get them. Video on demand is so much more convenient, and the quality is only going to get better as connection speeds and codecs improve.
- alextgordon 16y ago
  Over a 20Mbit connection, that's a 30-40 minute download. Definitely streamable. Unless you're in Korea, 20Mbit connections are far from commonplace. And in many countries download caps are the norm, which would preclude watching more than a handful of movies a month.
  - chroma 16y ago
    I used 20Mbit in the example because that's what I have. I'm on Comcast, which has a soft cap of 250GB/month. I'd have to watch a movie every day to get close to their limit. A 10Mbit connection would double the download time to 60-80 minutes, which is still fast enough to stream.
    - alextgordon 16y ago
      Here in the UK there's a large variance, but caps start at 10GB and those in the region of 40GB are commonplace (there is also a good selection of unlimited providers). And IIRC the average connection speed is 5Mbps, but again many people have 2Mbps or slower. International internet infrastructure has a long way to go before optical media is anywhere near irrelevant.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

ugh 16y ago

That assumes that people really care whether something is blu-ray quality. I don’t think they do. (Also, technology progresses while blu-ray stays the same.)