Apple CEO Jabs HD Camera Makers

August 13th, 2007 at 3:00 PM - News by Jeff Gamet

Apple CEO Steve Jobs doesnit think that high-definition camcorders are producing the level of quality they should for personal computers. HD camcorders, he claims, donit include the sensors to record full high definition, and as a result output sub-HD quality to computers -- and he took advantage of last weekis iMac launch to point that out, according to CNN Money.

Mr. Jobsis comments may have been an attempt to put some pressure on camcorder makers to ramp up the quality of their products. Even though most consumers wonit be able to tell that their home movies arenit full HD quality, some will, and they may look to Apple for an explanation.

By orchestrating a preemptive strike against camcorder manufacturers, Mr. Jobs may also be laying the groundwork to insulate his company from potential complaints that iMovie does not produce movies with the quality customers expect.

This is not the first time Mr. Jobs has used his clout to pressure media industries. Earlier this year, he wrote an open letter to the recording industry to abandon copy protection in music downloads.

In that letter, he claimed that DRM, or digital rights management, is ineffective and has been hampering the growth of legitimate music download services like the iTunes Store. Later, EMI Group announced that it was removing copy protection from its music collection, and would offer those tracks through Appleis online music service.

Regardless of his motives, it seems clear that Mr. Jobs has enough power to catch the attention of media and entertainment companies. How long he can maintain some level of influence over these companies, however, remains to be seen.