Lens That Writes on Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray 289
morpheus83 writes "Ricoh claims they have developed an optical component that reads and writes all disk formats -- Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD, as well as DVD and CD -- with one pickup and one objective lens. The component is a 3.5-mm diameter, 1-mm thick round diffraction plate with minute concentric groves on both sides which function as a diffraction grating. Based on disc information the drive can identify which format disk is loaded, Ricoh's optical diffraction component adjusts the laser beam with its diffraction grating for each format and passes it to the objective lens."
Price (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:cool. (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh dear (Score:5, Interesting)
I have to second this. (Score:5, Interesting)
PCs took off because Windows provided an equal format for everyone.
Apple thrives in spite of this monopoly by maintaining its own monopoly through its OS, regulating everything in order to keep quality high and survive as a 'niche' demographic just as concerned with design and appeal as they did utility. Having a virtual strangehold on internet music helped too.
The only place where these 'format wars' have had even minimal success have been in game consoles, because they were largely seen as competing factions to a toy, instead of a 'universal medium' like office software or movies. If we get back to the point where we only have a couple of key consoles (I predict Nintendo will successfully splinter off, leaving the main war between MS and Sony), so much the better for game programmers.
Re:hurrar (Score:4, Interesting)
But, could a consumer afford to license both DRMs (Score:3, Interesting)
They shouldn't be owned (Score:2, Interesting)
Formats should be open and standardized. Eg.: Microsoft should not be allowed to monopolize the market by locking in users to their Office formats; and likewise, the media industries should not be allowed to screw over their own customers by creating formats that are designed to be combative against those customers.
Just imagine how many decades we'd be ahead in technology if things worked this way.
Surprise? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:well, now that that's settled (Score:2, Interesting)
High wing vs. low wing
Trigear vs. taildragger
Production vs. homebuilt
Pattern entries (45 vs. overhead vs. extended downwind vs....)
Towered vs. non-towered fields
and so on...
Re:Who would buy this? (Score:1, Interesting)
Who Cares Anymore? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:You PC users (Score:3, Interesting)
That same tired old canard trotted out one more time. There is the legalistic answer about deals made and licensing arranged but a more significant recounting of that piece of history is that Apple hired the scientists and engineers from Xerox PARC, like Alan Kay, Larry Tesler and others. This put them in a company that actually had a clue about what was required to accomplish their goal which led to the Lisa and Macintosh. Of course you may be of the opinion that these individuals should be viewed as indentured servants of Xerox who had no right to use ideas that were the property of their former pointy-haired bosses at Xerox. Different stages of personal computing were invented three separate times at Apple: Apple ][, Mac, and OSX (NextStep in Mac drag). That is a remarkable record of creation and it is just some high points. For example both HyperCard and QuickTime could arguably be considered. Another easily overlooked act from the past was that Apple was one of the petitioners to the FCC to allow for unlicensed spectrum that eventually led to WiFi. What the heck, let's not overlook FireWire.
They're not quite in the same league as IBM as far as fundamental contributions (hard drives, relational databases, various Nobel prize researchers, etc) but Apple is no slacker as you would imply. Now for having so little awareness of the history involved, you should go over to the corner and sit quietly.
Re:well, now that that's settled (Score:2, Interesting)