As companies expand their high-definition Blu-ray product lineups, Apple reportedly has no interest in trying to use Blu-ray in any of its upcoming products.
Apple's stance on Blu-ray hasn't changed for some time now, even though some customers continue to plead with CEO Steve Jobs to embrace the technology.
"Blu-ray is looking more and more like one of the high-end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD," Jobs said, with the quote being published in a MacRumors report. "It will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats."
It seems too late for Jobs and company to suddenly shift gears and try to begin promoting Blu-ray in its products. The company dismissed Blu-ray in October 2008, with Jobs saying that Blu-ray is a "bag of hurt."
Similar to Microsoft's stance on Blu-ray, Apple seems more interested in offering streaming content to customers. Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, rival to the Sony PlayStation 3 console with Blu-ray, focuses on Netflix and other streaming services. Apple also is interested in launching a streaming version of iTunes, as the company has a high interest in offering both downloadable and streaming HD content.
Apple purchased streaming music service Lala last December and then shut it down. Many people are still expecting the purchase to translate into streaming services offered on iTunes or another Apple service.
Even though I think Apple could still sell PCs and notebooks with Blu-ray, at least the company is steadfast with its streaming versus physical media outlook. The HD-ready Mac Mini doesn't have a Blu-ray drive, but Apple did finally include an HDMI port for better connectivity.
I don’t think Blu-ray will go away any time soon, but Jobs is a very clever public speaker -- his two-year old outlook on Blu-ray in Apple products isn’t new, and he won’t suddenly change his mind and release a Mac with Blu-ray. Expect Apple to continue to introduce streaming services for the desktop and the living room.
