Sonic Launches Next Generation Of CinemaNow, Still No Support For Mac Users

Today, Sonic Solutions announced their "next generation" CinemaNow platform which brings new features like support for 1080p quality, 3D content, and interactive services but STILL no support for Mac users. I know Mac users have their own Apple based movie service with iTunes, but the CinemaNow platform is used by Blockbuster, BestBuy and a host of others. By not supporting Mac users are all these companies ceding the share of the Mac market to Apple? That's a pretty big market that these folks are missing out on.

Both Netflix and Amazon have no problems supporting Mac users with their streaming service, so why can't CinemaNow support it? The company says their new platform is the "next generation", yet confirmed in an email to me this afternoon that it does not support Apple users today. How is that "next generation" if you can't even support Apple users? Analysts who track the personal computer market in the U.S. say that Apple has anywhere between 10-15% of the market and Apple continues to ship a ton of new computers each quarter, even in a down economy. You'd think that with all of this evidence in the market, companies would stop treating Apple users like it was the year 2000 and giving us excuses.

The reality is that today, it's easier to make a list of the platforms and services that don't support Apple than the one's that do. CinemaNow is on that very short list as well as the services from Blockbuster and BestBuy.