No "Bag of Hurt" Option on New MacBooks

Fielding questions from the audience after Tuesday’s MacBook launch event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was asked why the company isn’t offering Blu-ray DVD drives as an option on its newer machines. A reasonable question. Apple (AAPL) was an early backer of Blu-ray, but hasn’t exactly been an early adopter of the technology. Hewlett-Packard and other PC makers are offering their systems with a Blu-ray option, why not Apple?

“Blu-ray is a bag of hurt,” Jobs replied. “Not from the consumer point of view. It’s great to watch movies, but the licensing is very complex. So we’re waiting until things settle down, and waiting until Blu-ray takes off before we burden our customers with the cost of licensing.”