As is often the case, I pontificate without knowing the facts. I assumed
that Apple's sup****t of H.264, the MPEG-4 video compression format,
would somehow give them a leg up on sup****ting other MPEG-4 features. In
fact, H.264 is an *alternative* to "MPEG-4 Visual," which describes all
the nifty features that I have been touting in this thread.
In other words, Apple doesn't sup****t that aspect of MPEG-4 any better
than anyone else, so aside from their experience with QuickTIme, they
aren't in any better position to sup****t these features in iTV as MS is
in THEIR settop box or console.
A ray of hope: Apple is transitioning QT away from the old GWorlds
drawing context to "virtual contexts," including an OpenGL-based
context. This would be (I think) an im****tant step to facilitate
QuickTime sup****t for MPEG-4 Visual-like features such as interactive 3D
VR so perhaps Apple IS heading in this direction in the long-run.
Whether or not iTV would ever display such QT or MPEG-4 movies is
another question, of course.
Lawson English wrote:
> I was recently in an argument/discussion with someone about the most
> im****tant new features of MPEG-4. As far as he was concerned, it was the
> new compression capabilities as no-one was using the bells and whistles.
>
> Then it dawned on me: Apple has positioned itself to be THE premier
> provider of tools for MPEG-4 production AND playback...
>
> When iTV is released, depending on how it is designed, you could have
> the perfect MPEG-4 settop player, capable of playing normal iTune
> movies and TV shows as well as special MPEG-4 files with a substantial
> subset of the MPEG-4 bells and whistles added.
>
> With a simultaneous release of a new version of iTunes to sup****t MPEG-4
> features AND a version of iLife that allows content-creation or even
> content addition to existing iTune content using those features, Apple
> could create a compelling reason to own iTV AND a Mac.
>
> It all depends on several issues: how upgradeable is the OS of iTV, what
> kind of user interface controls will be available, and whether anyone at
> Apple believes sup****ting MPEG-4 features would be a compelling reason
> to buy iTV or to upgrade iLife. Obviously, the fact that iLife is
> Mac-only is an im****tant plus for Apple. There could even be a reason to
> include an "iShake" application in an iTV-ready iLife (see page 7 in the
> pdf below).
>
>
> Here's a summary of features of MPEG-4 that might be doable with iTV .
> iTunes + iLife + iTV could be THE killer combo for MPEG-4. If iTV caught
> on in a big way, cable-providers might start selling MPEG-4-based
> advertising for playback through iTV. Scary.
>
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/presentations/pdffiles/mpeg4gat.pdf
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