But, the iTunes store doesn't stream 1080p yet so we probably won't see that happeneing until it does.
I'm generally with much of what you said. However, this particular point gets thrown around too much. The owners of the content won't bother trying to put 1080p in the iTunes store until there is an opportunity to profit from it being there. They could put everything they got up in 1080p today (1080p video will go right into iTunes and play back from there just fine), but sales/rentals of that content would be near ZERO. Why? There's no 1080p
TV hardware installed in any homes capable of playing it back.
The HARDWARE must lead this race, meaning Apple needs to get generation 3+ flowing into homes with the capability of 1080p playback so that the numbers build up large enough to tempt some studio to want to test the profitability of content >720p/30fps. In theory, it should be cheaper for the Studios to sell their content in a digital form rather than putting it on a disc and giving Walmart or Best Buy a big cut. Thus, they should be naturally motivated by their own greed (and we pretty much always see them as too greedy don't we) to give this a go. However, Apple is not feeding that greed with any fundamental opportunity: how could any studio make big profits from 1080p iTunes store content today?
Imagine stores full of BD discs but no players on which to play them. How many discs would sell? Besides, it would make little to no sense to fill those stores with BD discs if there were no players on which to play them. This is exactly the same: the hardware must either come first or arrive at the same time as the 1080p software. It can't work the other way.
When the Apple TV can do 1080p (not choppy hacked XBMC 1080p) that's when I'll jump back on board.
That's where I am too (still using the first generation). The cheerleaders will probably come back with "but the bandwidth", "but the storage", "the chart", and the rest of the usual assortment of why we should like the current offering exactly as Apple wants us/them to like it, but the fact is that if this is Apple's answer to the "bag of hurt", it should compete head-to-head on the most fundamental benefits: picture & sound quality... and it fails on those points BY DESIGN.
And before someone pitches "no (legal) sources are available", I've had several 1080HD camcorders for several years now. Apple even provides the tools (even iMovie) to edit & render a 1080 movie, which will go right into iTunes and play just fine there. The weak link is this one- how to get that 1080HD movie from iTunes to the HDTV in some family-friendly way.
TV should be the obvious solution. But it fails us here.
No streaming sources available? Visit Vudu.com (apparently they have found a way to stream 1080p, through our crappy bandwidth, for playback on <$99 HD set top boxes). Apparently, they see enough business from people that don't accept "the chart" and instead want 1080p (in spite of "not being able to see any difference").
It would have cost much more? No, there's lots of other little
TV-like boxes available for $99 and less. See Roku for example. Apple could have put 1080p hardware in there if they wanted to do so. Besides, I think those of us that wish for an
TV with 1080p would probably gladly pay more than $99 for
TV elegance (and iTunes connectivity) on 1080p hardware. Personally, I wish the previous gen's final software version would add Netflix and be made available as the new "Front Row". Then I'd just pay MUCH MORE for a Mac Mini and let it take over this job.
But "I" don't want to pay/waste bandwidth/store 1080p content? No problem, those who don't want to pay/waste bandwidth/store 720p still generally have the option to download SD video alternatives. For those that find SD good enough, they get a smaller file, that will eat less bandwidth and stores in less space on their end. No difference here: don't want the 1080 file? No problem: choose the 720p "as is" file or the SD alternatives. EVERYONE would get what they want this way.
Maybe they'll get it completely right in the third (hardware) try... hopefully not another 2-4 years from now? Else, the "bag of hurt" continues to be king (and rapidly grow) for those that want better than 720p30fps.
