Forums | MacLife

Installing an internal burner is fine for some, but for those with the older G3 iMac's, it just isn't an option ... is it?

What I was getting at is that there are more and more external firewire DVD burners comming on to the market, and while they have super-easy authoring software for PeeCee, Mac's miss out.

I'd run out and buy a burner and iLife tomorrow if I knew that I could make a DVD super easy on my old g3 iMac just like the fancy folk with superdrive equiped G4s do. If apple is into boosting revenue, wouldn't they want more people buying iLife, which is essentially a paid upgrade for iDVD, since iMovie 3, iPhoto 2 and iTunes 3 are all free downloads.

Sorry if my intial post was somewot confusing... my first poll and it's going bung already!! 

right... oh... ok... 

well, thanks for sorting that out for me. certainly clears up a lot. maybe i should have done some reading before starting the crumby poll...

Thanks for your quick response anyway!

mark t.s.g.

No it wont work with external burners but it will work if you install a pioneer A03,A04, or A05 internaly.

Which systems is this true for? [eMac 700 1GB RAM/40 MB HD/10.2.3]

iLife should be enabled for non-Apple superdrives. It makes good financial sense, just like making the iPod available for Windows OS systems. The capital costs to Apple are in the software engineering not the manufacturing of the drive mechanism [Pioneer did that].  The licensing issue sounds fishy, I can buy a pioneer mechanism and put it in any machine and Pioneer gets their wholesale cut from the reseller who carries their mechanism.  Pioneer would be violating Federal Antitrust Laws if it charged different prices for their unit based on which software was controlling their mechanism. However Pioneer can charge different prices to resellers based on  volume discounts to wholesalers without violating Federal Antitrust Laws.  That said Apple may have licensed parts of the iLife software which they must pay a per unit fee to the orginal software developers, that could be why they will not allow iDVD to be downloaded.

Not providing iLife to non-super drive system is Apple's marketing strategy; not some licensing issue. I agree this strategy is a poor one.  Apple now has 5 million OS X users,  if everyone bought iLife they record a maxinum profit of $250 million ($50 million with a 20% adoption rate). If by some miracle they convinced 5 million additional PC users the switch next year to get that feature which will come free to new user but Apple gets $3.75 Billion with 27% operating margins on new machines $750 per 2500 average system) not likely.   Apple may get 2 million to switch/ uprgrade next year so about $1.5 Billion.  If Apple sold iLife to loyal apple owners at $50 and $80 to non-Apple users it likely  would capture 10% of all computer user next year.  That's 1 Million Mac users and 10 million non-Apple user or Total Revenues of about $850 Million  next year. Repeat business with upgrades and additonal new users will continue to improve Apple's revenues.  Apple should think different, to whom it makes products for and how it opens new market.

okay you seem to have more evidence than i so guess i will believe you. I'm not saying they shouldn't make it usable with external burners but one of the reason they don't is they have to pay a license fee to the mpeg 2 people. Also by limiting the use of 3rd party and external burners Apple is forcing people to upgrade their machines making them more $. (BTW if you can figure out how to get a AO5 inside the eMac and swap it with the one in there it would work.)