[MPA] STEVE JOBS IS GOD

[Peter Kirn]

On Wednesday, January 8, 2003, at 01:52 PM, Thubten Kunga wrote:

> Anyone who now introduces a stand alone a version of iDVD (3) that 
> continues to ignore the huge market for external DVD-RW and G3 
> compatibility is NOT GOD! Moreover, if anything he is much closer to 
> the DEVIL or the Anti-Christ.
>

Hang on a second -- two separate points you're making here.

A G3 processor is REALLY going to struggle with DVD burning, so Apple's 
decision is hardly worthy of religious comparisons as far as that goes. 
The encoding process is heavily optimized for the Velocity Engine. 
Burning a DVD-R/W is one thing; DVD Movies is what you're missing and 
that's because the G3 is way too slow for MPEG encoding and authoring.

As for crippling compatibility with FireWire drives, I am frustrated by 
that. (See my article at www.powerpage.org on the new applications.) I 
have a LaCie FireWire drive plugged into my PowerBook G4/400 that has 
the same mechanism as the SuperDrive, and, sure, I want to use it! 
Another caveat, though: my G4/400 would certainly be PAINFUL for 
regular iDVD use. But it would be at least possible if Apple would 
allow it.

Anyway, this is still not a standalone iDVD. As I learned so gently 
when I got flamed for writing a story Saturday in which I quoted CNET 
saying this is the first time Apple has charged for upgrades, it isn't. 
I should've remembered that iDVD 2 was also a fee upgrade. This is 
still an "upgrade" rather than a standalone product -- something Apple 
could stand to publicize better.

Despite my frustration, let's keep in mind that Apple has squeezed 
slot-loading SuperDrives into PowerBooks starting at $2600 (after 
yesterday) and eMacs starting at $1500 (or is that $1700, can't 
recall). In other words, Jobs may not be God, but I say his eternal 
soul is probably safe.

For now. :-)

Peter