"but to push aside the threat of digital downloads altogether just seems silly."
No, it does not! When are you download fanboys going to realize that digital downloads are currently NOT a threat to physical media? With more and more ISPs enabling draconian bandwidth caps and with broadband still far from reaching the majority of people (at least in the U.S.), downloads are nowhere close to threatening physical media, even in rental, no matter how often Engadget and its readers try to make it look differently.
Except there's one problem with your statement. The "720p" movies from Apple have worse picture quality than an upscaled DVD. The only reason why Apple can get a HD movie into 5GB is by compressing the hell out of it. Resolution should not be the true measure of HD, picture quality should. The side by side comparisons of the download services have consistantly shown that their picture quality is nowhere near that of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, and in many cases upscaled DVD.
Bell Canada recently got into a lot of hot water for proposing bandwidth caps on their *resellers*!
And you are completely ignoring other functions like Internet TV, which is starting to take off. If people start to use their PC as their TV and they like to watch a lot of it, you can bet that there will be issues.
I love how people talk about the "now" when it comes to bandwidth caps but never take into consideration the future.
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"but to push aside the threat of digital downloads altogether just seems silly."
No, it does not! When are you download fanboys going to realize that digital downloads are currently NOT a threat to physical media? With more and more ISPs enabling draconian bandwidth caps and with broadband still far from reaching the majority of people (at least in the U.S.), downloads are nowhere close to threatening physical media, even in rental, no matter how often Engadget and its readers try to make it look differently.
Except there's one problem with your statement. The "720p" movies from Apple have worse picture quality than an upscaled DVD. The only reason why Apple can get a HD movie into 5GB is by compressing the hell out of it. Resolution should not be the true measure of HD, picture quality should. The side by side comparisons of the download services have consistantly shown that their picture quality is nowhere near that of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, and in many cases upscaled DVD.
eng050599 - The reviews I've read have generally described Apple's HD as excellent.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/13/sizing-up-apple-tvs-hd/
Sounds like you have a gripe.
Oh, really?
Time-Warner is testing 40GB caps.
Cox has a maximum 60/15 cap. http://www.cox.com/lasvegas/highspeedinternet/pricing.asp
Telus has a 60 GB consumer cap. http://broadbandreports.net/faq/telus/all#10282
Shaw Cable - 100 GB
Bell Canada recently got into a lot of hot water for proposing bandwidth caps on their *resellers*!
And you are completely ignoring other functions like Internet TV, which is starting to take off. If people start to use their PC as their TV and they like to watch a lot of it, you can bet that there will be issues.
I love how people talk about the "now" when it comes to bandwidth caps but never take into consideration the future.