Please excuse the length of this post but this is the most incredibly stupid thing I have every experienced. I had avoided Apple products for a very long time preferring the openness of the PC and Linux and using Windows for closed software. However when my son started getting interested in music I started down the Apple route primarily as an example that content should be paid for. I also liked the iPod design making this decision to go apple a little easier and started building a large library of content purchased from the iTunes store.
Last year I purchased a 24" LED HD monitor for my son's windows machine (Samsung BX2450). It looks great and is not too glossy (which I dislike) prompting me to purchased another one for myself. I use a VGA-KVM switch (Permits multiple computer to use the same monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers.) Although the switch is VGA the output is still stunning for my Windows 7, my Windows XP work Machine and several Linux servers.
My son does like apple so I thought I would get him something special. I did not want to get a laptop just yet but looking through the apple store I zeroed in on the Mac-Mini. The price looked good and so did the technical specs. I am including the video entry on the apple store for these specifications:
Video Support
Works with almost any display or HDTV.
- Thunderbolt port with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution
- HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution
- DVI output using HDMI to DVI Adapter (included)
- Support for dual display and video mirroring
Nothing alarming here about DRM. However I knew that I would be using this with a VGA-KVM switch so I inquired and sure enough Apple sold a mini-display adaptor to VGA that would work with the mac mini. Everything looked good so I purchased two of them. One was for my son and the other to act as a home share server (And for me to play with.)
I hooked the mac mini up to my VGA-KVM and it appeared to work perfectly. Although it is hooked up through VGA the output is stunning at 1920 X 1080 (as all of my other machines attached to the VGA-KVM are set to). It correctly identified the monitor through the VGA-KVM with the mac mini reporting the following:
Intel HD Graphics 3000:
Chipset Model: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Type: GPU
Bus: Built-In
VRAM (Total): 288 MB
Vendor: Intel (0x8086)
Device ID: 0x0126
Revision ID: 0x0009
Displays:
SMBX2450:
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: HVQB900005
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Adapter Type: Apple Mini DisplayPort To VGA Adapter
Adapter Firmware Version: 1.03
As you can see Apple knows it is a Samsung SMBX2450, It knows the monitor's serial number and it knows that it is connected to this monitor using VGA. (Not DVI or HDMI!). Finally last night after setting everything up (libraries, iPods, Etc.) I thought I would watch something. Obviously I looked forward to watching some of that expensive HD content I purchased on my new apple hardware. Then my jaw hit the floor. Just a black video window (not full screen as I was just going to play it in a window) with an error message suggesting my monitor choice was not correct in spite of MAC Mini working with "almost any display". I could not believe this. I had been watching my Apple HD content though iTunes on Windows 7 with no problems. The same files. The same VGA-KVM.
So in conclusion I can play the HD content on my Windows 7 machine through my VGA-KVM switch even when reading the data from the Mac mini via home sharing. However that same file played on the mac-mini using the same VGA-KVM switch to the same monitor does not work. This defies common sense. It does not provide any protection as it can be played on Windows. It only impacts apple products. (Did Steve invest a lot of money into Microsoft? It seems if you really just want this HD to "just work" then Windows may be the more prudent choice to watch your apple content with.)
At this point I am not really angry at apple I'm just angry at myself for buying all of this hardware and content from them. Apple I am one of those people you always talk about. Spent my life away from apple and just started buying some of these products over the last several years. You are just about to loose me as a customer and send me back to that anti-Apple camp armed with the experience that "it just works" is just three words from marketing.
