Macworld

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Forumie Partie Markie:
  Well there is little reason right now. I really dont fancy paying $300 for the direct TV HD receiver and an extra $20 a month for the privilege.

And Voom went BQ last week, leaving DTV, cable and your broadcast channels as the only HDTV suppliers out there, for what 15 HD channels, half of which are free with an antenna?  I agree, it's a bit early for HDTV, even for me.

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[vansmack]

Originally posted by Forumie Partie Markie:
  Its a cool article....

What the article really fails to address is how much bandwidth are you alotted by your ISP.  A DVD movie is 4.7 GB for 120 minutes (without compression of course).  An HD movie has to be twice that, so even with 2X compression, is your ISP going to allow for you to transmit 20 GB so that you can have 1 movie a week?  Or worse yet, is that worth it to you?
 
 And if the Movie is what the Mini Mac is really for, then why the G4 processor with only a 40 GB hard drive, which one wouldn't want to use for standard video editing, let alone HD video editing?
 
 I think this is a stretch.

[thirsty moore]

To which I respond multiple gmail addresses should do the trick.....
 
 

Originally posted by vansmack:
 What the article really fails to address is how much bandwidth are you alotted by your ISP.  A DVD movie is 4.7 GB for 120 minutes (without compression of course).  An HD movie has to be twice that, so even with 2X compression, is your ISP going to allow for you to transmit 20 GB so that you can have 1 movie a week?  Or worse yet, is that worth it to you?
 
 And if the Movie is what the Mini Mac is really for, then why the G4 processor with only a 40 GB hard drive, which one wouldn't want to use for standard video editing, let alone HD video editing?
 
 I think this is a stretch.

[markie]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   

Originally posted by Forumie Partie Markie:
  Its a cool article....

What the article really fails to address is how much bandwidth are you alotted by your ISP.  A DVD movie is 4.7 GB for 120 minutes (without compression of course).  An HD movie has to be twice that, so even with 2X compression, is your ISP going to allow for you to transmit 20 GB so that you can have 1 movie a week?  Or worse yet, is that worth it to you?
 
 And if the Movie is what the Mini Mac is really for, then why the G4 processor with only a 40 GB hard drive, which one wouldn't want to use for standard video editing, let alone HD video editing?
 
 I think this is a stretch. [/b]

I think you are right. Well till you get to video editing. I dont think they are going to want you to edit there movies, so that is a non-issue. Perhaps with good compression that is going to be a 5GB download at best. Then you are looking at 4 movies on a mini. Not great but not undo-able. How much bandwidth is too much for an isp? I have no idea..

[vansmack]

Originally posted by econo:
  To which I respond multiple gmail addresses should do the trick.....
 
   

It's not storage space, it's the amount of data transmitted.  I'm not sure what the limits are for Verizon DSL and Comcast in the District, but my SBC DSL has a 28GB a month limit to the amount of data I can transmit on my account before I am required to pay an extra fee.  That won't be nearly enough for this idea.

[thirsty moore]

I was kidding.

[ratioci nation]

I am not sure where editing fits in to this, if you look at the itunes/ipod model, the mac mini is the ipod in what this guy is talking about.  It is just a delivery device.  
 
 As far as the codec goes -  http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/h264.html  - what I have found says that the codec is 200 to 225% more efficient than mpeg2, which I guess is the standard for dvds.  Maybe they have made it even more efficient.
 
 Either way, these are all just theories, and pretty interesting.  I am sure if Apple is actually doing this, they have thought about these issues, but it could be nothing like this.
 
 I still say that the lack of hd tvs is not the biggest problem, if consumers are given a reason they "need" one, they will be happy to go out and get one.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by econo:
  I was kidding.

Sorry.  Just got in and I'm not even 1/4 through my first Mountain Dew yet.  Not exactly sharp yet.

[vansmack]

Back to the HDTV dilemma, DirecTV announced that they will broadcast local HD channels over DirecTV beginning this summer, however, they will do so with new satellites to broadcast those channels in MPEG4 (instead of the current MPEG2).  That means that any D*TV susbscriber who wishes to use HDTV for local channels will have to get a new dish and new receivers to transpond MPEG4.  
 
 Therefore, do not spend the big bucks to jump to HDTV right now because you will need new equipment this summer and there is no firm word on hardware upgrades (although D*TV has been good about this in the past).  This should not effect your HD Ready TV however, so go buy one of those!

[markie]

Originally posted by vansmack:
 
 Therefore, do not spend the big bucks to jump to HDTV right now because you will need new equipment this summer and there is no firm word on hardware upgrades (although D*TV has been good about this in the past).  This should not effect your HD Ready TV however, so go buy one of those!

Sound advice. I did not know any of that.
 
 I just dropped HBO and Cinemmax in favour of netflix. It would be nice to get ER and shit like that in HD though.

[brennser]

 It would be nice to get ER and shit like that in HD though.  

so you're the one person left who still watches ER

[markie]

Originally posted by brennser:
 [QB]

 It would be nice to get ER and shit like that in HD though.  

No that is Lulu...
 
 Actually for the past few months must see T.V. Thursday has just meant halo2 all night.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Forumie Partie Markie:
  It would be nice to get ER and shit like that in HD though.

I'm going to wait for next season (late summer '05).  We nearly made the jump before Xmas but it was the outrageuos price of the HDTivo ($999) that was the deciding factor (Tivo outweighed anything HD could deliver).  Now it looks like all those that spent the big bucks on their HDTivo's may have a useless piece of equipment in a few months.  Ouch!  Although I think D*TV will make ammends, as they have done in the past.
 
 I fully expect D*TV to offer free replacement dishes and maybe a small charge for HDTV receivers, with a larger charge for a non-TiVo HD-DVR's (made by D*TV).
 
 I hate to say it, but the D*TV-TiVo relationship looks to be coming to a close, and that's REALLY bad news for TiVo, who already passed on creating cable relationships.  None of the DVR's made by the cable companies can compete with the complete function of a TiVo, but people don't know what they're missing until they've tried one, and the cable companies have a bigger audience.
 
 TiVo's learning, it's hard to stay in front.